I was just flying mine a couple of days ago and got this beauty:
A friend just got a drone and was asking about the registration stuff, so this is good for him and me. Haven’t gotten around to getting mine done, guess I’ll get right to that.
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At casual look it is but having lived through it and been in aviation for it all it’s easy to understand.
FAR part 103 (our regulations for ultralights)was passed in the usa’s least paranoid time between the end of the Cold War and 911.
If part 103 was to ever be touched it would go from a single page to a mid size book.
Model aircraft was simply ignored for its first 100 years and then paranoia kicked in.
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It’s not exactly paranoia, comparing today’s inexpensive GPS-enabled, high def camera-wielding, multiple kilometer-range consumer UAVs to the average RC plane from 1990 … they’re not even remotely similar. In all I’d say the registration and testing is a very mild response compared to the magnitude of the shenanigans that are possible with today’s RC vehicles.
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Breathtaking!
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“Possible”, wherein lies the rub, in 62 years I have not once seen more hoops to jump through for the honest and responsible to jump through stop a bad actor. Based on history we’d be money ahead to require extensive background checks for buying pressure cookers than regulating RC out of existence.
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A free registration and free, very easy test are not exactly that.
As for “possible” we’re already seeing weaponized consumer-grade drones in foreign engagements. We’re already seeing accidents that cause damage. We’re already seeing violations of privacy with cameras.
I’m not a fan of FUD, but I think having a shred of accountability is a good thing. Things can and will go wrong.
For more context:
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Okay, they are scary and can be misused but how is anything the FAA doing going to stop bad actors?
Also, registration and the test are not so bad, it is the either add telemetry or stay on VERY limited reservation that is over the top.
Nether of these are in place because nether exist as of this writing but both are law and will be mandatory at some point.
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The FAA won’t stop bad actors. The registration and test requirements are designed to educate ignorant actors with the hope they will not become bad actors as a result.
And it gives them the ability to penalize ignorant actors to serve as a warning to others.
But bad actors? Bad actors don’t follow the law, no law or regulation can be applied to them.
The FAA has already agreed that most of their requirements do not apply when the “UAV” is flown at a recognized site. The Academy of Model Aeronautics has a few 100 sites country-wide that are all being recognized. And there is a provision to create new sites. Provided you stay below 400 feet and fly at one of these sites, you don’t need the IFF transponder and I don’t think you need a FAA registration ID on the model you are flying. And if the model you are flying weighs less than 250g (with battery or fuel) it is exempt from all the rules.
This is why I’m working on this long-range quad copter. Flies for 20 minutes, enough to easily go 5 or 6K out and back, weighs 112g with battery.
Center body 3D printed on my Form3 printer, arms laser cut courtesy of Glowforge!
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And the FAA will generally not prosecute them. In fact they generally don’t go after most violators even in the manned aircraft world because they’re focus is in public safety and don’t want to create a culture where people are afraid to self-report and learn.
But that doesn’t apply to the non-aviation community who aren’t interested in learning. Hence the illegal laws in most every state regulating airspace that congress only allows the FAA to regulate and the blind eye paid to people who assault drone pilots or damage their aircraft. The FAA is trying to treat drones as aircraft and operators as pilots but then doesn’t treat them as such in these scenarios where the same behavior toward a manned aircraft or pilot would result in significant fines or jail time.
Local law enforcement can’t or won’t take action because it requires effort & knowledge and “that’s the FAA’s role” except its not when those same local officials want to ban flying.
We’re simply not a large enough constituency to get equal treatment. Best to just keep your head down and don’t be a jerk.
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I work on a military base and sometimes we have stand downs because someone started flying their UAV in our air space (which is a bigggg no no). All the times it has happened that I have been around has been times where the actor ends up being someone that just didn’t know the laws. The FAA requiring the test will at least make an impact on the number of incidents like this.
We have a mavic that we use when sailing. They have great uses for sure when it comes to getting a better view.
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I expect there will be a flood if “I didn’t know I needed to pass a test” people 
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Very true. Sometimes I forget we are living in times where people act out on planes and are not worried about the no fly list. Its as if a large enough body of people simply do not care.
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