Samuel

Williams

, Providence

, Utah

, United States

Posted on
2020-02-22 17:49:01
“Flying not only gets me outside in the sunshine, or with others who also enjoy model aircraft or drones, but it teaches me important concepts and routines. Such as: pre-flight checks, battery safety, aircraft safety (steering clear of the props, and only testing my throttle with props off. Or with props on pointing away from others.), awareness of the aircraft at all times, awareness of my surroundings, various aerial maneuvers, as well as various technologies of the aircraft and its equipment. I first started in the hobby being inspired by the movie Red Tails. The movie tells the story of a squadron of the tuskegee airmen who fought over Italy in WWII. I was so excited by the shiny P-51 Mustangs and when I looked up the aircraft online I came upon an RC model. I wanted to get that model, but I figured that I should start with something easier (and cheaper) first, which led me to get a Cessna 182 SkyTrainer. Unfortunately, due to the poor quality of the model I learned a lot of hard, unnecessary lessons. But as time went on, I got different planes and had a period where I stopped flying for a bit. Then summer 2019, I got back into the hobby with a small aerobatic plane that was easier to launch and fly. And now I have over 20 flight hours both on my plane and quadcopter, as well as on my RC simulator. None of this would be possible if I had to deal with Remote ID and had to put on a special device itself that not only cost me extra, but that I would have to pay a subscription fee in addition. I would understand having a cheap RFID tag that acts like a license plate that a radio transmitter can scan for, especially if it only cost around $10-15, but anything more would be excessive, unnecessary, bulky, annoying, and would ruin the fun. Kites and balloons don’t need Remote ID, even though most of the time they’re tethered. I don’t believe that anything more than a number and name on my model aircraft or drones is necessary. If I was flying out of Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) with an FPV camera, it would make sense to have something that manned aircraft, or Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers can see, but not model airplanes, or multi-rotors flying VLOS. I could also see Remote ID implemented on an autonomous aircraft, that may or may not use GPS. One other concern I have, is that institutions that already exist, like the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) are seldom recognized by those new to the hobby, or have only been in the hobby for a year or so. Just like going to the Driver’s License Division, or to the Division of Motor Vehicles to pass a test and get a license, I think that before a first flight (or upon getting their first model aircraft or drone) everyone should have to pass a brief test and join the AMA or other appropriate institutions that will keep them accountable and know what they can and can’t do. This should also help them gain the knowledge and skills that will keep them out of trouble, and if they do seek to cause trouble, what the consequences will be.”