The FAA just "went there" NOT GOOD. ALL RC Aircraft = REAL AIRCRAFT

[Bartman]

the effort to regulate unmanned aircraft has been going on for many many years. the current administration didn't start this problem.

when you get on an airliner do you assume your safety is being protected by someone outside of the aircraft? that's the FAA's job.

when someone buys an RC plane, helicopter, whatever do you assume they will not fly it into the path of an airliner full of people? it's the FAA's job to make sure they don't.

the FAA is doing a really really bad job of controlling what is happening with the explosion of RC flying outside of AMA club fields but it's their job to make sure manned aircraft are not being put at risk by unmanned aircraft.

 

[njswede]

Does the POTUS know about this? Most likely.
Does he care? Probably not. There's only 24 hours in a day, even if you live in the White House. I'm not sure there's that many left once you have dealt with ISIS, Putin and all the other crap that's going on.
Is there anything he can do? No. He won't and can't interfere with court decisions. Just sit back and watch the slew of Obamacare lawsuits that are about to hit the courts and you'll see that even if he wanted to, he doesn't have that power.

I'm as disappointed in Obama as you all are. But this issue has nothing to do with him and bringing partisan politics into it only adds unnecessary noise to it.

I think Bart is correct for the most part. If you're doing things by the book, you'll be fine. But if you do stupid stuff, expect to be punished. However, I think there's a couple of things to be worried about. Number one is airspace around airports. Where I live, it's virtually impossible to find a plot of land that's not within five mile from an airport. If they start enforcing that, a lot of us are going to be affected. The other thing is land owners getting nervous about being dragged into legal battles because of what modelers do on their land. A lot of club fields out there are on leased land, and some of them are even on leased public land. The clubs I fly at are leased from the state in one case and from the county in the other. If the FAA keeps cracking down on modelers, I fear a situation where these guys cancel leases to stay out of trouble.

The bottom line is that the interpretation of the law is unreasonable. Literally hundreds of millions of flying toys are now under FAA jurisdiction. That can't be what the legislators had in mind when they passed the law. Even if we are not personally affected, we need to stand up and tell the FAA and NTSB that this is wrong.

 

[Bartman]

cooperation with airports within 5 miles can be an issue but that's up to the club to work out with the airports. unfortunately if the airport won't cooperate then there's nothing the club can do to keep flying. remember though, A LOT of full scale pilots started with models and still fly models so they're not exactly an uneducated partner for an RC club to work with.
landowners and insurance are not a new problem for RC clubs. naturally this doesn't help things but we've all been losing fields for decades. NJ is probably worse than a lot of areas because we have fewer areas (especially in the NE outside NYC and the SW outside Philly) where RC can be flown without pissing people off.

all i ask is that we discuss the RC aspect of this and leave the politics out of it.

 

[Bartman]

for what it's worth, the latest court decision was part of what was originally a reckless operation fine dropped on Rapheal Pirker by the FAA for this video

Pirker’s attorney, Brendan Schulman, commented on the most recent decision (reported by Sleepy in the first post):

"While we disagree with the decision, today’s NTSB ruling in the Pirker case is narrowly limited to whether unmanned aircraft systems are subject to an aviation safety regulation concerning reckless operation, an issue that the NTSB has said requires further factual investigation before a penalty is imposed. The more significant question of whether the safe operation of drones for business purposes is prohibited by any law was not addressed in the decision, and is currently pending before the D.C. Circuit in other cases being handled by Kramer Levin. We are reviewing the options for our next steps in the Pirker case."

 

[49dimes]

the effort to regulate unmanned aircraft has been going on for many many years. the current administration didn't start this problem.

when you get on an airliner do you assume your safety is being protected by someone outside of the aircraft? that's the FAA's job.

when someone buys an RC plane, helicopter, whatever do you assume they will not fly it into the path of an airliner full of people? it's the FAA's job to make sure they don't.

the FAA is doing a really really bad job of controlling what is happening with the explosion of RC flying outside of AMA club fields but it's their job to make sure manned aircraft are not being put at risk by unmanned aircraft.

I officially withdraw the term "Stratoslam" from possible event names by GSN. It could be construed as a dangerous activity.
And in all... I can only have nightmares now on how this is going to affect 3D flight.

 

[Bartman]

3D is safe dude... don't do it over a line of moviegoers and you're good.

 

[why_fly_high]

What I fear and predict is a set of rules that will apply to RC as we know it but will never be able to be enforced on a large scale but can be used as a club to beat on those the FAA wants to beat on. A perfect example is 400ft. I am pretty sure this is going to become a real rule. It won't be enforced and won't change much at your normal club but will be on the books. If there is ever a close call with a fullscale plane you can be sure this rule will be enforced at that time.

 

[Bartman]

and that's a totally realistic fear, regulation creep where it starts out for a common good but then gets corrupted and becomes bad.

I never thought I'd be the guy saying it but the AMA has been doing a great job of fighting this fight. if anyone reading this isn't a member I encourage you to join.

Bart

 

[Flying-Skunks]

IF YOU OPERATE A MODEL IN A WAY THAT IS DANGEROUS AND IN A WAY THAT PUTS OTHER AIRCRAFT AT RISK, THE FAA CAN NOW FINE YOU LIKE ANY OTHER FULL SCALE AIRCRAFT OPERATOR.

but who determines what is " unsafe "

 

[Xpress]

but who determines what is " unsafe "

This. For all they know, we're flying in an unsafeel manner because we fly post stalled.