Drones
- Thread starter tknight
- Start date
so you have to register drones but not RC helicopters and planes?......now that is very narrow thinking.....gee whiz....what a stupid law...
People either got careless or stupid with the way they flew their drones. Brought the problem on themselves.
R/C airplanes and helicopters are another matter. Most fields where you can fly them require you to be a member of one of the national R/C clubs and to have insurance-- usually provided by membership in the national clubs. Belonging to a local club is usually on the table too-- and with good reason. You get taught by other club members--- who have an interest in keeping the flying field open--- how to fly your R/C craft safely.
Drones are small so you think you can fly them from your back-yard with no training, and the end result was predictable.
There's the issue of expense too. A drone that costs up to but not over $150.00 doesn't represent a big loss if you lose it. A $500 dollar trainer aircraft--- that begins to hurt and you don't want to lose too many of those. So you get club membership so you can learn to fly the device without breaking it every other flight.
R/C airplanes and helicopters are another matter. Most fields where you can fly them require you to be a member of one of the national R/C clubs and to have insurance-- usually provided by membership in the national clubs. Belonging to a local club is usually on the table too-- and with good reason. You get taught by other club members--- who have an interest in keeping the flying field open--- how to fly your R/C craft safely.
Drones are small so you think you can fly them from your back-yard with no training, and the end result was predictable.
There's the issue of expense too. A drone that costs up to but not over $150.00 doesn't represent a big loss if you lose it. A $500 dollar trainer aircraft--- that begins to hurt and you don't want to lose too many of those. So you get club membership so you can learn to fly the device without breaking it every other flight.
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Too high. They've been interfering with commercial aviation near major airports--- therefore the new FAA rules applying just to drones. R/C planes and copters probably can fly higher---but nothing could shut down an R/C flying field faster than interfering with commercial aviation so the clubs are real tight about that.
I have a couple of R/C boats. Club membership-- both national and local--- had to be procured to operate these craft---even though there's no chance of interfering with aviation. It's been awhile since I've operated these boats, but-- membership in the I.M.P.B.A. (national) and the Marquette Park R/C club are necessities if I expect to operate at my favorite lake. The forest-preserve district requires it for safety and insurance reasons.
tknight
Veteran Expediter
I have nothing against it at all in fact I'm in favor of it as there a quite a few buttheads out there! I do shows in the summer where people put candles in bags and send them aloft at night . They go very high and it seems very dangerous to me as well as the little hand lasers that even kids play with at festivals , sometimes there are hundreds of beams at the same time!
danthewolf00
Veteran Expediter
It's the creepy guy using a drone to photo/video record women/girls that some of this has stemmed from.
Maybe the R/C flyers don't get off without having to register. Seems there's an Aussie who has been following this close, and according to stuff he dredged up anything big enough to be flown outdoors-- including control-line-planes-- needs to be registered with the FAA. He has little if any use for bureaucrats, can't say I blame him.
Pretty sure I read a condition that anything over 8 oz must be registered as well....mine is like 6 at the most...
The Aussie is a whiny little baby. For one, he doesn't even live here. Two, if people weren't flying drones in the way of planes and helicopters, and crashing them into the stands at sporting events, these regulations wouldn't even be necessary. Three, the analogy between the registering of drones being the same as the registering of sex offenders is retarded. Otherwise, every time you have to register anything, like your car, your motorcycle, your boat, your private plane, your marriage, your voting ability, then it's exactly the same as registering as a sex offender.
A better analogy is to registering your car. If you want to drive a car on the public roadways, you have to register it. If you want to fly an unmanned aircraft system outdoors, you have to register it. Same thing.
A better analogy is to registering your car. If you want to drive a car on the public roadways, you have to register it. If you want to fly an unmanned aircraft system outdoors, you have to register it. Same thing.
I'll grant that the sex-offender thing is over the top. I was a bit surprised--- but not much-- to find that the operators of ANY R/C flying craft--- and control-line planes-- would have to register with the FAA as well. I haven't looked, but I think maybe R/C surface machines such as cars and boats are still off the hook and don't register--- but if it flies better get it registered.
Nothing new department: Way back when I got started in R/C, you had to get a license from the FCC for your CB-band radio equipment. It's been decades, but I still remember the number I had--- KVB7000. That was my station license, without which it was illegal to turn my transmitter on. Those were the days.
Nothing new department: Way back when I got started in R/C, you had to get a license from the FCC for your CB-band radio equipment. It's been decades, but I still remember the number I had--- KVB7000. That was my station license, without which it was illegal to turn my transmitter on. Those were the days.
I remember my first CB license. Well, I remember that I had one, I don't actually remember the call letters. I do think they should bring back that requirement, if for no other reason truck washes and pizzamen will stop advertising on the CB.
I do think this new registration law will go to court, and it'll be amended, or suspended and sent back for amendment. First, the FAA doesn't even consider birds under 2 pounds to be a threat, so why is an 9 ounce drone a threat? Someone will sue to force the FAA to come up with some empirical data for the discrepancy. Second, a few years ago Congress passed a law that specifically exempted model aircraft.
With "model aircraft" being defined as "an unmanned aircraft capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere, flown within visual line of sight, and flown for hobby or recreational purposes." Another requirement is that the aircraft may not be flown within 5 miles of an airport. So, somebody will sue to reconcile the FAA's actions with respect to the Congressional legislation.
I do think this new registration law will go to court, and it'll be amended, or suspended and sent back for amendment. First, the FAA doesn't even consider birds under 2 pounds to be a threat, so why is an 9 ounce drone a threat? Someone will sue to force the FAA to come up with some empirical data for the discrepancy. Second, a few years ago Congress passed a law that specifically exempted model aircraft.
With "model aircraft" being defined as "an unmanned aircraft capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere, flown within visual line of sight, and flown for hobby or recreational purposes." Another requirement is that the aircraft may not be flown within 5 miles of an airport. So, somebody will sue to reconcile the FAA's actions with respect to the Congressional legislation.