Avionics News April 2015 - 13

when the navigation system was modernized. And now we
are doing it for the surveillance system.
To make the preposterous claim that one-third of all personal-use aircraft will be parked over the price of a radio
is, well, preposterous! If the ratio of the price of the equipment to the value of the vehicle were the gold standard,
we wouldn't upgrade anything. The next set of tires I buy
are more than 10 percent of the "hull value" of my Toyota.
Well clearly, the only thing to do is park the Toyota!

FAA issues UAS proposed rule

On another topic, I received one of my dozens of news
feeds with the title: "FAA Grounds Amazon Drones." It
then went on the say that, "Commercial drone regulations
proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration would
prohibit Amazon from using drones for faster package
deliveries." There they go again! Do they even read what
they write? The FAA is not "banning" anything!

To make the preposterous claim that one-third
of all personal-use aircraft will be parked over
the price of a radio is, well, preposterous!

On Feb. 23, 2015, the FAA proposed a rule for the
operation and certification of small unmanned aircraft
systems. The proposal creates a new Part 107 for small
unmanned aircraft systems. Within the proposal, there are
three important statements.
First, "these changes would address the operation of
unmanned aircraft systems, certification of their operators, registration, and display of registration markings."
Second, "the proposed rule would prohibit model aircraft
from endangering the safety of the national airspace system." And third, in addition to the non-hobby UAS operations, the proposal actually creates regulations that the
hobbyist model aircraft are flown to.
The FAA has long had policy and guidance on the operation of model aircraft and has defined model aircraft "as a
UAS that is used for hobby or recreational purposes." The
policy and guidance for hobbyists are relatively unchanged.
This proposed rule is for the non-hobby - non-recreational
use of these model aircraft. At a recent Air Operator Safety
Summit, the hot topic was airspace incursions of UAS and
the safety concern about a mid-air collision. Unfortunately,
this proposal will have little to no effect in resolving that

particular safety concern because those aircraft are flown
for "hobby and/or recreational" purposes and are outside of
the proposal. The proposal will add some teeth to the FAA's
enforcement of air safety, even on the hobbyist.
The proposal amends Part 101 on moored balloons,
kites, amateur rockets and unmanned free balloons by adding Subpart E for special rules for model aircraft.
Subpart E - Special Rule for Model Aircraft
§ 101.41 Applicability.
This subpart prescribes the rules governing the operation of a model aircraft that meets all of the following conditions as set forth in section 336 of Public
Law 112-95:
(a) The aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or
recreational use.
(b) The aircraft is operated in accordance
with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization.
(c) The aircraft is limited to not more than
55 pounds unless otherwise certified through
a design, construction, inspection, flight test
and operational safety program administered
by a community-based organization.
(d) The aircraft is operated in a manner that
does not interfere with and gives way to any
manned aircraft.
(e) When flown within 5 miles of an airport,
the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control
tower (when an air traffic facility is located at
the airport) with prior notice of the operation.
The proposal to Part 101 continues by prohibiting the
operation of a model aircraft in such a manner that might
endanger the safety of the national airspace system.
So the proposed Part 107 is applicable to "the registration, airman certification and operation of civil small
unmanned aircraft systems within the United States." And
since a small unmanned aircraft is defined as "an unmanned
aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds including everything
that is on board the aircraft," Part 107 is not applicable to
larger, non-visually operated aircraft. It does not, contrary to
the news reporting, propose to "prohibit" other operations.
Now to the one question that has not been answered:
How in the world is the FAA going to notify thousands of
model aircraft owners that they are now regulated by Part
101? And, how is it going to notify the thousands of buyers annually about the requirements? q
avionics news

april

2015

Avionics News April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2015