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AMA: Advocacy Updates with UAS Registration

01 Jan 2016 8:00 AM | Marshall Henley
Direct (quoted) from the AMA on 1/11/16

“As you know, we have been working with our legal counsel and the FAA to find a solution for our members on the registration rule. To date, FAA has agreed in principle to several proposed initiatives that will help ease this process for our members. Specifically, they are:

·       AMA and the FAA are working to streamline the registration process for AMA members whereby those who register with the FAA will be able to use their AMA number as the primary identification on their model aircraft, as opposed to adding a new federal registration number.

·       In addition, AMA members’ federal registration will automatically renew provided membership remains active and current. We are working with FAA in negotiating the renewal fee, but  in any case it is envisioned the renewal process will be provided as a member benefit.

·       In the future, federal registration will automatically be accomplished upon joining the AMA, eliminating the need to register with both AMA and the FAA.

These initiatives are a step in the right direction. However, we want to emphasize that this is not the end of our efforts to protect AMA members from this overreaching regulation. We are continuing to explore all legal and political options available, but these conversations may take time and a definitive solution is unlikely before the February 19 registration deadline.

Currently, registration is free of charge until January 19. If you would like to take advantage of this free period, you may want to register before that day. But please note that you have until February 19 to register in order to avoid violating the federal rule.

We also want to encourage our members to submit comments to the FAA about the registration rule. It is critical that all AMA members are heard loud and clear on this issue. The deadline for submitting comments is Friday, January 15. Additional instruction is available here.

Thank you for your patience as we work to find the best path forward on registration. We are committed to doing everything possible to protect our hobby and ensure that future generations have the opportunity to fly.”

sUAS Registration

You may have heard on the evening news something about drone registration and thought, I don’t fly a drone so that doesn’t apply to me…Think again, they were really talking about Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). So what exactly is a sUAS and what actually has to be registered?

·       A UAS is the unmanned aircraft (UA) and all of the associated support equipment, control station, data links, telemetry, communications and navigation equipment, etc.,  necessary to operate the unmanned aircraft. A sUAS is under 55lbs maximum takeoff weight. This is any aircraft that flies with a control system, so ANY RC AIRCRAFT.

·       All sUAS that weigh more than 0.55lbs or 250grams bust be registered to legally fly in the USA.

·       Anyone 13 or older must register their sUAS. Anyone younger than 13 must have the sUAS they are operating registered by an adult.

·       All sUAS must be registered by February 19th, 2016

·       Failure to register an aircraft may result in regulatory and criminal sanctions. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years.

For more information about sUAS visit http://www.faa.gov/uas/

To register your sUAS visit https://registermyuas.faa.gov/



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