We heard yesterday that this was coming and have been given an idea of what's in them. Its not the best if true.
WASHINGTON–Please join U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Deputy Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Whitaker for an announcement about the aircraft registration process for owners of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). A Registration Task Force delivered recommendations to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on November 21, 2015.
When: Monday, December 14, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. EST
Comments
What I find amazing is that in these days for cellphones and laptops in commercial cockpits plus Ipads everywhere that I have NEVER seen any picture or video from a cockpit that shows a so called "near miss" and this is despite hearing on more that one occasion that the local tower had notified aircraft following the same landing pattern as a previous alleged sighting and asking pilots to look out for the object.
When I fly I think that I would be prepared for this. ... or is it just a Myth.
@Rob
It may have been called a near miss, but I don't know, however this would have been due to the pilots actions.
What if this same pilot had flown over my trap field while I had students or customers shooting clay and due to high db hearing protection we didn't know it was coming and hit it with a clay or a shotgun round. I constantly get planes flying over my property, almost taking the tops of my trees off and spooking my horses. Maybe the FAA should be more concerned with educating pilots and fixing the mass amount of problems in the commercial airline industry.
Registering drones will be like anything else the government does. They start small and want a little more here and there, until you'need a TSA background check to own or fly you RC Model.
Diane, interesting story. I wonder if that incident was then reported as a "near miss"?
So if FAA is going with this "drones are aircraft" thing, how come drone operators don't require a real pilot's license? How do you have one thing, without the other?
Do drone flight hours count towards the hours needed to get your PPL?
@Patrick Duffy
believe it or not most people have no clue about multi-copters and have never seen one, except on the news.
I'm an NRA Instructor and do quite a few pistol classes. Most of the time my multi-copter is setting on the bench and when the students come in they are amazed to see what they call a drone, as they have never seen one up close except on the news. I seems I get more questions about the hexacopter than I do guns.
I was flying my hexcopter at about 400 +/- feet above my 30 acre property in rural Pennsylvania (Poconos). I heard a helicopter in the distance heading my way. The copter was following the freeway as it's flight path, which is about 3/4 mile from where I launched. When I heard the helicopter I flipped the RTL switch as to stay far away from the helicopter. The helicopter saw the hexcopter, broke it's flight path and headed towards the hexcopter, I guess for a closer look. That's my only close encounter. I really thought the helicopter would give my hexcopter the same respect that I was showing it by staying far away from it.
Yes, everybody should contact their congressman in some way, the NRA has some very good tools and advice on doing so.
Locate your local officials and how to Effectively Communicate With Your Lawmakers
@Diane, Unless there is some change in public opinion regarding private use of drones, this stuff is going to pass - as you can see by liberal politicians that have no clue about drones. Amazing isn't it, the southern border is wide open and their concern is the 'threat' from Styrofoam hobby airplanes. The media has done a masterful job in demonizing drones so I don't expect we will have any success in stopping this power grab. When I have folks that don't have any experience with drones come to my land, they are shocked that I actually fly drones, and they look at me with suspicion - until they get to fly one for themselves and experience the fun. I actually had a neighbor who is a friend of mine say he would try to shoot down a drone that passed over his house (not knowing I was a drone pilot), I challenged him and asked why he didn't try to shoot down a helicopter that passed over his house. He gave me a blank stare, and said, "but that's different". It's a media-concocted paranoia not based on facts. We have a huge hill to climb to reverse this situation, especially in the era of 'terror' paranoia that has take over this society.
I have scoured the web to find a single case where there was a documented event where a drone caused an civil aviation incident, and I can't find a single one. Zero, nothing - only some 'reports' by pilots that claim to have 'spotted' a drone (probably a large bird in most cases). Not a single reported incident that I can find. This government paranoia is based on myth, not fact, and the notion that something 'might' happen in the future. They see the drone industry growing, and it's an opportunity to control and stifle it, something they are very good at doing.
I will write my congressman, Michael McCaul, but I probably won't get much help from him - he is the "Chairman of Homeland Security", and from what I have seen about him, he is on the side of paranoid government, so my bet is he would vote for the Feinstein/Schumer bill.
No, it will not stop at $5, it never does. How about $$$ for air worthiness certificates.
Here's and interesting read from your not so good friends Feinstein and Schumer
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1608/text
bbladder said, "The DNR, for example, has the authority to board the boats of fisherman for no reason because they have that authority at lakes".
So where do they get this authority? "We the People" have laid down our rights and abdicated our constitution because socialist, police-state liberals control the system. The entire notion that anybody can board a privately-owned boat, plane, car, or ANYTHING, without some 'probable cause' is a direct violation of the 4th Amendment. Do you see now why the founders put the 4th Amendment in the document? These are the ABUSES that they fled, and we now suffer under. Just because you have a boat on a lake does not give the government some 'special powers'. They take this power because you lay down and refuse to stand up for your rights.
And because WE ALLOWED this abuse, they are now moving to increase their power over us so that we must pay tribute to them and pay for the 'privilege' of operating a harmless Styrofoam airplane in a park! OH, but it's only $5! Why are you complaining? Do you really think it will stop at $5 folks? When Social Security was enacted, the progressives said it would never be more than 1% of withholding. Now its 15X that amount! This is how they get their grubby little taxes started, and once the sheeple have been conditioned to accept it, it's a free-for-all for the politicians.
Personally, I will not be registering anything with the federal government.
Lets see, my hexcopter in now Aircraft, if I crash it in my yard will the FAA show up, do a lengthy investigation to find the the cause of the crash, then send me a huge bill for the investigation ?
My guess is transponders will be the next step, since registration numbers are worthless unless you have the copter in your hands.
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