This week the AMA Government Relations team was busy once again fighting to protect our hobby in Washington, D.C. and across the U.S. AMA President Rich Hanson and our Director of Government Relations, Chad Budreau, spent the week working with the Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) on UAS implementation and law […]
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FAA Registration Deletion and Refund
We wanted to make you aware of an opportunity to receive a refund for your FAA registration fee and to have your information deleted from the FAA’s database. As you may know, a federal court of appeals struck down the FAA’s registration requirement for recreational model aircraft in May. More […]
Continue readingNew Florida Law Prohibits Local Governments from Regulating UAS.
We wanted to share some good news about a new Florida law that went into effect on July 1, 2017, the “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act.” The state law prohibits local governments from regulating drone and model aircraft operations in Florida, protecting those flying safely and within the bounds of the […]
Continue readingSpecial Rule for Model Aircraft Looks Favorable in the House, Waiting on Senate.
As you may know, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are in the process of revising their own versions of legislation, known as FAA reauthorization, which includes the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. The Special Rule for Model Aircraft allows community-based organizations like the AMA to continue managing our community of hobbyists without […]
Continue readingAs drone sales soar, vast majority of reports remain simple sightings
AMA’s analysis also finds that some sightings appear to be users flying appropriately; “drone” continues to be a catch-all term for any object in the sky A new analysis released today by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) reviews the 1,270 new unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sightings reported by the […]
Continue readingWashington State UAS Bill 1049 Stalled in the House
We are excited to share good news from the state of Washington. AMA confirmed that House Bill 1049, which would have imposed new burdensome registration requirements, is unlikely to move forward this year. As it was written, this proposed legislation would have imposed unnecessary regulation on the operation of UAS. […]
Continue readingCalifornia Bills Targeting Model Aircraft Vetoed
September 29, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a number of bills targeting the model aircraft community. This includes legislation that would require geo-fencing and drone identification, and prohibit the operation of UAS over state managed land and waters. The specific bills vetoed by the Governor were AB 2148, AB […]
Continue readingAs authorities write drone rules, model airplane hobbyists take on the FAA
Check out the recent AMA article from the Carroll County Times. Ian Duncan writes about the effort that “turned the Baltimore County runway where Vail’s club is hosting an air show this weekend — and venues like it across the state and nation — into a battleground. On one side are […]
Continue reading2016 Congress Update
As we approach the July 15th deadline for FAA reauthorization, we wanted to provide a brief update on what’s happening in Congress. Right now, it looks like the House and Senate have agreed to an FAA extension with several policy provisions added. Though it is unknown what these policy provisions […]
Continue readingFAA Small UAS Rule with New Commercial and Civil Guidelines
We want to congratulate the FAA on publishing the final small UAS rule today. The final rule will be highly beneficial to the industry overall, as it resolves many uncertainties in the law and creates an improved regulatory environment. We look forward to seeing widespread commercial and civil operations of […]
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