TL;DR: Best part is, American Academy of Model Aeronautics, says FAA has no derestriction in hobby flying. AMA basically calls it bullshit red tape. They say registry good, FAA bad. The basic concern here is, whether the definition of aircraft includes model aircraft and whether that falls under the authority of the FAA.
This registration process only applies to hobby and recreational use. Business use rules still forthcoming.
Starting yesterday, Americans with drones between .55 and 55 pounds have until February 19 to register themselves. Anybody buying a drone today forward (within that weight) has to register immediately. You can have as many drones as you want under 1 registration. Registration is free until January 20th, but they will charge and refund $5 for ID purposes. After Jan 20 it's $5.
Your registry number has to be on your drone, it can be under a battery cover or the like, as long as tools are not required to access the number.
The American Academy of Model Aeronautics says do not register before the deadlines and we will protect those who don't.
here's some cutting and pasting.
The AMA letter:
Dear AMA Members,
Yesterday, the AMA Executive Council unanimously approved an action plan to relieve and further protect our members from unnecessary and burdensome regulations. This plan addresses the recently announced interim rule requiring federal registration of all model aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds.
AMA has long used a similar registration system with our members, which we pointed out during the task force deliberations and in private conversations with the FAA. As you are aware, AMA's safety program instructs all members to place his or her AMA number or name and address on or within their model aircraft, effectively accomplishing the safety and accountability objectives of the interim rule. AMA has also argued that the new registration rule runs counter to Congress' intent in Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, otherwise known as the "Special Rule for Model Aircraft."
The Council is considering all legal and political remedies to address this issue. We believe that resolution to the unnecessary federal registration rule for our members rests with AMA's petition before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This petition, filed in August 2014, asks the court to review the FAA's interpretation of the "Special Rule for Model Aircraft." The central issue is whether the FAA has the authority to expand the definition of aircraft to include model aircraft; thus, allowing the agency to establish new standards and operating criteria to which model aircraft operators have never been subject to in the past.
In promulgating its interim rule for registration earlier this week, the FAA repeatedly stated that model aircraft are aircraft, despite the fact that litigation is pending on this very question. The Council believes the FAA's reliance on its interpretation of Section 336 for legal authority to compel our members to register warrants the Court's immediate attention to AMA's petition.
While we continue to believe that registration makes sense at some threshold and for flyers operating outside of a community-based organization or flying for commercial purposes, we also strongly believe our members are not the problem and should not have to bear the burden of additional regulations. Safety has been the cornerstone of our organization for 80 years and AMA's members strive to be a part of the solution.
As we proceed with this process, we suggest AMA members hold off on registering their model aircraft with the FAA until advised by the AMA or until February 19, the FAA's legal deadline for registering existing model aircraft.
Holding off on registration will allow AMA time to fully consider all possible options. On a parallel track, it also allows AMA to complete ongoing conversations with the FAA about how best to streamline the registration process for our members.
In the near future, we will also be asking our members to make their voices heard by submitting comments to the FAA's interim rule on registration. We will follow-up soon with more detailed information on how to do this.
Thank you for your continued support of AMA. We will provide you with more updates as they become available.
Kind regards,
The AMA Executive Council
More paste:
Dave Mathewson, executive director of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), has responded to the recommendations released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Task Force on UAS registration.
“As a member of the task force, AMA agrees that registration of UAS makes sense at some level and for flyers operating outside the guidance of a community-based organization or flying for commercial purposes,” Mathewson says. “Unfortunately, as written, these recommendations would make the registration process an unnecessary and unjustified burden to our 185,000 members, who have operated harmoniously within the aviation community for decades and who register and provide their personal contact information when joining the AMA. For this reason, AMA wanted to include dissenting comments in the final task force report, but was prevented from doing so.”
Mathewson says adding an additional requirement for AMA members to register at the federal level is contrary to public law stating that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is prohibited from promulgating any new rules for recreational users operating within the safety guidelines of a community-based organization. “Congress by no means intended to grant a free pass for individuals who operate model aircraft. Instead, it clearly intended to leave risk mitigation and the development of appropriate safety guidelines for the operation of these devices by the members of the AMA to the nationwide community-based organization.”
More importantly, he says, AMA members have a safe flying record. He highlights the fact that AMA has proactively partnered with the FAA and other industry stakeholders in an effort to educate the new drone enthusiasts through the Know Before You Fly campaign. “AMA’s members strive to be a part of the solution. However, the solution should not involve our members bearing the burden of new regulations.”
Last, Mathewson says, “Unfortunately, the task force recommendations may ultimately prove untenable by requiring the registration of smaller devices that are essentially toys and do not represent safety concerns. ... The task force only considered weight, requiring any device up to 0.55 pounds to register. We believe weight should be only one of several factors considered when determining where the threshold should be for UAS registration.”
About The Academy of Model Aeronautics
The Academy of Model Aeronautics, founded in 1936, continues to be devoted to national airspace safety. It serves as the nation’s collective voice for approximately 180,000 modelers in 2,400 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Headquartered in Muncie, Ind., AMA is a membership organization representing those who fly model aircraft for recreation and educational purposes
