As another that is Commercial ASMEL, instrument, instructor I have to completely agree with Bart. The FAA has always been tasked with maintaining air safety and promoting commerce using the sky as a transport medium. The commercial sUAS industry, in which field I'm employed, has obtained COA's in which to operate their aircraft. Some have gone so far as to obtain experimental type certificates, as is the case with one of the aircraft involved with the Alaska operations. So they are playing by a very involved and stringent set of rules that hobbyists and modelers want to be exempted from. Therein lies the problem.
When you combine a large group of people that insist they can do anything they want, any time they want, with hundreds of videos depicting the lack of regard they extend to anyone else and/or the law, be they in the air or on the ground, you have the stage set for a terrible event. It just hasn't happened yet. Yes, there has to be rules and limits, but those need to be fair, realistic, and enforceable. As it stands what the FAA has written does not have the strength of law, and it violates the tenants laid upon the FAA by Congress. One cannot break a law to make a law, especially at the federal level. The AMA spotter rule is not a law recognized by the FAA. AMA rules are in no way enforceable under the law. The AMA was trying to get the FAA to accept their form of rules to set the basis for the national organization concept, but we, meaning FPV and MR people, to a great extent, have ignored those operational guidelines. You have to hand it to DJI, their Phantom, and the people it was sold to have largely been the ones to create the issues were are now experiencing. Anyone can buy it, anyone can fly it, and nobody receives any advice on the right way to go about doing things. It's not just DJI really, it's the industry in general. Take the money and run. How many on line vendors provide any kind of operational advice in their sales documentation? Most of the MR forums provide the same amount but their hands are out for the advertising dollar.
This site is one of the few that views our activities in the long term instead of the short and took the steps necessary to be a good leader.
