Registration of Drones over .55lbs Mandated by the FAA

[etrain16]

In a not surprising story, the FAA has made it official. You have until February 16, 2016 to register your drone if it's between .55 lbs and 50 lbs. Failure to do so will put you in line for a potential for fines from $27,500 (civil offense) up to $250,000 (for criminal offenses), even up to 3 years in prison (again for a criminal offense). Registration is $5 and will include a registration/proof of ownership that will require a marking of the drone (likely similar to an airplane).

The FAA states:

"Make no mistake: unmanned aircraft enthusiast are aviators, and with that title comes a great deal of responsibility," said US secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx. "Registration gives us an opportunity to work with these users to operate their unmanned aircraft safely. I'm excited to welcome these new aviators into the culture of safety and responsibility that defines American innovation."

Hmmm, interesting. If this is really about safety and responsibility, then why does your 'responsibility' only include a $5 fee as you kiss the a$$ of the federal government for the 'privilege' to exercise your 'responsibility'? I mean, if this is so critical, going so far as to state it is a "great deal of responsibility", and is not really about registering people on yet another f'ing government database, then why are these people not required to have a license? To have some minimal amount of training, followed by a test? How about liability insurance as well as a medical certificate, just like pilots are required to have? "Great deal of responsibility" my a$$.

I got my pilot's license while I was still in high school. I took year of training, on the ground and in the air. I had to be tested. I had to have a current medical certificate. There was nothing easy or simple about exercising my "great deal of responsibility" as a pilot in command of an aircraft AKA an "aviator".

No, this is simply about more government control over yet another industry/hobby. This has ZERO to do with safety or responsibility. It has everything to do with the government sticking their fat sticky fingers into your business.

I wonder if at some point, people are going to get fed up with this stuff and do something about it? Maybe now drone owners can get a taste of what gun owners have been fighting for decades. I guess in this case it's a little different since these folks didn't have a constitutional provision to protect them. Sure didn't take the government long to pounce on yet another unprotected part of our lives.

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...r-by-february-19th-2016/ar-BBnxAAh?li=BBnb7Kz

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[oli700]

ha ha

 

[PaulB47]

Some laws and rules just cry out to be flouted.

 

[teflon6string]

I'm not well off by any means, but I like toys. And dozens of my (various) toys are individually registered - which I resent in a big way. At least we won't have to register each bird - like guns, motor vehicles and boats. Or so it would seem...

But sadly, the bottom line, a mandated identification number marked on each RC bird weighing more than 250g, (even when you use the same number from your $5 license each time) is de facto registration, tying each and every qualifying RC bird to its owner. It's just another push by yet another government agency, to create and perpetuate people control - pry into our business and make us pay for it. Trust me, it will cost far more down the road and the restrictions will increase. On this, I'd love to be wrong.

So whether you elect to play along, or not, ask yourself this... What are the chances that anyone INTENTIONALLY and ILLEGALLY INTERFERING with any aspect of general aviation will faithfully IDENTIFY THEMSELVES to Federal investigators by providing ID numbers on the instruments they use? What's next, registering the laser pointers we buy to entertain cats?

 

[oknow]

If you don't register them then they won't know where to go to give you a ticket, you just lose the drone

 

[transittech]

So if its not registered, I guess I can take my chances shooting it down.

 

[Member 5605]

Wth?

 

[oknow]

So if its not registered, I guess I can take my chances shooting it down.

Only if your one of those type of people

 

[etrain16]

Funny, I just came to read some new comments on this thread, and what do I see in the upper right hand corner - an ad for a drone. And not just any drone, a nano drone - weighs just under 5 oz. which means it's below the weight requirement for registration. And it shoots 15mp photos and 1080p HD 30FPS video. I guess the brilliant minds of developers and innovators will quickly find ways to beat even the government, yet again.



I'm not ready to buy a drone just yet, but this is actually a pretty cool model. It would be fun to use it at the range - set it up to hover just above and in front of the firing line (out of the way, of course), to capture the shooting footage. Pretty cool.

 

[oli700]

I am usually against these sorts of things but this is classic situation of stupid people with smart toys...
as far as I am concerned more needs to be done
In my line of work we have had to ground firefighting aircraft because stupid rubber necking idiots with stupid UAV's trying to see what men do for a living.....cost quite a few acres and put quite a few lives in danger

the first one of these that strikes a fire helo rotor or gets sucked into a retardant plane prop, multiple people are going to die because some slob had to have a picture

 

[etrain16]

I am usually against these sorts of things but this is classic situation of stupid people with smart toys...
as far as I am concerned more needs to be done
In my line of work we have had to ground firefighting aircraft because stupid rubber necking idiots with stupid UAV's trying to see what men do for a living.....cost quite a few acres and put quite a few lives in danger

the first one of these that strikes a fire helo rotor or gets sucked into a retardant plane prop, multiple people are going to die because some slob had to have a picture

So, just out of curiosity, how does registration prevent these events from happening? Considering gun registration doesn't stop people from doing stupid things with guns. And vehicle registration doesn't stop people from doing stupid things with cars. How would registration of drones save lives?

I get the concern. It's real. And it's certainly something that needs to be addressed. But I don't think anyone can demonstrate that government registration and fees/taxes will ever save a life or stop idiots from being idiots. Instead, the overwhelming law-abiding majority is punished for the actions of a few, and no actual solution is gained in the process. People will still do the things you're concerned about.

I would rather see them deploy anti-drone technology in situations such as the ones you describe. The tech is already there, and it should further developed and be made available to firefighters, police, etc., to give them a greater degree of actual protection in these situations. Heck, maybe even a plane/chopper could be armed with some kind of transmitter that would knock out communications to a drone within 5 miles of the aircraft, for example.

Otherwise all this amounts to is another tax, another government list and another false promise of protection. The government can't save us. If there is a problem, we need to find better ways to solve them.

 

[omahaoutdoors]

Regardless of what they say or your individual opinion on the matter, the reality is that it is just another case of Big Brother trying to get his hands on something and control it. Regulating it like this means more tax dollars, plain and simple. As etrain16 pointed out though, people will innovate to overcome.

 

[oli700]

So, just out of curiosity, how does registration prevent these events from happening? .

obviously it doesn't , it gives someone to hold accountable hopefully when they recover the numbers from the wreckage .....
and comparing this to the assault on the second is quite the reach......these are toys that take pictures and videos and firearms are what keep this nation free ......not even in the same realm
UAV's are not a God given right

 

[etrain16]

obviously it doesn't , it gives someone to hold accountable hopefully when they recover the numbers from the wreckage .....
and comparing this to the assault on the second is quite the reach......these are toys that take pictures and videos and firearms are what keep this nation free ......not even in the same realm
UAV's are not a God given right

Perhaps my point wasn't clear. I wasn't comparing drone ownership in any way the the constitutional right to keep an bear arms. I understand there is no constitutional right to keep and bear drones. I put the comparison in there to make a point about registrations in general - that is to say, registration does nothing to keep people safe. Not registration of cars, not registration of guns and it will be as equally ineffective on drones. It really is just another tax attached to a feel good measure with no means of protection.

Just like background checks, magazine restrictions and registration have not stopped shooters from killing people, this registration will be equally as ineffective at protecting or saving lives.

Think about it, your response to me says that they can perhaps go after someone AFTER a crash has occurred. After lives have already been lost. What the heck good does that do in the long run? Maybe, if they're lucky, some money for the families? Good luck with that as I suspect drone owners aren't likely wealthy people. Of course, the government could then require liability insurance to go with that registration too What it someone steals a drone and crashes it into an aircraft? Do we now have to add a law to make it mandatory to report the theft, just to protect yourself from the liability? And, I suspect many people will not comply with this registration anyway, so what do you do then? It's cheaper for them to crash and lose an unregistered drone than to face prosecution later. Good luck trying to track down the owner. So, how about we do something BEFORE a crash occurs instead?

We know that the technology already exists to block the signals of drones in a geographic area, something that could be deployed on an as-needed basis, such as where your firefighting aircraft operate. It could actually save those lives in the first place, rather than give some financial comfort to the families of those already lost. It just seems to me that a proactive measure rather than a reactive measure is the better place to pool resources.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Member 5605]

obviously it doesn't , it gives someone to hold accountable hopefully when they recover the numbers from the wreckage .....
and comparing this to the assault on the second is quite the reach......these are toys that take pictures and videos and firearms are what keep this nation free ......not even in the same realm
UAV's are not a God given right

Since you speak of prop engines and turbines... How much of one of these drones would be left if it was sucked into a turbine? How much would be left if it met full force on a rotor or a prop?

Not much. I've heard the stories of large birds hitting heli rotors, nothing but a red mist and fresh red paint on the front of the aircraft. Turbines and frozen chickens? Not much is left. I'm sure plastic at turbine temps holds up better than chicken but given a sub fuel melting point.. how really will those "tail numbers" be accounted for when it's all melted.

@etrain16 has valid points and I'm sure he and I are not the ONLY ones who feel that way. While they are not in the Constitution and really they are not a necessity to the freedom of a free state.. it is yet another overreach of an out of control government.

In no way Oli700 will the registration only of these items have any effect on the safety of any crews. There is no mandatory training, no flight instructions, no upkeep on operations and knowledge of laws. This is as asinine as being forced to register firearm magazines (and clips).

 

[erudne]

If I recall correctly all the airliners used in the 9-11 attacks were registered w/the FAA, so we have a perfect example of where reliance on .Guv lists leads.
The whole point of this registration is to control the ownership of equipment that, during a national crisis, could be used to the advantage of an oppressed citizenry. After all, the military loves their drones

 

[etrain16]

If I recall correctly all the airliners used in the 9-11 attacks were registered w/the FAA, so we have a perfect example of where reliance on .Guv lists leads.
The whole point of this registration is to control the ownership of equipment that, during a national crisis, could be used to the advantage of an oppressed citizenry. After all, the military loves their drones

If only those damn box cutters would have been registered

 

[DuneHopper]

I have a couple that are not camera carriers and are very small so small a strong wind and they are useless. So they fall under the weight class. I am not happy about any regulation period.
But being owning a drone is the same as a car and not Constitutionally protected I guess its not against any right to pass the law. Other then the law of stupidly. The government can't track full grown men crossing our border daily that are on foot. But some how will be able to hunt down a 1lb drone in Missouri the law is stupid at a very high level. Banning drones around sensitive areas and even privacy concerns like over over my pool I get. But to put something like this is equivalent to registering kites.

 

[erudne]

I have a couple that are not camera carriers and are very small so small a strong wind and they are useless. So they fall under the weight class. I am not happy about any regulation period.
But being owning a drone is the same as a car and not Constitutionally protected I guess its not against any right to pass the law. Other then the law of stupidly. The government can't track full grown men crossing our border daily that are on foot. But some how will be able to hunt down a 1lb drone in Missouri the law is stupid at a very high level. Banning drones around sensitive areas and even privacy concerns like over over my pool I get. But to put something like this is equivalent to registering kites.

And it's not even a 'law' but an edict, a regulation with no citizen input

 

[Wayne]

Will FF transfers be legal ? Or will you have to go to a local toy store and have them do a transfer. All kidding aside, I see no way in this rule to do a transfer.