FAA Moves Toward Treating Drones and Planes As Equals (hackaday.com)

Hackaday's Tom Nardi writes about the Federal Aviation Administration's push to repeal Section 336, which states that small remote-controlled aircraft as used for hobby and educational purposes aren't under FAA jurisdiction. "Despite assurances that the FAA will work towards implementing waivers for hobbyists, critics worry that in the worst case the repeal of Section 336 might mean that remote control pilots and their craft may be held to the same standards as their human-carrying counterparts," writes Nardi. From the report: Section 336 has already been used to shoot down the FAA's ill-conceived attempt to get RC pilots to register themselves and their craft, so it's little surprise they're eager to get rid of it. But they aren't alone. The Commercial Drone Alliance, a non-profit association dedicated to supporting enterprise use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), expressed their support for repealing Section 336 in a June press release: "Basic 'rules of the road' are needed to manage all this new air traffic. That is why the Commercial Drone Alliance is today calling on Congress to repeal Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, and include new language in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act to enable the FAA to regulate UAS and the National Airspace in a common sense way."

The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act does not simply repeal Section 336, it also details the new rules the agency would impose on unmanned aircraft and their operators. Under these proposed rules, all unmanned aircraft would be limited to an altitude of 400 feet unless they have specific authorization to exceed that ceiling. They must also be operated within line of sight at all times, effectively ending long-range First Person View (FPV) flying. There's also language in the Reauthorization Act about studying the effects of flying unmanned aircraft at night, or over groups of people. It also states that drones, just like traditional aircraft, must be registered and marked. It even authorizes the FAA to investigate methods of remote identification for drones and their operators, meaning it's not unreasonable to conclude that RC aircraft may be required to carry transponders at some point in the future. To many in the hobby this seems like an unreasonable burden, especially in the absence of clear limits on what type of small aircraft would be excluded (if any). The report also notes that the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act will require drone operators to have to pass an "aeronautical knowledge and safety test," and to show proof of their passing to any law enforcement if questioned. Also with the repeal of Section 336, "young people might actually be excluded from flying remote-controlled aircraft," Nardi writes. "While many RC planes and quadcopters are marketed as children's toys, in the absence of Section 336, it's not clear that a child could legally operate one. The FAA requires a person to be 16 years of age to obtain a pilot's license, and if unmanned aircraft are truly expected to obey the same 'rules of the road,' it's not unreasonable to assume that age requirement will remain in effect."

Comments

irresponsible youths and their toys

[iggymanz]

with the unsafe and perverted nonsense going on in my neighborhood because of punks with drones, some testing and regulation might be a good thing

Re:irresponsible youths and their toys

[iggymanz]

I could have the cops take their toys away when they are doing dangerous or intrusive things, that's how. Or maybe even give their illegal drone some #4 birdshot, what are they going to do, whine how their illegal drone was blown to bits?

Re:irresponsible youths and their toys

[thegarbz]

Yes, we need to test and regulate some toys because of them damn punks are slightly unsafe. Also I want to be able to blow the drown out of the sky with my shotgun, because 'MURIKA!

Re:irresponsible youths and their toys

[Frobnicator]

When it comes to policy (government, business, whatever) I have two questions: (1) What specific problem is it trying to solve, and (2) will the policy actually solve the problem.

I'm not sure what the "punks with drones" in your neighborhoods are doing, but it does feel like that's the biggest set of problems. "Punks with drones" brings up images of people who are ignorant of the risks or problems, and also people who intentionally or maliciously use their aircraft for things like dive-bombing people or to otherwise annoy or harass. Since the law has now actually passed, it's a matter of looking at what it does.

Going through the list in the law, I think the rules mostly address actual problems, but introduce many of their own.

Item 1 on the law brings back the "strictly recreational purposes" rule, which was the source of several lawsuits that brought about the earlier policy. Now that it is back you can be sure lawsuits will follow it. Landscapers, survey crews, and similar workers lose a valuable tool but they weren't a problem before. Photographers and journalists lose the exemption although some of them were "punks with drones", some were not. Community search and rescue groups lose the exemption and they definitely weren't a problem. These eight words are highly problematic.

Line of sight restrictions are trying to solve a real problem, but the wording change is heavy-handed and sloppy. I have two aerial hobbies, and have had words with drone pilots who were beyond trees, flying their aircraft in areas that were still inside their line of sight above the tree line, but not where they could see the surrounding areas and couldn't see the dangers. I have been overflown, sometimes dangerously close, by pilots who were buzzing what they saw was the tree line, flying at the edge of their visibility. Their dangerous flight still meets the requirements of line of sight but they had no idea how close they were to causing major damage. Contrast with craft with cameras that grant a good view of the entire area yet fly out of direct line of sight. Even though the pilot might not see the craft, they have high visibility of their environment. There are far better solutions than the 28-word section of the policy.

Not interfering with manned aircraft, not interfering with established flight zones, and limits to height are all known-good solutions and were part of the old policy. Those solve real problems, both for other aircraft and for people on the ground. Many air fields (including model aircraft shows) have boundaries, and sadly many pilots (including those who know better) violate the boundaries and risk the safety of others. There is no bright line to know you've crossed the boundary, and it sadly needs better enforcement.

The rule about passing a safety test and maintaining "proof of test passage" to be displayed on request (i.e. must carry a license) doesn't seem to solve an actual problem. Those licenses require many hours of training, plus a few hundred bucks for the tests. The cheap little whirlygigs and palm-sized quad-copters really are children's toys and shouldn't need the license, but the policy includes them. Larger craft that cost thousands of dollars could reasonably require some training because they can easily cause serious damage and personal harm, HOWEVER, those pilots tend to get training because a crash is expensive and most people don't start with one of these. I don't know if a requirement to carrying a license that can be given to law enforcement on request is the right solution, but it doesn't feel like it. Time will tell, it might help with the "punks with drone" problem you describe, but I doubt it. Instead it will mean outlaws have drones because near-everybody is an outlaw.

The proof of registration is for tax revenue. It doesn't solve a real problem, it's just feeding the coffers. There are currently more than one million of these craft currently registered. Registration used to be mandatory but free. Now it is mandatory and paid. Some gov

Re:So I can land at airports?

[viperidaenz]

After you get their permission and pay the landing fees, sure.
Along with the usual flight plans and registering them with air traffic control.

Gee thanks you quad copter morons

[p51d007]

I've been involved with R/C for over 30 years. Always go out of town or a very open field with NO people to fly my stuff. Now all these lDIOTS that take their quads out of a box, charge them, turn them on and suddenly... I'm a pilot! They have no idea the danger those spinning blade have, how to operate them, no respect for safety or anything. Now, thanks to YOU morons, I'll probably have to get a license, be tested, pay a fee all because of these stupid toys (not including the pros that fly these things for commercial purposes). I've been a ham operator for about as long, and back in the "old" FM days, flew a black flag on my transmitter. Those old Futaba transmitters were pretty good to, nothing like the Spectrum transmitters today, but still for the time pretty good. THANKS a lot.

The summary is better than the headline

[raymorris]

The section in question applies to small model planes uses only for recreation (no commercial use). In other words, toys. For decades model aircraft have been just fine using compliance with AMA rules, without a bunch of paperwork with the FAA for each foam plane.

The word "drone", used in the title, has at least three completely different meanings.

In the military, a "drone" is an aircraft, normally fixed-wing (an airplane) which has some degree of ability to operate autonomously.

Around the same time that new military drones were in the news, toy helicopters with four motors (quadcopters) became popular. Advertisers capitalized on the media coverage of military drones by calling these toys "drones", though they can in no way fly autonomously. Most can't go more than about 100 meters from the operator (though a few can go further).

Thirdly, although the physics are such that quadcopters are horrible for scaling up, some people thought about building 2 meter sized quadcopters and using them commercially. There have been some serious proposals, but largely that's gimmick to get attention because the physics don't work out very well. Anyway, that's a third thing called "drone" that's very different from military jets, and very different from little plastic toys.

Talking about what laws should be for "drones" doesn't make much sense because military jet planes are called drones, little plastic toys are called drones, and motorcycle-sized commercial aircraft are called drones. Talking about laws for "drones" is pointless, or worse, highly misleading, unless you first define which kind of "drone" you're talking about.

Section 336 is about model aircraft, little foam and plastic toys. Getting rid of it won't solve any concerns anyone may have with anything else called "drone", such as the commercial use vehicles Amazon talks about.

This isn't new -- or particular burdensome.

[ki4iib]

I'm a commercial drone operator, and literally everything in the parent post is how we already operate. It's not even a little bit burdensome, and it lets sUAS operators fly safely with our crewed counterparts.

No, you _can't_ fly your drone out of sight without a spotter or a waiver. You never know when a helicopter's gonna be around, or when you'll bump into something you can't see. No, you can't fly over 400 feet without a waiver — low flying air traffic can't see a 3 ft wide drone until it's too late, and if they're coming up in your (massive) blind spot, you won't see them either. Flying at low altitudes over large crowds of people can be unsafe if you have some sort of malfunction.

Look, it's all fun and games when you're flying a drone around inside. But if you're in a busy airport's Class C airspace, you don't need to be screwing around where your drone can get sucked into a jet intake or smack into a helicopter. You need to know the rules of the road. You need to know where and when it's safe to fly.

It's not even that hard to get a commercial license. Study, take a few practice tests online, go down to an FAA testing center and sit for the exam. There's a fee, which should arguably be lower, but for Pete's sake, these are exceptionally reasonable requirements.

It's not oppression. It's just safety.

Re:This isn't new -- or particular burdensome.

[Lothsahn]

I'm a commercial drone operator, and literally everything in the parent post is how we already operate. It's not even a little bit burdensome, and it lets sUAS operators fly safely with our crewed counterparts.

You're either very confused or straight out lying.

I fly a RC aircraft at a small RC airfield in a rural area which is around 10 miles from the nearest (small) airport. I fly a homebuilt RC aircraft that cost me $400 total (including the controller) and weighs roughly 2 pounds to a maximum altitude of around 300 ft. I only get to fly 10 times a year due to time constraints, and in fact, I didn't fly at all last year.

Now we have the FAA pushing to RC planes like manned aircraft. Keep in mind a pilot's license currently costs $4-10k plus lots of training--to fly a toy in mostly unnavigable airspace.

Yes, we have a problem. There are drones operated near and in class B airspace, and they have caused issues and encounters with aircraft. Something must be done. But treating toy RC aircraft like planes is insane. Calling those laws "no burden" is wrong.

Yes, this is oppression. I should be able to play with toys without tons of training and paperwork in my own backyard. Except for near airports, the safety argument is crap. Last year in the US, 818 people died riding bikes. 110 died from lawnmowers. 51 died from lightning. How many people have died in the history of recreational RC aircraft? 3?

Re:FAA?

[LynnwoodRooster]

why did they do something as stupid as treating drones and planes equally?

Why does the FCC regulate micropower AM/FM stations? Why does the DOT regulate home-built cars?

The Commercial Drone Alliance ...

[CaptainDork]

... , a non-profit association dedicated to supporting enterprise use of Unmanned Aerial Systems ...

Is that like a special interest group for "for-profits", kinda like lobbyists or a PACs or stuff?

Re:The Commercial Drone Alliance ...

[oh-dark-thirty]

They want the hobbyists to go away so they can own that airspace for their member's delivery drones and other money-making gimmicks.

Re:FAA?

[PopeRatzo]

Why does the FCC regulate micropower AM/FM stations? Why does the DOT regulate home-built cars?

First of all, the DOT does not regulate home-built cars. I'm not sure where you got this bad information, but I'm not surprised, considering the quality of most of your assertions.

Second, "regulate" is not the same as "treat as equals". But thanks for setting up those two dopey strawmen for me to set afire.

Re:Here's an idea

[scdeimos]

"$15,000 worth of training and certifications" is probably more than necessary.

Flying model aircraft pilots, depending on how good they are, will spend $100-$300 on lessons before they can pass their Bronze Wings tests (administered by the national aeromodelling organisation in each country) and then many more hours flying at registered aeromodelling airfields practising for the Gold Wings test that allows them to participate in organised aerobatics and racing competitions.

I'm not against enforcing that drone pilots go through such training. Drone pilots should also have to pay for public liability insurance every year just like the aeromodelling pilots are required to do.

Re:So I can land at airports?

[DanDD]

This is exactly what it means. Once you have a pilot's license and your drone is equipped with sufficient instrumentation to see and avoid other aircraft, you could file a flight plan (if needed) and land at a local airport. Just keep in mind that depending on the services you require at an airport, you could be charged a landing fee.

And, despite the fact that I am a pilot and can fly my own damn plane, I can see the day when I would pay you for a drone ride to the other side of town in order to avoid hellacious traffic. I can also see the concept of an 'airport' evolving greatly over time.

If you stay clear of the National Airspace System and keep your drone within sight and out of the way of a bunch of us flying meat bags, then you're good to go.

Happy flying!

anyone can receive and decode ADS-B data, not TCAS

[DanDD]

TCAS has no dependency on ADS-B. TCAS depends on other aircraft having mode C, and is itself built on mode S, which is just a digital enhancement to mode C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

TCAS basically direction finds and ranges mode C broadcasts. TCAS antennas have multiple elements, thus multiple antenna cables, to allow the timed reception and calculation to determine range and direction.

ADS-B, once fully implemented, will mostly obsolete TCAS, as ADS-B has an integrated WAAS GPS source and broadcasts identity, location, and heading info. ADS-B transponders that both listen and transmit can provide proximity alerts and display relative positions and headings of other aircraft.

I say mostly because the ADS-B protocol is not secure, so bad actors can spoof being somewhere and/or someone they aren't. This could and would be detected, and, ah -eliminated with prejudice- rather quickly once deteced - i.e. in the range of a ground radar station (which is now most everywhere), but it would be very annoying none the less.

If you are really bored, you can buy a $10 usb TV tuner, now marketed as a 'software defined radio'. You can then run a program called dump1090, which will directly receive the 1090 MHz transmissions of aircraft transponders in the area. You can then plot these aircraft on a map (if they are broadcasting ADS-B), and see what commercial or civilian aircraft are flying in your area.

Flightradar24 would like you to send them the data you collect, which they will then display for the world to see:

https://www.flightradar24.com/...

Politicians and hoity-toity folks who think they are special can request that the FAA not pass on tracking data to folks like Flightaware and Flightradar24.

If you receive the transmissions directly from nearby planes, you can track whoever you damn well please, because the only way to prevent it would be for the airplane to turn off it's transponder, which is illegal :) Except for non-civilian aircraft. They have alien technology :-p

Re:anyone can receive and decode ADS-B data, not T

[DanDD]

Hey bro, I didn't read any of that wiki article except the title and first two sentences. I glanced at some of the pretty pictures though. Dealing with aircraft systems like ADS-B was my day job once upon a time, so I just dug around in my brain for most of it, thus it's rambling and disjointed nature :-p

I have ADS-B in and out in a plane that I fly as often as I can, and I did a fair amount of the physical install, and worked with a repair station to make it all legal, a few years ago. I think I was one of the first IFR certified ADS-B installs in my state. I chased down the first air to air contact I saw on my first flight with ADS-B. That was a bad idea, turned out to be a Blackhawk helicopter. Up close, they look like flying anger, and they can fly sideways and look at you with intensity.

ADS-B adoption rates are increasing as my cockpit display is getting gradually more cluttered, and the FAA is likely to simply ground airplanes that don't comply, which I would support. I can see temporary exemptions being issued on a case by case basis. ADS-B brings too much capability to the table, both for pilots and for controllers, to put off any longer. Also, prices are coming down, and the FAA is likely to re-introduce some financial incentives and rebates. Check out the NGT-9000, it's sweet! And for not much more than the price of two new Continental O-470 cylinders, you can have one installed! The install really is easy. The hardest part is tying in to the encoder, so if you haven't already, it's best to upgrade to a serial output encoder. Encoders are cheap, under a kilobuck, below a standard aviation monetary unit! Not many devices going forward are going to keep supporting binary gray code, or so I've been led to believe.

Sparc up dump1090 on a linux laptop or pi and watch all the stuff flying near you that has ADS-B. Now, if you are in BFE small town, you'll mostly just see airlines and business jets going overhead, but you'll catch a bug smasher now and then. A pi and USB SDR will also receive FIS-B weather very nicely, and send it to your cell phone or tablet via wifi or bluetooth or something. Never tried it, too much cockpit clutter for me. I saw folks at Oshkosh 3D printing cases for a pi, usb sdr and battery for cockpit use one year. Kids and their toys :)

Similar levels of bitching were encountered when the mode C mandate was issued about the time my existence first became multi-cellular. The world didn't end, and aviation adopted mode C.