Without thinking too much about that analogy, I'll suggest that in the meantime, everyone avoid flying a 56-pound drone at 101 mph over people as a recreational pilot. Neither of those items are mentioned in 44809 either.
Rules for recreational flyers not clear/complete
- Thread starter wags1
- Start date
brett8883
Well-Known Member
49 USC 44801
(9) SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘small unmanned aircraft’ means an unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds, including the weight of anything attached to or carried by the aircraft.
49 USC 44809 uses the term SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT so an unmanned weighing 56 pounds wouldn’t qualify for the exception in 49 USC 44809. Even part 107 is usually only for small unmanned aircraft under 55 pounds so normally you would need an airworthiness certificate to operate a drone weighing 56 pounds.
I don’t see anything about 101 mph though.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 Subtitle B which is the relevant section of the law is here
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It's not mentioned in 44809, but what is mentioned is the requirement to follow the rules of a community-based organization. The AMA is still the only game in town to satisfy that requirement, and in the AMA safety code it says:
As an AMA member I agree:...
- I will avoid flying directly over unprotected people, moving vehicles, and occupied structures.
brett8883
Well-Known Member
I would respectfully interject that according to AC 91-57B the FAA is giving recreational pilots the option of choosing the AMA rules or the FAA’s existing safety guidelines to satisfy the CBO requirements. The FAA’s safety guidelines do not mention flying over people. To my knowledge the AC is still the most up to date guidance from the FAA. I do imagine that any day now this could be changed.
That would be true except for what is explicitly stated currently in 7.1.2 of AC 91-57B which allows current recreational flyers to choose either the AMA guidelines OR the FAA basic safety guidelines for recreational operations. This was one of the points that I made in the very first post in this thread -
If you go here https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_flyers and look at the paragraph labeled "What are the Rules for Recreational Flyers?" point 2 indicates that you have one of two choices "follow the safety guidelines of existing aeromodelling organizations or use the FAA provided safety guidelines per Advisory Circular 91-57B."
It seems to me that "legislation" is struggling to keep up with the explosion in drone availability and usage. The 250g "border line" is arbitary at best.
My own feeling is the authorities in most countries have lost control with the proliferation of sub 250g devices and I cant see how they can get that control back.
Your average law enforcement officer has no idea of the regulations and will only respond to complaints from the general public when forced to do so.
I, in no way, suggest flying dangerously or irresponsibly. I just feel that the general public view all drones is as items for spying on them, but in a few years they will view them in the same way as the use of mobile phones are now viewed, ie, used 50% of the time as cameras.
I come from an era when you needed to go to the chemist or very specialist camera shop to have the film from your camera processed and your photos came back in a sealed package 10 days later.
How things change!
My own feeling is the authorities in most countries have lost control with the proliferation of sub 250g devices and I cant see how they can get that control back.
Your average law enforcement officer has no idea of the regulations and will only respond to complaints from the general public when forced to do so.
I, in no way, suggest flying dangerously or irresponsibly. I just feel that the general public view all drones is as items for spying on them, but in a few years they will view them in the same way as the use of mobile phones are now viewed, ie, used 50% of the time as cameras.
I come from an era when you needed to go to the chemist or very specialist camera shop to have the film from your camera processed and your photos came back in a sealed package 10 days later.
How things change!
That's correct - you can follow those guidelines. I was just pointing out that 44809 effectively requires more than just the rules directly quoted because of the guidelines requirement. What it doesn't require is following Part 107.
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