FAA Can Make All Model Aircraft Flights Illegal, Federal Court Rules

[Balu]

The fun part is that they were not accused of reckless flying, but commercially flying. Trappys case was not about endangering anyone, it was about flying, filming and getting paid by the university to do so. By the same university that not only allowed flying and filming on their property, but also invited and paid him for that. There was no illegal flying, there was "illegal" earning money involved - the kind of illegal that later got rejected in court.

Please, get your facts straight.

What about all the other cases? Pilots flying in restricted airspaces, dropping drones in natural preserve springs, copters flying towards police helicopters and over crowds of people?

Yep. Trappy is the devil, but all these are just poor individual cases?

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

We, as a hobby, just need to be sure that we are flying safely. Weather or not someone gets paid for aerial photography should not be the FAA's concern, but in cases such as the ones presented above, they should be cracking down on the individuals. Unfortunately, morons will be morons and they may end up landing a boatload of legislature on us, the people that just want to enjoy a hobby without endangering anyone else.

 

[Tritium]

Someone getting paid is only an IRS concern!

Thurmond

 

[EricRice]

It's easy to get our collective panties in a wad over this and blaming is part of that. However, we are all in this together. The reason for all of this posturing by the federal government is simple - they have been lobbied by powerful corporations (many of whom have politicians with vested interests) to pass laws that will stomp on the abilities of small businesses in order to kill competition. UAS are the future in many areas of life, some yet to be realized, and the big boys and more invested than anyone. They will not sit idly by whilst all these small up-starts pose a threat to their hopeful monopoly on autonomous flight. This is nothing new and has been done in countless sectors of the market.

We, as citizens, and some of us as entrepreneurs, must band-together and work within our system (navigating through the corruption) and force our representatives to stand for our rights and desires. This will touch areas of life that most haven't begun to think about. Trappy isn't the devil, idiotic Phantom pilots aren't either. The lobbyists on K Street, and their customers are:

- ADCOM Systems
- Aeronautics Ltd
- AeroVironment Inc
- Aurora Flight Sciences
- BAE Systems PLC
- The Boeing Company
- Denel SOC Ltd
- Elbit Systems Ltd
- Finmeccanica SpA
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Safran SA
- Textron Inc
- Thales Group

Any of these organizations operating in the US (they all may not) and lobbying our government to push the little guys out of the market are the cause of this, and of course the feds. They want more and more power. This isn't and never was about individuals doing stupid things. This would be happening even if we all were perfect examples of AMA guidelines. You don't think these people are above paying cash for a Phantom and crashing in a high-profile way to cause a stir in the media? You'd be surprised what kind of people we're dealing with. There are billions of dollars at stake.

Make your voices heard at the state and federal level. We The People must be heard and we must hold accountable those who seek to deny us our right to earn a living and seek happiness as we see fit.

 

[xuzme720]

Well, said Eric. Bottom line, once again the dollar speaks volumes and it's not representation of the people but he with the most money that wins. I wonder if our citizens will ever wake up to the fact that our government is no longer being operated as "for the people, by the people" and hasn't for some time.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

forgive me if i'm wrong, but could we, collectively as RC hobbyists and pilots, form a lobby for more just laws regarding model flight?

 

[xuzme720]

We actually don't need more laws, we just need a bigger bag of cash than the guys trying to keep us out of the commercial market...

Truthfully, there are already privacy laws in place to prevent peeping or spying with our models. The same laws that prevent someone from sticking a camera on a pole to look over your fence...
There are existing laws that prevent interfering with manned aircraft and controlled airspace. Pretty specific laws, I might add.
Rules are already in place for us to fly safely and those pilots that end up in the news are not following them, whether it's malicious, accidental or preplanned makes no difference, but should be dealt with on a case by case basis. Don't count on that happening because it's faster and easier to just ban them all so the bureaucrats can get back to counting the other lobby money and abusing their power.

I'm just not sure our lobby could have enough cash to get their attention unless we had plenty of manufacturers with us...I'd REALLY like to think that we CAN still make a difference, but it's been proven time and again we now live under the golden rule.

 

[Balu]

forgive me if i'm wrong, but could we, collectively as RC hobbyists and pilots, form a lobby for more just laws regarding model flight?

I guess in the USA that lobby is called AMA.

 

[Craftydan]

I guess in the USA that lobby is called AMA.

They *would* like you to believe that . . . and they have lobbied quite a bit. One of the ugliest stickign points in the FAA's overreach is the legislation the AMA has lobbied into the statutes -- the FAA does not have the power to regluate recreational model piloting within certian boundaries. The AMA may have been caught flat-footed in this, but IMO, only becasue they believed the FAA woudn't attempt to so blaitently re-interperate the statutes in nonsense ways . . .

Unfortunatly the FAA has re-interpreated that the statute limitations do not apply to commencial activities (in many cases they are correct, but a model airplane manufacturer?!? Pilot demos?!?) and are actively seeking to interperate those boundaries for the hobbyist to be meaningless. For the former, they've said "you must abide by the rules and get approval" without a defined approval process in place -- typical government logic. Those with sufficent funding and political clout, they have been able to push for approval in the "case-by-case" basis. For the latter, they're using doubletalk of you're finable in any situation, but we won't unless you do something we don't like . . . a frightening prospect to attach a $10K fine to the mood of a bureaucrat.

Fundamentaly, it's NOT about Safety. It's about regulation. As any good bureaucrat, they will try to strech the guiding statutes to give them power to do as they please . . . which in this case, IMO, is to show the American people that they're "on top of this and in control" . . . so they can go back to sleep. The only reason they press so hard is the argument "The FAA can't control the airspace they have". Otherwise, they'd still be perfectly happy with the procedures and processes they've automated to the point they keep their jobs but don't have to do much, and ignore anything out of place that doesn't send the public into panic.

In the end the success of the overreach is primarily for the courts to decide, but the AMA and other parties of interest in the commecial world are likely to press on those in congress who are already feeling the "over-regulation" itch . . . to pass a few regulation limits to narrow the FAA's ability to interperate the law to their heart's content.

We'll see how that goes

 

[VolksRocket]

All Knowing and Powerful!

Hi,

Yes, unfortunately, the FAA does have the PRIVILEGE and RESPONSIBILITY to ground, fine,....punish irresponsible operation of RC, BUT they WILL NOT and CANNOT EVER take YOUR RIGHT to PERSUE YOUR HAPPINESS of RC!.....unless you allow them too!

America was founded on FREEDOM and INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS! Any policy, rule, guideline, law, etc., etc.....is an automatic INFRINGEMENT on freedom and individual rights. That is why ANY government must meet two requirements to infringe.

1. They my show a genuine NEED to do so. (Pretty easy, just say they do)
BUT
2. They MUST ONLY infringe the LEAST amount possible! (This is where WE get them EVERYTIME)(They overstep their privilege, because remember, it is OUR RIGHTS vs. their privilege and responsibility that we have given them to create the environment for US to PERSUE OUR HAPPINESS!)

It is YOUR RIGHT and DUTY as a citizen to keep your foot on their neck to prevent them from infringing on YOUR RIGHTS!

Sincerely and Respectfully,
Terry W. Wheelock
Independent Candidate for President of the United States 2016
Vote! WHEELOCK! 2016