Got this from the AMA today

[Rusty]

Blank

[Steve Helmick]

I'm rather expecting a huge hiring program at the FAA, for ARMED FAA agents, much like the IRS has been reported to have done. If this (IRS) is true, and the FAA follows the same course, I'm thinking that it's a plan to increase the number of highly paid government employees, further increasing our National Debt AND making those hirelings become de facto Federal POLICE in case of a Declaration of Martial Law. If it happens, you read about it first, right here on Stunt Hangar.

Meanwhile, why don't we bombard FAA with requests for inspectors for our models? Appropriate stages of construction should be multiple, perhaps after the engine crutch/fuselage assembly has been finished, but before all the "foof" added. And of course, the wing, after the spar webbing has been added and controls installed, but before the center section sheeting has been installed.  The pushrods and tail group would be another inspection sequence, of course, and as FUBAR as the Federal Government seems to be, each would need a different inspector and mounds of paperwork. Would they have anybody qualified to do these inspections? Probably not.  Steve

[Mike Griffin]

I really don't know what is happening in our country anymore.  We have men who want to be women, women who want to be men and people who don't know what they are.  I have always looked at this hobby as an escape from the decay that is rapidly destroying our culture, morals and western civilization in general.  I used to be able to walk back in my shop, pull out a plan take a pile of balsa and build something that flies and never did it occur to me that it would become the center of such a ridiculous and stupid controversy or even warrant a discussion of some government agency getting involved and causing me to wonder if was going to be breaking a law by doing so or subject to the whims of some bureaucrats on a power trip.  This is fast NOT becoming fun anymore and I am seriously questioning if I want to be a part of of it anymore.  

The AMA made a serious mistake by getting in bed with these drone/quadcopter entities and should have segregated themselves from the very beginning and stuck with with true model aviation and there were many of us on here who said that when it was becoming apparent they were whoring themselves out for the money.  I have no idea what they were thinking when they embraced them but it sure has not worked out the way they thought it would I am sure.  

I just read where they expect 2.5 million of these hovering pests to be sold this year alone.  With projected numbers like this, I do not expect the situation to get any better.

Anyway, we were having a tough enough time just keeping our hobby alive without the government sticking their nose into it and this may be the straw that breaks the camels back.  The media attention to all of this is 100% negative and if we are lumped into this drone insanity, then perception will become reality now matter what we put in the air.  AMA in their infinite wisdom has done a great job of making sure we have been identified as such.

For the past few years I have built a lot of airplanes for other folks and have produced some kits that were not otherwise commercially available and I have tremendously enjoyed doing both and have become filthy rich in the meantime.  (THAT LAST LINE WAS A JOKE)  However, I am taking a hard look at whether I even want to do this anymore.  Even if we escape all this crap in Control Line, the RC fixed wing folks and Helicopter guys don't look like they will.  I think a lot of people and especially those of who compete in contests, keep hoping AMA is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and all of this is going to go away.  I would not count on it.  I am extremely disappointed in how the AMA handled all this.

Mike

[Terrence Durrill]

   Mike.....I agree with you comments about AMA acting stupidly.  I first joined AMA in 1956 and was a member on and off again and thru 1987.  Since 1987, I have been 126416 continuously thru 2014 when I hung my number up, vowing not to support AMA any longer.  They have stopped representing me and so I have left them.  I am now just a sport flier who will try to get in a few flights every flying season and escape being arrested and cuffed by the FAA Gestapo.  Like you, when I started flying C/L in 1953, I would never have guessed that the federal government would regulate this hobby out of existence.......but it is happening.          

[Jim Oliver]

Steve,

Don't expect these inspections to be "free".........

Jim

[Stew Robinson]

I have a brand new, in the box Sig Twister. Anybody want it?    I think I'm done

[EJN]

We have men who want to be women, women who want to be men and people who don't know what they are.

"Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls.
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world"

-- Lola, 1970 - The Kinks (lyrics by Ray Davies)


So what's new?
And what has that got to do with FAA (over)regulation?

[Mike Griffin]

I don't have the time nor the inclination to explain it to you EJN.

Mike

[Matt Colan]

   I don't find breaking Federal law (which this is, as Michael points out above) to be a trivial issue, and I am not (and many others are not) in a position to jeopardize their standing by breaking the law. Matt, for example, can be locked out of his career entirely.

   This has to be addressed the proper way, with either an exemption or a definition of rules that are possible to comply with. Otherwise, game over.

    Brett

If everything goes as planned, I'm supposed to be working for the FAA as an air traffic controller in the next year or two.  A couple of my professors (who are retired controllers) and I have had discussions over UAS and the problems they can cause.  They basically said that as long as they don't interfere with aircraft on final or departure, they couldn't care less where they are or how they operate.  Controllers have MUCH more responsibility than worrying about whether I am flying a DJI Phantom, giant scale RC airplane, or a Staris 15 miles away from an airport and that I am registered with the FAA.  The RC club that I am president of at school has an LOA with Daytona tower and we are allowed to fly right next to the approach path of runway 16, as long as our altitude is kept under 100ft.  I brief the club every semester on this LOA, and in the 8 years the club has had it, we have never had an incident.

I'm just frustrated with the FAA, and them thinking they can enforce something like what they keep saying, which is mostly why I posted what I did above.

[Target]

I have a brand new, in the box Sig Twister. Anybody want it?    I think I'm done

When you are done, I'll take it Stew! I'm a rebel!
R,
Chris

[BillP]

It figures Senator Bill Nelson had something to do with this. He was instrumental in closing down a runway at Valkaria AP in Florida many years back. His house happened to be in the glide path...and it was the best runway for prevailing winds. I used to fly out of Valkaria.

[Steve Fitton]

Guys, go back and re read the FAA ruling. It states building for COMMERCIAL USE, not toy airplanes. Nothing new there, they have been inspecting home builts for air worthiness for years and years. Don't blame them. We have had two old men in their 70's die in home built crashes in the last four years.

That seems to be at odds with what AMA is saying.

[Brett Buck]

Guys, go back and re read the FAA ruling. It states building for COMMERCIAL USE, not toy airplanes. Nothing new there, they have been inspecting home builts for air worthiness for years and years. Don't blame them. We have had two old men in their 70's die in home built crashes in the last four years.

   You are misinterpreting it. When they say "introduce into commerce", they mean flying it in the NAS. It definitely *does* mean us.

    Brett

[Chris McMillin]

I'm confused too, I thought commerce was business.
Chris...

[Steve Thompson]

I don't want to get into Politics or Religion...  But my bet is that praying or voting would be more productive than waiting for the AMA to represent traditional modelers.  I disagree with the AMA's direction lately and sent my feelings to them by not renewing.  It seems in our crazy world common sense is not always followed, and in that situation, lawsuits get attention.  Sad but true.  Is anyone actively pursuing legal action to get some attention on this?  If so, I would like to support them with the money AMA isn't going to get.

[Target]

I'm confused too, I thought commerce was business.
Chris...

Me three....
But maybe a request for a definition is in order.
I certainly interpreted it to mean producing for sale. I can definitely be wrong though, it won't be the last time, either.

R,
Chris (B)

[Jim Kraft]

I am still on the fence as to what to do. I have not flown a plane this year, partly because of back pain and some other things like my wife not being well for several months. And, partly because I have no idea how this is going to all play out. I have pretty much decided that I will not sign up with the FAA as I do not want to get involved in what may later become something more than it might be now. I belong to a model club that fly's both R/C and control line. From what the club president said no one in the club is going to sign up either. Although they are all still flying as far as I know.

Since the club field is 27 miles from my house, I have not been over to check them out.

Yeah John, I did read the two articles in MA and the overstepping of the FAA. I do not see any solution short term and it looks like the states are starting to get involved. Some have already written laws that did not pass at least the first time around, to stop all model flying in their state. Looks to me like just a matter of time.

I still play with my ignition engines, and may try my hand at building a few tether or R/C cars based on spark engines. It really has thrown a monkey wrench in the works, and I am just to old to fight it anymore. I know that sounds like a cop out, but I do not see how this can possibly work out for our good. The more you fight with them, the more they will dig in their heels and fight back. My experience in such cases is they will want to proclaim their power to control our activity all the more.

Am I just old and negative, or is this not reality. If you have anything positive to say that is in the realm of real solutions that you think might possibly happen I would like to hear them. If not I may be done with flying at least. At 75 years old it is a shame to end it this way, but I just do not have much hope for model aviation as we know it. Once the government gets involved it will be full steam ahead.

[CircuitFlyer]

It seems that the courts have given "interstate commerce" a very broad definition.  Even though you never intend to sell your finished product in another state, the components you purchased to manufacture your product most likely involved interstate commerce.  Therefore by extension your finished product has involved, or been introduced into, interstate commerce.  The FAA has jurisdiction over your scratch built Ringmaster.

[Andre Ming]

Wow. What a turn of events over the past few months with this FAA thing.

I too, am having to re-evaluate my position. It is still way too early for me to tell just what direction I will take.

On the one hand, I like the idea of being a part of a club and helping with promotion of the hobby of C/L, but on the other hand, I now see some merit in going "under the radar" (so to speak) and simply enjoy my hobby that's been a part of me (to a greater or lesser degree) since the mid-1960s in less physically visible ways. Seeing as sanctioned competition has never been a "thing" for me... it won't make a whit's difference to not be a part of the AMA.

However, I don't know if remaining with the AMA is good, in view of the FAA. That is, I would be on the "active member" AMA list when/if the time comes for the mail-out of a mandatory "Register or cease flying. Otherwise face penalties" type general mail-out.

What a mess.