AMA IN ACTION Advocating for Members
Welcome to the Academy of Model Aeronautics' Advocacy Blog. As the FAA looks to regulate the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) and as Congress and state legislatures consider legislation with potential impact on the hobby, this site will keep you informed of the latest news, events and industry updates, and serves as an outlet to let your voice be heard by AMA and key officials nationwide.
Deputy administrator Michael Huerta is now at the helm of the FAA following Randy Babbitt’s resignation. It’s likely a new administrator will not be appointed until after the 2012 election which means Mr. Huerta will be in charge throughout the sUAS NPRM review and Final Rule process.
Read more at the Washington Post
Continue readingMost everyone should be aware by now that the FAA is working on developing new regulation aimed at enabling the operation of commercial and public use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the national airspace system (NAS). FAA intends to include criteria for recreational UAS (model aircraft) in the new regulation and indications are that this criteria will be significantly more restrictive than the guidelines established in the current advisory circular, AC 91-57. However, the regulation is also expected to include a provision that will allow community based organizations such as the AMA to submit their own set of standards for model aircraft (MA) operations, and if accepted and adopted by the FAA can be used as an alternative means of complying with the UAS regulation. AMA has a workgroup in place that has been developing just such a set of standards, and we are optimistic that these standards will allow aeromodeling operations to continue in the future in much the same way as they have in the past.
Continue readingBreathing life into the stalled FAA Reauthorization Bill… After meeting with his counterpart in the Senate on Tuesday, House Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica remains optimistic that Congress will break a stalemate over critical aviation funding before the current spending plan expires at year’s end.
Continue readingIt appears political posturing is ramping up as the stalled FAA Reauthorization Bill is once again headed toward a shutdown of the FAA. In a recent meeting of the Aero Club of Washington, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate’s transportation committee, accused the GOP of stubbornly holding up the bill in favor of one airline’s fight to stave off the unionization of its work force, and deemed it unlikely that Congress would resolve the bitter deadlock over long-term federal funding for aviation this year.
Continue readingScore One for Model Aviation – The Mat-Su Borough Assembly in Wasilla, AK recently voted unanimously to repeal a section of its code that restricted the sound limit for model aircraft. The limit set in 2008 was unrealisticly low and effectively eliminated MA from all residential and noise-sensitive areas. Click the following link and read the article in the “Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.”
Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Article
Continue readingIn a recent article on ModelAirplaneNews.com David Vaught reported on FAA’s announced delay in the projected release of the sUAS NPRM. Though the FAA has officially pushed the release date back to February 2012, there is an ongoing effort within the agency to get the rule out as soon as possible. At a recent seminar in San Diego an FAA spokesperson advised there is still a slight chance of getting the rule out in December; however, it is more likely we’ll see the proposed rule shortly after the first of the year.
Continue readingInformation just received from the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Program Office (UAPO) indicates the release of the sUAS NPRM has been delayed once again. Due to delays in the internal review process, it’s unlikely the NPRM will meet the previous target date of mid December. The UAPO is now projecting February 2012 as the new release date for the proposed rule.
Continue readingABC affiliate KSAT in San Antonio Texas discusses the recent threat with Mark Smith, Interim President of the Academy of Model Aeronomics.
Continue readingOur partners in aviation (AOPA/EAA) need your support… Please sign the White House petition to dump the GA user-fee plan. We’re looking for 10,000 sigs by the end of the week!
Continue readingIn regards to your October column, Drones vs. Model Airplanes, I can’t agree with you more. The advances in electronics and miniaturization in the modeling industry represent a paradigm shift on how we will be operating remote controlled vehicles from now on.
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