FAA announces drone owners must register by February 19th, 2016 | The Verge (http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/14/10104996/faa-drone-registration-register-february-19th)

Does the FAA have jurisdiction with small, non-commercial drones?
I guess they think they do.

It will be left to the courts to decide.

Drone hobbyists dispute federal aircraft definition | TheHill (http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/236455-drone-hobbyist-dispute-federal-definition-of-aircraft)

Once drone registration is in legal effect, the FAA will be able to bring enforcement action for any FAR violation they believe applies, such as 91.119 for example.

Reports are all over the place that the FAA will publish your home address name and possibly telephone number for the entire world to see, and then spam and robocall you.

“When the drone registry system is modified to permit public searches of registration numbers, names and addresses will be revealed through those searches.”-FAA

Idiots......

Curious to know if anyone has actually done this or plans to?

FWIW, the AMA has sent out letters to their membership encouraging them not to register until the AMA decides on a course of action, be it a legal challenge or otherwise.

The interesting part of this is that you don't register your actual aircraft in the traditional sense, you register "yourself", if you are age 13 or above. You are assigned a single number to affix to all of your model aircraft, and it doesn't have to be visible from the outside, but must be accessible without the use of tools... ie inside battery compartment. They don't even ask any information about what models you own.

The concern among many, is the the names and addresses of minor children will be available although no search criteria other than the actual number is supposed to be made available. Time will tell.

Another issue is that we are calling it drone registration; all the radio-control hobbyists are calling it drone registration, and even the FAA is posting photos of drones on their website ... but no where do I read that it applies only to multi-rotor radio-control aircraft commonly known as "drones." The FAA is regulating unmanned aircraft systems, meaning an aircraft flown from the ground.

Technically, this includes every radio-control fixed wing aircraft and radio-control helicopter weighing 8 ounces or more. So this technically includes millions of radio-control aircraft in the U.S.

If this is so, it will come as a HUGE shock to all hobbyists who so far have been referring to this as drone registration. Quite frankly, this has to be one of the most poorly written laws since taxing tea in Boston.

I have asked several people on other forums. Some said yes. Some said no. Does registration apply to all radio-control aircraft under 55 pounds and above .5 pounds, including fixed wing, gliders, model aircraft and model helicopters?

Drones can be fixed wing, at least in common parlance. Drone strikes usually refer to a UAV such as the Reaper.

Although not a legal definition, this seems to cover the use of the word.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle

I have already registered mine. Not a big deal.

As I said before, this will be decided in court. Many aviation attorneys feel the FAA has no grounds to regulate model aircraft.

Maryland ?hobbyist? asks court to overturn FAA?s new drone registration rule | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/maryland-hobbyist-sues-faa-to-overturn-new-drone-registration-rule/)

As I said before, this will be decided in court. Many aviation attorneys feel the FAA has no grounds to regulate model aircraft.

Maryland ?hobbyist? asks court to overturn FAA?s new drone registration rule | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/maryland-hobbyist-sues-faa-to-overturn-new-drone-registration-rule/)

Here is an update. You can read the complete legal brief filing by Mr. Taylor at this link.

http://www.wolfenstock.com/TaylorvFAA/TaylorFAABrief.pdf

That is a very well thought out brief.

That seems to come down to the question are UAVs or drones model recreational aircraft? Answer seems to be if the "model" aiircraft carries out a role or has the capability to perform any role, other than the single one of just flying it for pleasure, it's a drone. A role would include the use of a camera for pleasure use.

But they do address that in saying that the FAA never regulated what was or was not commercial use with radio controlled model aircraft before the new millennium. For them to now make the distinction, they need to put that out there for public debate and maybe some clarification from congress.

The FAA says that they don't need to do that since they always thought of anything that flies is an "aircraft" that they can regulate (from a 1932 statute if I recall) so neener, neener, neener. (That's the tone I got...)

I think most flights of small model aircraft below 400 feet should be legal for pleasure or commercial purposes and that the FAA really has no jurisdiction there. As it has been since way before I started RC flying back in the 80's and as congress codified.

This will be interesting to see play out.

It was, and still is, in my opinion, a solution looking for a problem. Making emergency regulations by using inflated statistics and predictions of imminent danger come Christmas 2015, was not warranted and the skies did not suddenly become filled with drones on Christmas day. I'd also wager that for some of those who were flying outside for the first time, their ownership made a short trip from under the tree, to in the branches of a tree.

No mass casualties, no large structural damage, no collisions with manned aircraft... zip, zilch, nada.

Model aviation has a stellar safety record and that is a fact.

That's not to say we shouldn't have some common sense do's and don'ts. In fact, we do have such guidance in the form of an Advisory Circular, first issued in 1981 and recently updated.

-gb-

I suspect the type of person traditionally involved in model aviation is rather different to the larger number of people who are now flying drones. Most are fine, but the increased numbers and the lack of time invested in actaully building the aircraft can produce effects and actiions not seen in the small model aircraft community.