[JohnBer]

The U.S. House last week passed the FAA Authorization Bill as reconciled by the House/Senate Committee. It will go to the U.S. Senate next week, be passed and signed into law by the President.

This is the section pertaining to model aviation:

Quote:
SEC. 336. SPECIAL RULE FOR MODEL AIRCRAFT.

(a) In General.Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to the incorporation of unmanned aircraft systems into Federal Aviation Administration plans and policies, including this subtitle, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft, or an aircraft being developed as a model aircraft, if

(1) the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use;

(2) the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;

(3) the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds unless otherwise certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization;

(4) the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and

(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport) with prior notice of the operation (model aircraft operators flying from a permanent location within 5 miles of an airport should establish a mutually-agreed upon operating procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport)).

(b) Statutory Construction.Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Administrator to pursue enforcement action against persons operating model aircraft who endanger the safety of the national airspace system.

(c) Model Aircraft Defined.In this section, the term ``model aircraft'' means an unmanned aircraft that is

(1) capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;

(2) flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft; and

(3) flown for hobby or recreational purposes.

I do not see anything for or against turbines.

[PropsnWings]

I find this to be very reasonable, especially when it clearly states what they call a "model aircraft" , I agree with all of the list, especially #2. As I would imagine anyone wanting to commit terrorist actions, would need to have a large enough aircraft they would want to fly it unseen. I think its nice for once someone took time to write out something for us as Americans, and not in the fear of terrorism.

do you have a link to the actual bill?

[Mithrandir]

and prolly we oughta try to remember... "WE" are the AMA.....

[Classclown]

It's gonna be the fpv nerds that get us in trouble....

[JoeAirport]

Originally Posted by Classclown

It's gonna be the fpv nerds that get us in trouble....

Dude, you have no idea how right you are. We just had an incident at our field. An FPV nerd flew too far and lost his plane. Crashed in some yard. Not cool. Stirred up the entire club. Next thing you know some retired ex-airline captain that's a member is trying to get us all to fly under 400 feet. Friggen nightmare.

[Classclown]

That sucks man. It kills me, fpv is really cool. I have about 80 hours flying fpv under my belt, but that was mostly done in a controlled environment, when I flew prototype UAV's. Unfortunately, we have too many dumba$$es about us that don't think things through, go out, fly fpv in stupid places, shooting YouTube videos, praying for that viral fame. I don't get how these idiots think.

[wahoo]

Originally Posted by Classclown

That sucks man. It kills me, fpv is really cool. I have about 80 hours flying fpv under my belt, but that was mostly done in a controlled environment, when I flew prototype UAV's. Unfortunately, we have too many dumba$$es about us that don't think things through, go out, fly fpv in stupid places, shooting YouTube videos, praying for that viral fame. I don't get how these idiots think.

You don't ??...well you just said it !!

[SSG]

Originally Posted by JoeAirport

Next thing you know some retired ex-airline captain that's a member is trying to get us all to fly under 400 feet. Friggen nightmare.

Perhaps, but as a not yet retired airline captain I want to see the hobby allowed to continue with as little intervention as possible. Hell the field I fly at may very likely face some problems. We are too close to Denver's airport. The fact that the club was there long before DIA was built and that the simple reality is that we are very cognizant of their flight patterns and go out of our way to ensure we never create a conflict will probably not matter if push comes to shove.

OTOH when tools like Trappy do what he did in NYC with complete disregard for LEGAL users of the NAS it makes my blood boil.

BTW FWIW airline pilots retired or otherwise have no more clout as individuals than any other member of the public when it comes to weighing in on the subject.

[Classclown]

What was the outcome of that fiasco with that Trappy moron anyway? I can't remember if they whacked his peepee or not.

[wahoo]

They cut if off ...


HAHAHAHA