United States Federal Aviation Administration Drone Registration

United States Federal Aviation Administration posted their "Drone" Registration today. If it weighs over 0.55 pounds / 250 gm but not more than 55 pounds / 25 kilograms. If it weighs more than that, good luck jumping through those hoops.

http://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/

And FAQ's:

http://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/faqs/

 

Have you seen the United States' attempt at a Health Care website?!

 

Looks like the Academy of Model Aeronautics is now "under fire" from it's members.
I watched the Federal Aviation Administration "meeting" and the AMA just simply "caved" to the FAA's demands without a struggle.

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2015/12/14/ama-and-the-faa-registration-process/

 

I too, live in the USA, and have been following the AMA vs FAA thing.

I am an AMA member as well, and have already registered with the FAA. I don't fly commercially.
I have a rather extensive firearm collection, and I have to register those too.

Criminals do not.

The FAA does not make laws, Congress does. Why do we have to register because the FAA says we do?!
The AMA needs an ILA like the NRA.

Woah, alphabet soup!

I've seen tons of those inexpensive "Wal*Mart" Drones flying all over, bet none of those are registered....

 

Good luck my friend....

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...-faa-to-overturn-new-drone-registration-rule/

I wish this guy the best!

 

Dear AMA members,

We have good news to share. Last night, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House of Representatives passed the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, which preserves and strengthens the Special Rule for Model Aircraft.

We would like to thank Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina for their efforts to ensure that this important legislation protects the hobby of flying model aircraft.

The AIRR Act is critical to preserving our voluntary, community-based approach to managing the model aviation community. By strengthening the Special Rule for Model Aircraft, this bill will enhance safety across the recreational community and allow our members, who for decades have flown safely and responsibly within AMA’s community-based safety program, to continue enjoying our hobby without new burdensome regulations.

Among the bill’s provisions, it provides a clear definition of a community-based organization (CBO) and tasks the FAA with developing a process for recognizing qualifying CBOs, both long-overdue tasks for the agency. In addition, the bill makes clear that model aircraft can be used as a teaching tool for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as aeronautics.

The AIRR act is a strong bill that we are proud to support, but Congress isn’t done with it yet. The full House of Representatives still needs to vote on the AIRR Act and the Senate still needs to work on its own version of the bill. AMA has been actively advocating for our members’ interests on Capitol Hill, and we will continue working with Congress on additional changes that could further protect our hobby.

We may need your help in reaching out to members of Congress to urge them to support the Special Rules for Model Aircraft, which provides critical protections for the model aviation community. Remain vigilant and continue to monitor emails, social media, and www.modelaircraft.org/gov for more information and updates.

Sincerely,
AMA Government Affairs

 

http://www.newsweek.com/federal-aviation-authority-drone-registry-431609


As a heat wave swept across California this past summer, a fire broke out on the parched hills of northeastern Los Angeles and roasted several vehicles along a major highway. Firefighters initially struggled to contain the blaze, and peeved U.S. forestry officers said their efforts lagged because people kept flying drones nearby, which interfered with their planes. “You’ve got people in areas where they think it is cool,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant told The New York Times. “But they don’t realize the implication of what they are doing.”

They’re not the only ones. Over the past five years, drones have become not only cheap and easy to fly, but also a public nuisance—slamming into infants, drifting close to airports andcrashing onto the White House lawn. Now, after years of leaving the industry alone, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is trying to force owners to register their aircraft.

Late last year, the FAA and the Department of Transportation—with the drone industry’s support—quickly created an online registry for hobbyists. Its goal is to track down law-breaking owners and hold them accountable. The penalty for not registering: up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. There’s no way to know what percentage of drone hobbyists have followed the new rules. But as of February 8, the FAA says 329,954 owners have signed up for the registry. “Make no mistake: Unmanned aircraft enthusiast are aviators,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement in December, “and with that title comes a great deal of responsibility.”

Not everyone is pleased about the requirement. Some drone owners say it’s illegal, and they’re challenging the FAA in court. Leading the fight: John Taylor, an insurance attorney and drone hobbyist in Silver Spring, Maryland. When the registry launched in December, Taylor says he waited for an appropriate lawyer to file a suit. When that didn’t happen, he did it himself. “I truly believe,” he says, “the FAA has no real defense.”

Taylor bases his argument on a half-page clause in the FAA’s Modernization and Reform Act, which explicitly prohibits the agency from making new rules and regulations regarding model aircraft. In launching the registry, Taylor claims, the FAA has technically created a regulation as well.

The FAA disagrees. It argues the registry isn’t new, but rather an extension of a paper-based program for regular aircraft that was codified during the Eisenhower era.

Either way, drone registration may have another problem. Under a separate piece of legislation, signed in 1946, all regulations from federal agencies need to go through a public notice period so nongovernment entities can offer feedback. The FAA circumvented this process, however, saying the registry was too important to wait.

In doing so, the agency betrayed the public trust, argues Jonathan Rupprecht, an aviation attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida, who is working with Taylor on the lawsuit. “Instead of the FAA being seen as an agency here to help and educate the people,” he says, “they look like dictators who say, ‘You must obey, or you get a few years in jail.’”

Drone enthusiasts have other concerns as well—namely, privacy. The FAA says it will make the registration numbers in its database open to the public. But as Taylor cites in his lawsuit, several drone owners claim they’ve received other people’s information after completing an application. A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment on the matter because of the pending litigation.

It’s unclear when there will be a ruling on the lawsuit, but the FAA doesn’t seem to have a backup plan. If a judge declares the registry illegal, the agency may be forced to wait on a fractious Congress to establish drone regulations.

Taylor is optimistic and eager to stop what he calls federal overreach. So is Rupprecht, who seems to be enjoying the fight. “I’m here,” he says, “to blow the registry up.”

 

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/am...-transportation-and-infrastructure-committee/

AIRR Act passes Transportation and Infrastructure Committee


We have good news to share. Thursday, February 11, 2016 the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House of Representatives passed the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, which preserves and strengthens the Special Rule for Model Aircraft.

We would like to thank Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina for their efforts to ensure that this important legislation protects the hobby of flying model aircraft.

The AIRR Act is critical to preserving our voluntary, community-based approach to managing the model aviation community. By strengthening the Special Rule for Model Aircraft, this bill will enhance safety across the recreational community and allow our members, who for decades have flown safely and responsibly within AMA’s community-based safety program, to continue enjoying our hobby without new burdensome regulations.

Among the bill’s provisions, it provides a clear definition of a community-based organization (CBO) and tasks the FAA with developing a process for recognizing qualifying CBOs, both long-overdue tasks for the agency. In addition, the bill makes clear that model aircraft can be used as a teaching tool for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as aeronautics.

The AIRR act is a strong bill that we are proud to support, but Congress isn’t done with it yet. The full House of Representatives still needs to vote on the AIRR Act and the Senate still needs to work on its own version of the bill. AMA has been actively advocating for our members’ interests on Capitol Hill, and we will continue working with Congress on additional changes that could further protect our hobby.

We may need your help in reaching out to members of Congress to urge them to support the Special Rules for Model Aircraft, which provides critical protections for the model aviation community. Remain vigilant and continue to monitor emails, social media, and www.modelaircraft.org/gov for more information and updates.

 

The part you may be interested in starts around 01:26

 

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/am...the-special-rule-for-model-aircraft-into-law/

The AMA began its work to pass the Special Rule for Model Aircraft years before it was passed into law in 2012. Countless negations, revisions, and eventually mobilizing our membership to write Congress resulted in this special rule becoming law. The Special Rule for Model Aircraft was intended to prevent model aviation within a community-based organization like the AMA from overreaching and burdensome regulation.

Today we continue our work to strengthen and protect the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. We are very early in this process as early drafts will receive numerous revisions and amendments, just as we experienced with the original special rule.

In an effort to help visualize the process, below is a graphic that demonstrates the legislative process and AMA’s ongoing efforts.

Currently we are only in the first leg of this journey as proposed language is in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee. Thank you for your support as we begin this long task.

 

Several Detrimental Provisions Remain in the Senate Bill
http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/am...-remain-senate-bill-undermining-aeromodeling/

Last week we asked you to contact your Senators requesting support of an amendment to resolve provisions in the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill that could be detrimental to our hobby. Thanks to your efforts over 30,100 letters were sent to Congress. We thank you for your support of the hobby and making your voices heard.

The Senate version of the FAA reauthorization bill importantly preserved the Special Rule for Model Aircraft and affirmed the importance of a community-based approached to managing the model aviation community. Unfortunately, however, today we learned the Senate did not incorporate some of AMA’s suggestions into the final version of the Senate bill. AMA is disappointed with several of the provisions that passed the Senate, which could undermine our community’s model aircraft activity and detract from the creativity, innovation and enjoyment of the hobby.

One of the provisions would require all UAS, including model aircraft, to meet new FAA design and production standards and impose unnecessary regulation on hobbyists who often build their own models at home. This legislation also puts new requirements on model aircraft operations within 5 miles of airports, potentially jeopardizing hundreds of existing flying sites that have operated safely and harmoniously within our communities for decades. And finally, the bill creates an unnecessary and unsubstantiated requirement for AMA members ages 13 and above to take an online FAA safety test and carry proof of passing the test when flying.

While the Senate bill is disappointing, know that we still have opportunities to shape the final legislation and we’ll need your continued help and support to achieve the best possible outcome for our hobby. The more favorable House version of the FAA reauthorization bill still needs to go to a floor vote. This bill provides a clear definition of a community-based organization (CBO) and tasks the FAA with developing a process for recognizing qualifying CBOs, both long-overdue tasks for the agency. In addition, the House bill makes clear that model aircraft can be used as a teaching tool for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as aeronautics. Once the House and the Senate bills are passed, they go to a conference committee for another round of revisions and another Congressional vote. This process could take many more weeks or possibly months before being presented to the President to sign into law.

We will continue to work with our allies in Congress to protect and strengthen our long-standing, safe and educational hobby, and we may need your help again in the near future. Please continue to monitor www.modelaircraft.org/gov and your email for updates and more information