The FAA: Some clarifications
Keith Sessions, Chief Financial Officer
Much has happened since my last column. I wish I had more complete answers to discuss, but it seems things are still in process.
AMA is still in the midst of an IRS audit. This was supposed to start in November 2015 and was pushed back into December. With the holidays and bad weather, it was delayed again. I will provide the results when I can.
Also in December 2015, the FAA came out with its requirement for registration of all model aircraft. There were several items which caused concern. As of this writing, nothing has been changed, but some parts have been clarified.
One of the sticking points for me was the 400-foot limit. When I asked the FAA representative at the AMA Expo about this, it was explained that because we still fly under the AMA Safety Guidelines, the 400-foot limit did not apply. I am hoping to see better clarification in writing soon.
Another issue I had was the privacy of our members. For full-scale aircraft, the registration is often hidden behind a corporation or trust. The addresses are often hangars at airports.
I really do not want to have my information on a database where anyone can find my address and associate it with “drones” that they may think are easy to steal and resell. They will be surprised when they show up and discover that these are not the drones they are looking for. I also feel it is wrong to have information available on minors. It is unnecessary and potentially very dangerous for the minors.
A small annoyance that I have with the FAA rule is that the number must be displayed on or inside an aircraft and accessible without tools. I greatly appreciate the time and effort our Scale modelers put into their airplanes. To have those pieces of art denigrated by a number is a shame. We have always had our personal information in our models, and I feel that should be adequate. Let’s face it, if an airplane gets away from us because of a radio failure, the information on the inside is probably going to be easily accessible without a tool when the remains are found.
All of this was brought up in conversations with the FAA representative who promised to take the information back to Washington. There will be many, many more conversations to hopefully reach a conclusion that works for us.
I am sure that by the time you read this, you will know a lot more than I do right now. The only answer I can give right now is that, no, I have not registered yet. I eventually will because I feel I do not have an option.
I plan to fly within the AMA Safety Code as I have always done, and this includes flying above 400 feet. I have found some thumbscrews so that my registration number can be inside my airplane and still be accessible without tools.
