Drone Laws Extend to Include Toy UAVs

Kioskea ^ | 06/30/14 | Nicole Motta

[Enlightened1]

According to a notice released by the United States Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration last Monday, the new regulations now include Amazon drones and even some toy planes.

Before Monday's notice, the FAA had distinguished model aircraft from small drones according to their usage: commercial or recreational. Hobbyists were free to use model aircraft as they pleased but with these new rules, even toy quadcopters are considered drones and require users to have special permits to operate them. The Hubsan FPV X4 Mini RTF Quadcopter is targeted towards children but this, and other first-person-view model aircraft, will require a permit to fly. Models must be visible at all times, without vision-enhancing devices, which will limit how far children, or adults, can use these devices. Vision-enhancing devices include binoculars, night-vision goggles, powered vision-magnifying devices, and goggles that give users a "first-person view" from the model itself. "Such devices would limit the operator's field of view thereby reducing his or her ability to see and avoid other aircraft in the area," explained the FAA. "Additionally, some of these devices could dramatically increase the distance at which an operator could see the aircraft, rendering the statutory visual-line-of-sight requirements meaningless."

While toy planes may require a permit under the FAA's rules, the agency made it very clear that commercial use of drones is illegal. The FAA did not call out Amazon's drones specifically, but stated that model aircraft, including drones, are not to be used for "payment or commercial purposes." Even if the shipping is free with Amazon drones, it would still be considered commercial use and therefore illegal use. Amazon's vice president of global public policy, Paul Misener, responded saying that this "has no effect on our plans" and that the new regulations were "about hobbyists and model aircrafts, not Amazon."

[taxcontrol]

Each of those rules has a specific reason.

1) establishes liability for damage
2) allows for identification of the owner in the event of a failure or damage
3) limits the range of the craft by physics and not some ambiguous “line of sight”
4) under the pilot’s control means that the pilot needs to be close and able to maneuver / land the craft to prevent accidents.
5) Avoids collision with aircraft
6) Ok, 65 db might be a little low but I don’t want a jet engine buzzing my house.

[Dead Corpse]

Where are those people who thought my idea of privatizing the FAA like the IEEE was stupid....

I told you this would get worse, and look... Here it is.

When your Department has no legal, Constitutional right to exist... Crap like this happens. Every time.

[taxcontrol]

Ok, give me an alternative that prevents a drone from threatening the flight path (and lives) of civilian aviation. How about 500 feet?

[JRandomFreeper]

You just like making rules. Funny how they weren't needed for almost a century.

How about the feds don't make rules concerning model aircraft, in accordance with Section 336(a) of the Public Law?

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

How about no new rule? Reckless endangerment already covers threatening civilian aviation.

New rules are just for the control freaks.

/johnny

[BuffaloJack]

Now we know why the FAA needs SWAT gear.
Midnight no-knock raids on model airplane hobbyists.

[bunkerhill7]

Surveillance Balloons, bows n arrows, camera boomerangs and Trained camera-carrying falcons and eagles are exempt under this BS crap.

[taxcontrol]

And a century ago, the population did not have cell phones or computers or a host of other technology. A century ago we did not have jets carrying hundreds of passengers. Aviation rules have made air travel one of the safest means of transportation.

[JRandomFreeper]

So how about the FAA NOT make a rule about model aircraft, in accordance with existing law?

Almost a century ago, we did have electricity, and back in the '30s, the beginnings of the model aircraft hobby.

Tesla had model boats that were radio controlled back in 1898. His patent was awarded patent No. 613,809.

/johnny

[RetiredTexasVet]

Aviation rules have made air travel one of the safest means of transportation.

Not so. The fear of scum sucking carpetbagger lawyers and paying damages is what has driven air safety.

[JRandomFreeper]

I really get sick of so called conservatives that have a knee jerk reaction of 'pass a law' or 'make a regulation' on everything.

We have plenty of laws already.

/johnny

[HiTech RedNeck]

There are designated flight zones around airports for incoming and outgoing flights. They are sometimes called inverted wedding cakes from their shape — the closer to the airport the lower they are, in steps not continuously. Keep the model aircraft out of those and you should be OK. (One shouldn’t even fly a kite in those zones.)

[Renegade]

Fk em! I’m going to buy a drone(quad copter) tomorrow just because of this stupid govt. overstep

[Dead Corpse]

Far, far too many. You cannot support the Constitution and support all of the laws made in spite of it’s explicit limits...

[BwanaNdege]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowest_safe_altitude

FAA definition

In the United States in particular, the Federal Aviation Administration calls this concept the Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA), and specifically defines it as follows in § 119 of Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR):

” Anywhere: an altitude allowing a safe emergency landing without undue hazard to person or property on the ground;
Over Congested Areas: an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal distance of less than 2,000 feet;
Over Populated Areas: an altitude of 500 feet AGL;
Over Open Water or Sparsely Populated Areas: an altitude allowing for a linear distance greater than 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure;”

In other words, keep your quadcopter or model airplane outside of airport control zones and below 500 feet AGL (above ground level) and IF the manned aircraft is operating legally, he will not hit you.

Positive separation - simple problem, simple solution. (Unless you are a kleptocratic bureaucrat looking for new kingdoms to annex)

[doublecansiter]

1. AMA members already have liability insurance coverage.

2. Under AMA rules, all model aircraft are to be identified
with the owner's name address phone number and AMA
number. In the case of a scale model, this info can be
on a plate or label inside the model.

3. Every R/C transmitter I ever heard of is already limited
to 750mW or 3/4 of a watt.

4. never felt the need for a autopilot myself.

5. Already a FAA rule about this. No flying within 3 miles
without notifying the tower or airport operator. Our
club has been at the same location for 42 years within
3 miles of a county airport. They know we are there and
we know they are there, and govern ourselves accordingly.

6. AMA already has sound level recommendations.

I've been flying R/C model airplanes since 1985 and have
been a instructor pilot (R/C fixed wing) since 1987. In
charge of the training program for new R/C pilots at our club
for the last 10 years.

Just curious, what do you fly?

[taxcontrol]

I have flown but do not do so now (not enough time). I respect the AMA. If everyone followed their rules, well like I said, much of this issue would go away.

[doublecansiter]

Know just where you’re coming from. I try to get one weekend
day and one weekday evening thru the week. Don’t always
work out though.

[MasterGunner01]

I predict this rule will be as successful as the FCC requiring a radio license for CB radios in the 1970s. Their edict was universally IGNORED by the masses. Finally, the FCC just gave up and rescinded the stupid rule.

[Seizethecarp]

As with gun-free zones, drone-free zones will be ignored by terrorists and malicious nut-cases like those who point laser-pointers at pilots!

I have been advocating education of the public to be vigilant as to suspicious activity around airports and public events and near VIP elected or military “high value” “soft” targets.

The public needs to engage in, you guessed it, “profiling” of folks in the neighborhood who might have been radicalized in the local(religious establishment promoting religious “stuggle”) and begun experimenting with model drones...perhaps crashing model drones into things or going on flight simulators like the Maylasian pilot did and simulating drone interceptions with airliners either in IFR landing patterns or in the V1-VR rotation zone on take-off on runways...stuff like that.

See the blog:

http://runwaykillzone.com/