FAA Registration Rules Announced NOW

[N017RW]

That would make sense, if you have the number, you can search a database to link it to a specific owner. However I doubt the list will be open to public perusal.
It would make no sense. I can't access a database of car registration numbers, drivers licenses, etc., and I don't see this information being any less protected.

Currently FAA "N" numbers are re-searchable on-line.

(You'd see (or not see as) mine is fictitious)

 

[erkme73]

Are you both Erkme73 and Damnitjim01? If you are.... that's weird because it looks like you have been having a conversation with yourself... and if you aren't... I wasn't referring to you... so I don't get your wadded underwear.

I'll answer you directly, how's that? I am operating under the assumption that the database will become public. Initial posts 20-pages ago claimed that this was the case.

The information in the FAQ is clear as mud. For most of it, it talks about aircraft needing to be registered - yet it says for hobby fliers, only one number is issued - which can be applied to multiple aircraft. That implies it is the owner, not the aircraft that is registered. Then, under the privacy portion, it again discusses the need to reunite owners with aircraft which have been lost due to loss of communication.

So, according to the FAQ, if I find a quad in the woods and manage to find a registration number, how do I find the owner? Would that not require access to the database?

If FAQ, in its entirety is so buggered up and filled with conflicting double-speak, can you imagine what the enforcement will be like?

 

[Flyer91]

As I said previously, doing something that does nothing. A 'feel good' measure that does nothing, like the TSA.

I don't know ...
I used to have to go to Bangkok and pay 50 baht to get what the TSA provides for free now.

 

[GoodnNuff]

The N database is open and online. Most gov't databases are open, just not online. It's called public record, but usually involves you showing up in some gov't office and making the request in writing.

The N database and the registration numbers are entirely different.
I am a hobbyist only with no aspirations of making money with my RC toys, I am not required to have an N number.
It is a requirement that your N # is visible to everyone. It is not a requirement that your registration # is visible.

Can you think of any instances where say, drug runner Joe has taken the N number from Reverend Christian's mission plane to use for his own felonious flights from Bogota to Miami?

 

[damitjim01]

Found this in the Q&A, which is a direct contradiction to the previous section that you are NOT required to enter serial number of your drone(s)...

Q: A pilot cannot read a number on a drone so how will registering protect traditional aircraft?

A: A registration requirement encourages a culture of accountability and responsibility. Much like registering a motor vehicle, registering a drone ties a specific person to a specific aircraft. Greater accountability will help protect innovation, which is in danger of being undermined by reckless behavior. This requirement mirrors the requirement for manned operations and commercial UAS operations.

 

[spankybear]

I am glad that this is going to be so easy. Fast too... [Moderator edit: Comment about guns and politics removed.]

 

[spankybear]

Found this in the Q&A, which is a direct contradiction to the previous section that you are NOT required to enter serial number of your drone(s)...

Q: A pilot cannot read a number on a drone so how will registering protect traditional aircraft?

A: A registration requirement encourages a culture of accountability and responsibility. Much like registering a motor vehicle, registering a drone ties a specific person to a specific aircraft. Greater accountability will help protect innovation, which is in danger of being undermined by reckless behavior. This requirement mirrors the requirement for manned operations and commercial UAS operations.

This is not a contradiction... If you wanted to kill someone with a gun and it was registered to you... You would think twice...

 

[damitjim01]

Can you think of any instances where say, drug runner Joe has taken the N number from Reverend Christian's mission plane to use for his own felonious flights from Bogota to Miami?

FAA doesn't know who owns 119,000 of planes flying in U.S.

Already there have been cases of drug traffickers using phony U.S. registration numbers, as well as instances of mistaken identity in which police raided the wrong plane because of faulty record-keeping.

Next year, the FAA will begin canceling the registration certificates of all 357,000 aircraft and require owners to register anew, a move that is causing grumbling among airlines, banks and leasing companies. Notices went out to the first batch of aircraft owners last month

 

[erkme73]

Found this in the Q&A, which is a direct contradiction to the previous section that you are NOT required to enter serial number of your drone(s)...

Q: A pilot cannot read a number on a drone so how will registering protect traditional aircraft?

A: A registration requirement encourages a culture of accountability and responsibility. Much like registering a motor vehicle, registering a drone ties a specific person to a specific aircraft. Greater accountability will help protect innovation, which is in danger of being undermined by reckless behavior. This requirement mirrors the requirement for manned operations and commercial UAS operations.

Thank you for pointing this out. I read through the entire FAQ trying to prove a point, and I ended up with head spinning with all the double-speak. THIS is why government fails at everything it does. Intentions may be a noble as Mother Theresa - but ultimately these types of things have the exact opposite unintended consequences. My money is on all of this information becoming public - whether through open access, or hacked/compiled by third-party services.

 

[R2-D2]

First of all... awesome screen name an avatar

Now - If you are drunk or high - you shouldn't be operating a quad. - so I see no issue with that.
If they are asking for insurance - that means insurance is available - and I'd buy insurance... that'd be a good thing.
I don't see the flight plan thing coming out of this. Not every slope is slippery.
asking for registration shouldn't be an issue - unless you can't afford 5 dollars... and then what are you doing with a 1000.00+ drone??

I mean that new tax of $5 per toy will include the Millenium Falcon that I'm getting for Xmass. Pretty much any flying toy that requires a single AAA battery will need to be registered. So here is some trolling that is possible soon.

If I wanted to be an antidrone **** I could drive up to Scottsdale right after Christmas and look for kids flying their Wxing, Tie and Falcon drones. Record a little video of that on my phone and then ask them. Hey, are your drones registered? Okay prove it because if you can't prove it on the spot, then I'm calling the cops on you. You're now facing a $27,000 fine for each RC I have you on video flying here. So either hand over your toy to me and I won't call the police and we can forget about this issue or sell your vehicle to pay off the fine.

That type of crap will happen if I'm stupid enuff to try to fly in Mesa at any park come next month with my P3P.

 

[erkme73]

...That type of crap will happen if I'm stupid enuff to try to fly in Mesa at any park come next month with my P3P.

Not to worry. Piece by piece local, state, and national parks are banning flying RC things anyway. Land of the free, home of the brave.

 

[Flyer91]

.... or Air America doing the same with 123's fliyng "cargo" out of the golden triangle to pay for the war in Laos during the 60/70's ......

 

[ianwood]

Registration doesn't solve accountability but it helps it significantly. If cars didn't have license plates, the number of hit and runs would be astronomically higher. And yes, someone can steal someone else's license plate but that usually gets figured out when the car is apprehended.

I am not concerned if someone puts my registration on their drone and flies it into a stadium for several reasons:

1: I know that it is highly unlikely for someone to want to frame me.
2: Even if they did, they would need to know my registration to use it.
3: The authorities would quickly be able to figure out the drone is not mine and I was not there culprit.

And on the state vs. federal, I am seriously happy I do not need to register in 15 different states to operate my drone. That would be a nightmare. One set of rules. One registration. Done.

 

[R2-D2]

You're aware FAA regulations aren't within the scope of local PD's duties, right? You're lucky to get the PD to your house for a disturbance call, a report that someone flew something in an area is of no importance to them. They know, by the time they get there, they won't find anything.

Well maybe that was last month, this month is different. Paradise Valley made all fly drones illegal just before this verdict came down from the FAA. This crap happens all the time when some small minded city council passes laws that conflict with the constitution.

You must tell them ahead of time before you fly. If you don't they'll send the cops after you. You see we have sheriffs around where I live that will try to enforce federal laws, border, immigration, drones. They don't give a crap if the jurisdiction is under the FAA or not, that don't matter to the crazies in office.

 

[damitjim01]

3: The authorities would quickly be able to figure out the drone is not mine and I was not there culprit.

How? Your drone's serial number isn't recorded in the registration process. How do you prove you don't own something?

 

[Man.Of.Kent]

you kidding? your refund will come 30-60 days after the january deadline. they'll collect the interest on all us hobbyists.

And what will be the interest collected on $5 over 2 months? Over here they would net 1p. I wouldn't miss that.

 

[erkme73]

And what will be the interest collected on $5 over 2 months? Over here they would net 1p. I wouldn't miss that.

Not to make his point, but let's assume they get 5 million registrations. Interest on $25m for two months is nothing to sneeze at. I mean, I wouldn't turn it away.

 

[ianwood]

How? Your drone's serial number isn't recorded in the registration process. How do you prove you don't own something?

Bank records. Data records. Tons of forensic data can prove that I did/did not have anything to do with it. Much like with cars, having a registration on it, does not make you accountable for it. It could be a forgery or an illegal swap. Anyone can take a sharpie and write whatever they want on a drone. NTSB or whatever enforcement agency would need to provide additional information linking me to the drone. It's a lead, not evidence.

 

[erkme73]

Bank records. Data records. Tons of forensic data can prove that I did/did not have anything to do with it. Much like with cars, having a registration on it, does not make you accountable for it. It could be a forgery or an illegal swap. Anyone can take a sharpie and write whatever they want on a drone. NTSB or whatever enforcement agency would need to provide additional information linking me to the drone. It's a lead, not evidence.

I wish I had as much trust, faith, and confidence in the governement. Just watch a few episodes of "Investigation Discovery" to see how the facts do not deter overly aggressive malicious prosecutions. And you're assuming you'll actually have your day in 'court'. There's a very good chance the FAA, much like the IRS, operates independently of the judicial system. Guilty until you prove you're innocent... at tremendous expense.

 

[damitjim01]

NTSB or whatever enforcement agency would need to provide additional information linking me to the drone. It's a lead, not evidence.

We'll have to wait and see how that pans out, but the fine is a civil penalty, not criminal. The same burden of proof isn't required... sorta like red light cameras. They send the ticket to the owner of the car in most jurisdictions, some now allow you to challenge that, but then you have to provide information on who was driving or you keep the ticket.