Oh Dear:(

[pvolcko]

Yes. Anything that flies that's between 1/2 and 55lbs that is controlled remotely (by radio or tether) has to get your faa # on it.

[Derek]

Right...that's what I thought. It's just odd that I hear so many people only referring to the multirotors and not the planes and heli's, too.

[pvolcko]

There's a lot of bad info floating around on it right now. I'm not sure where the idea came about that the FAA was only trying to regulate "drones". Surely the popularity of the easy to fly multi-rotors with cameras on them has precipitated all of this (though not exclusively, keeping in mind the case of the plane with fpv that did a paid recording session over a university), but it was clear for a long time now that the regulatory framework was not going to be limited to "drones" because there was no good way to define them or separate their risk profile from any other similarly sized and composed RC model. I've read some people claiming the AMA had lead them to believe this. Maybe their local VPs or reps were telling them that, but that has not been the message I've been reading/heading out of AMA for some time now. They knew full well this was going to be an all out regulatory regime on all model aircraft, not just "drones".

There is also a lot of chatter (and even a change.org petition) going around among AMA members, including some fairly prominent members, making noise about getting the AMA to somehow cut "drones" out of the organization. Again, as a matter of definition I'm not sure how you do it. AMA members have been flying these things for years now, too. If it flies and is remote controlled some percentage of AMA members are going to want to fly it, at club fields, and under the umbrella of insurance coverage provided by being a member. It is also a fast growing segment, especially with the advent of FPV racing hitting the US over the past year (with all indications it will continue to grow in popularity). If the AMA did somehow carve it out of the organization's interests and coverage, I have the imagine it was be a major blow to recruitment and retention of members.