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The April 2010 Issue of Model Aviation has the monthly letter from the AMA President and it is titled:

….Model Aviation may be facing its greatest challenge

I recommend that you take time to read it, however, I will summarize the points he makes in the event that you cannot read it. There are many companies in the US that are developing small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, (sUAS) that are intended for public use. For example, a police force could use this type of system to track a fleeing suspect in a car, without a high speed car chase on the city streets using the sUAS equipped with various cameras and sensors to keep the car in view. These system could be used to track a fleeing criminal through a wooded area to avoid capture. They may be used to find skiers or hikers lost on a mountain in snow, or used to survey damage areas which are dangerous for people, such as avalanche areas, volcanoes, flooded towns, and earthquake damage.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is trying to create regulations governing how sUAS will interface with the existing National Airspace System (NAS). These are the rules that govern aircraft travelling in controlled and uncontrolled airspace. The rules for manned aircraft are well known, but the sUAS are remote controlled aircraft that are out of the direct line of sight by which we control our RC aircraft.

The regulatory process began in 2008, when the FAA issued an Executive Order creating an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). The ARC has 20 members, one of which is the AMA’s government affairs representative. The Executive Order charged the ARC with drafting regulations for the sUAS in the NAS. It was additionally required to “define a model aircraft.” The ARC submitted these recommendations in March 2009, and as usual, this group went so far as to potentially regulating model aircraft operating in the NAS. This would not be good for our hobby, as FAA regulations would be very cumbersome and restrictive as to weight and power of our model aircraft. We might all have to give up our gas and glo powered scale models, and be forced to fly electric foamies…..

The basic difference between our RC models, and sUAS is that we must see and control our models, and we fly in a restricted space, not down city streets or other areas where the robot vehicle are likely to be flown. The sUAS are sensor controlled so they must sense and avoid collisions, and that technology is not quite there yet. AMA has a good safety record, and they agree that modelers have an obligation to operate safely in the NAS.

If you want to keep an eye on this ongoing process, the AMA website has a special area with the latest developments posted there. Go to www.modelaircraft.org/news/ama-faa.aspx

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