Author: Andy Argenio
Edition: Model Aviation - 2013/07
Page Numbers: 136

District I — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Andy Argenio Vice President [email protected] 3 Sheila Ln., Smithfield, RI 02917 Tel.: (401) 231-6901 www.amadistrict-i.org

New England states, except for Connecticut, have unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) legislation that, if passed as written, could dramatically impair model aircraft flying.

District I has created an advocacy website for AMA clubs, members, and supporters—providing guidelines for planning, analyzing, developing, and implementing advocacy initiatives. Advocacy website action tools include legislator and judiciary committee contact information, bill details and tracking, alert status notification, talking points, and email samples and online petitions. This website also matches AMA constituents with targeted legislators.

Advocacy will become an initiative for issues facing clubs and members. Discussion forums on the website will allow district clubs, members, and officers to collaborate on common concerns and event activities. With your help and support, we will overcome the challenges facing the aeromodeling community.

Petitioned Maine Legislators

Maine LD 236: Protect Model Aviation R/C Hobby Flying from Drone Legislation

Dear Senator Valentino, Representative Priest, and Honorable members of the Judiciary Committee,

We are members of 13 model aviation clubs in Maine, chartered by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), a national association representing approximately 155,000 members. Our concern is that the definition of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as written in LD 236 to regulate drones, would include radio-control model aircraft.

These regulations will dramatically impair the recreational flying of model aircraft and the thousands of spectators who come to Maine each year to attend model air shows, including the businesses that rely on the revenue from these shows. Public agency regulation of model airplanes is a waste of tax dollars because model aircraft flying is already regulated by the AMA’s National Safety Code and FAA document 9157.

We support legislation of UAVs for individual privacy protection and public safety; however, there are significant differences in the use and operation of model aircraft from public and civil UAV categories. Unlike other UAV functionality, AMA’s Safety Code doesn’t allow model aircraft to be flown beyond visual line of sight or directly over people or structures, and includes privacy protection regulations that prevent the use of imaging technology or sensors for surveillance and the sale or retention of aerial images of people or property.

Onboard cameras may be used for aerial photography to capture scenic views of flying sites and event activities as well as First Person View (FPV) flying, or for site boundary determination and finding lost aircraft in permitted locations.

The AMA, in a collaborative effort with the FAA since 2008, has updated its safety standards to meet or exceed FAA requirements for the safe integration of UAVs into the National Airspace System. As a result of these efforts, and more than 75 years of an impeccable safety record, model aviation regulations for a recognized, community-based organization were exempted from FAA regulations. This exemption was signed into law by the President on February 14, 2012, as Public Law 112-95 Section 336(c). UAVs operating outside of this exemption will be subject to federal and state laws and FAA regulations.

Petitioning as constituents of Maine’s AMA members, we urge legislators to amend LD 236 to include an exclusion as sponsored by Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and co-sponsored by Representative Joe Barton (R-Tex.) in bill H.R. 1262 titled “The Drone Aircraft Privacy & Transportation Act of 2013,” Section 5:

"MODEL AIRCRAFT PROVISION—Nothing in this act/bill may be construed to apply to model aircraft as defined in section 336(c) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012."

Above is a sample of a petition letter and photo that can be created on www.change.org; when electronically signed by supporters it will be auto-emailed to legislators.

District I Officers and Coordinators

  • Contest Coordinator:
  • David Surwell — 24 Norwich Rd., Nashua, NH 03062; (603) 888-2020; [email protected]
  • Frequency Coordinator:
  • Joel Chappell — Milford, NH; (603) 673-6240; [email protected]

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.