Now it seems that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has come up with a set of guidelines it announced via social media and it guarantees that if drone pilots follow the rules in the United States, they will never find themselves in trouble. This will come across as a huge sigh of relief for the drone hobbyists who will now at least have access to a clearly chalked out regulations they can abide. This set of regulations is expected to prod the other countries to set up their own regulations based on this one by FAA. So here are the Dos and Don’ts, and they are crystal clear with little or no ambiguity. FAA encourages you to fly a model aircraft at the local model club and take lessons to fly safely. It also requires you to contact the airport or the control tower when flying within 5 miles of the airport, and further the notice says that drones should be for personal enjoyment and this rule seems to be aimed at warding off spies and voyeurs. Now comes the most important part, what you cannot do with your drone as a hobbyist – flying near manned aircraft and flying beyond the line of sight of the operator. The notice bars pilots from flying drones weighing more than 55 lbs (25 kilos) until and unless it’s certified by an aeromodelling community-based organization. It also doesn’t allow you to fly model aircraft for commercial purposes. This notice comes as a huge sigh of relief for drone hobbyists after a recent FAA notice had vehemently asked every drone bought in the US to be registered with the authority, thus having caused a furor among the community. These days, one can find many cheap drones to buy for fun, but care needs to be taken to follow the rules properly. Additionally if you want to read out the FAA notice in detail you can visit the official site to do so.
