The lack of responses to the FAA Remote ID NPRM spell out sad times for the hobby. Best make the most of what time you have left before flying your home built model gets outlawed. Then we will see no more FPV related YouTube videos or other FPV related content originating from the US as people either give up the hobby entirely or have to resort to going underground where they can no longer publicly post what they are doing.

Let's just pray and hope that RDQ can save the day with their legal challenge against the FAA.

Well, all I can say is "250 grams". (But I wonder how long that will resist scrutiny and be "immune" to regulation...)

My comment, for what little worth it offers to a megalith like the FAA, was left when there were only about 15,000 comments. I also sent a letter though, and those are not being counted in that number. There likely never was going to be a large number of comments as the community is rather small to start with and many of the people who fly drones are not invested in piloting, they are just flying the expensive DJI toy they bought...they would not comment anyway.

We will see where this goes, it seems that a lot of things in the US are determined by the courts. Political types get things enacted and then courts come in to clean up parts of the mess after when the real impact becomes apparent. In this case, there is just not enough clout in this hobby to out donor the corps that want the space. A few hundred thousand will not stand in the way of billions of dollars annually...and that is what this is really all about anyway. Our little hobby will not be missed.

I don't know, I submitted my comment on Mar 2, when there were about 32K. 52,000 comments with almost half coming in the last week is pretty good in this day and age. If there had been a place on Twitter or Facebook to submit comments to the FAA I'm sure there would have been more, or if the comment section web site was mobile phone friendly as well. The younger generation tends to give up too easily if they can't access it readily by phone.

Anyways, I think there have been enough intelligent responses for the FAA to consider. We will just have to wait and see what happens next I guess.

in wide european area, as example germany, there will come crazy bad regulations for sub 250g aswell.

you will need to regitster the quad:
- if it has any camera (even without video transmitter)
- if the copter is faster than 60kmh/38mph

This is turning out seemingly similar to the right to repair bill that I follow pretty closely through Louis Rossmann. They are in the fighting stages and the big corporations have the money and manipulation.

(04-Mar-2020, 10:15 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: in wide european area, as example germany, there will come crazy bad regulations for sub 250g aswell.

you will need to regitster the quad:
- if it has any camera (even without video transmitter)
- if the copter is faster than 60kmh/38mph

Yes, the whole EU is getting those regulations from July this year under the new EASA regulations, including the UK for some reason who aren't even part of the EU anymore  It seems we're still lap dogs to the EU even after we've left.

So no, 250g quads aren't safe. It's not a matter of if, but when those too also get outlawed in the US. The manufacturers are already producing sub 250g quads which are becoming just as capable/dangerous as their bigger brothers, and it won't be long before the FAA realise this and also ban those as well under the same ruling. They probably already thought of that and will likely build a clause into the new laws that allow them to include lower weight quads if and when they chose to without having to pass a complete new law.

Hopefully, all of our comments will make a difference, and the final rule will not be as onerous as the proposed rule. I am very doubtful though. The next big trick after that for the FAA is going to be enforcement. There will not be funds to enforce compliance. People will still be able to order quadcopter parts from outside of the USA. The general public will probably not even be aware that the rule even exists - so unless somebody does something "bad" to get noticed (or flies near people who are paranoid about every little thing), then Law Enforcement will probably never know someone is flying without ID. I doubt there will ever be the FDP (Federal Drone Police), and I doubt that the FAA is going to even spend time tracking down youtubers who post videos.

Personally, I will be flying sub-250 quads on my own 1 acre property (or my other aircraft at a FRIA until I disjoin the AMA), and I won't worry about it. I commented, I will vote, and I will continue to build and fly as long as I can.

(04-Mar-2020, 11:46 PM)sloscotty Wrote: Hopefully, all of our comments will make a difference, and the final rule will not be as onerous as the proposed rule.  I am very doubtful though.  The next big trick after that for the FAA is going to be enforcement.  There will not be funds to enforce compliance.  People will still be able to order quadcopter parts from outside of the USA.  The general public will probably not even be aware that the rule even exists - so unless somebody does something "bad" to get noticed (or flies near people who are paranoid about every little thing), then Law Enforcement will probably never know someone is flying without ID.  I doubt there will ever be the FDP (Federal Drone Police), and I doubt that the FAA is going to even spend time tracking down youtubers who post videos.

Personally, I will be flying sub-250 quads on my own 1 acre property (or my other aircraft at a FRIA until I disjoin the AMA), and I won't worry about it.  I commented, I will vote, and I will continue to build and fly as long as I can.

You make a good point. If there became a 'mass' posting of FPV videos online from within the US then they would have far too many to look at and might turn a blind eye?

I hope our comments make a difference, but I doubt it.

What we are up against are companies like Amazon, who want to make deliveries by drone and would like to keep the airspace or “dronespace” to themselves or a select few.

Perhaps if folks start boycotting Amazon, but I doubt that a few FPV enthusiasts will make any dent in its pocketbook.

(04-Mar-2020, 11:46 PM)sloscotty Wrote: Hopefully, all of our comments will make a difference, and the final rule will not be as onerous as the proposed rule.  I am very doubtful though.  The next big trick after that for the FAA is going to be enforcement.  There will not be funds to enforce compliance.  People will still be able to order quadcopter parts from outside of the USA.  The general public will probably not even be aware that the rule even exists - so unless somebody does something "bad" to get noticed (or flies near people who are paranoid about every little thing), then Law Enforcement will probably never know someone is flying without ID.  I doubt there will ever be the FDP (Federal Drone Police), and I doubt that the FAA is going to even spend time tracking down youtubers who post videos.

Personally, I will be flying sub-250 quads on my own 1 acre property (or my other aircraft at a FRIA until I disjoin the AMA), and I won't worry about it.  I commented, I will vote, and I will continue to build and fly as long as I can.

I, too, will be flying sub-250 g quads...keep them relatively quite...and fly like you stole it; rip and skip. I have an EMAX Tinyhawk Freestyle and a GepRC Phantom (both are 2.5 inch and less than 100g AUW). At any distance, I can not even hear them. Also, the small size makes them nearly invisible. My wife accompanies me and she can't even see or hear the quad unless I do a low "fly by" right over us. Yeah, 3 packs is about the limit...then we are gone. Also, I pretty much stay away from people.