(Posted originally mid day on January 10th. Received feedback on social media and made several important edits late on the 10th. Then, made additional minor edits  January 12th to clarify some items, based on additional feedback. Notably have changed “ban”/”banned” to “eliminates” as a more accurate description of what happens to indoor flight when no commercially made, non-complaint aircraft are available. IF you read this before January 12th, there are important changes and clarifications.

As of January 14th, an FAA official acknowledges the FAA cannot regulate indoor airspace – but has not provided a specific solution to the restrictions imposed by only permitting the sale of compliant  aircraft that require GPS to fly.)

The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning standards for use of Remote Identification on small unmanned aircraft has the side effect of eliminating [4]  nearly all indoor flight of compliant, commercially made and sold model aircraft (greater than 0.55 pounds).

This is because compliant aircraft cannot fly unless they have a GPS signal and most indoor locations will lack a GPS signal.

In an email to me on January 9th, the FAA’s Office of Rulemaking confirmed this is the case. On the 14th, an FAA official acknowledges they cannot regulate indoor airspace but has not offered a solution to the “can’t fly if no GPS signal” issue for all commercially built and sold small UAS.

How this occurs

• The NPRM requires only certified remote ID capable craft are sold in the U.S. 2 years after the rule takes effect[1]. All new small UAS must have Remote ID.
• Remote ID requires periodic transmission of the craft and/or operator’s latitude and longitude.
• The latitude and longitude are obtained from GPS signals.
• If no GPS signal is presence,  the Remote ID system automatically prevents the small UAS from taking flight.
• Since GPS is not available in most indoor areas, this eliminates the operation of commercially made small model aircraft inside most buildings. This includes private homes, garages, shops, businesses,  warehouses, manufacturing plants, convention centers, exhibit halls, mines and caves and other interior locations.
• The FAA intends to restrict the manufacturing and sale of small UAS to certified, compliant aircraft only, meaning Remote ID and GPS functional.  On page 16 of the NPRM, the FAA writes: “The FAA envisions that upon full implementation of this rule, no unmanned aircraft weighing more than 0.55 pounds will be commercially available that is not either a standard remote identification UAS or a limited remote identification UAS.” [2]
• Only compliant aircraft could be sold as new, 2 years after the rule takes effect.
• The FAA is indirectly regulating the use of indoor airspace by prohibiting the sale of non-compliant aircraft that could function indoors[3].The FAA has no legal jurisdiction to regulate indoor airspace and they have acknowledged this.
• (January 14th update) On page 8 of the NPRM, the FAA writes“All UAS produced for operation in the airspace of the United States would have to comply with the design and production requirements established in this proposal with exceptions for amateur-built UAS, UAS of the United States government, and unmanned aircraft that weigh less than 0.55 pounds.”The bold face text implies the FAA will permit the sale of small UAS that have a label on the side saying “For indoor flight only”. And this will prevent their outdoor use, how?Essentially, we are back to a conventional regulatory system that is based on trust and enforcement, rather than software mandated control.

A method to obtain reliable, tamper proof latitude and longitude without  GPS and inside buildings has not been identified, and if such technology exists, could it work on small UAS?

Problem Summary

• The FAA intends that only certified, compliant commercially built may be sold in the US.
• Compliant UAS require functioning GPS to fly; if no GPS,  they cannot fly, which means any commercially sold small UAS will not fly in most indoor locations.
• The FAA acknowledges it cannot regulate indoor airspace but has not resolved the conflict between the rules that prohibit sale of non-compliant small UAS and the lack of GPS signal indoors which de facto regulates access to indoor airspace.
• The note on page 8 implies someone may sell a craft with a “For indoor use only” sticker on the side, which largely defeats the purpose of most of the NPRM requiring remote ID on all outdoor flights. Surely, no one will ever fly a drone with a “For indoor use only” sticker outside?

Please read the email from the FAA Office of Rulemaking below. If you read this before January 12th, or the 14th, and are revisiting, please see footnotes [1] through [5] to understand what changed since this was originally posted. Continue reading #FAA confirms that #RemoteID #NPRM Eliminates Most Indoor Flight #UAS #UAV #modelaircraft #Quadcopters →

On December 26th, 2019, the FAA released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking setting standards and requirements for all small UAS/model aircraft/quadcopters flown in the U.S.  The FAA has opened up a 60-day period during which members of the public may file comments about the proposal. We ave until

To learn about the proposal, go  here and click on the proceeding title.

On the next page you can access the NPRM document and supporting documents. You may also click on Comment Now! to submit your own comments. You may also upload a Word document file, if you wish.

Note that the NPRM is 319 pages long and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of supporting documents. This is a very complex rulemaking and the FAA has made it difficult for the general public to understand the details – we do not have teams of lawyers, engineers and other staff to go through all this.

How This Process Works

The Administrative Procedures Act requires that new proposed rules be posted to the public and the public be given an opportunity to comment on those rules. Unfortunately, the law does not require the agencies to listen to that feedback; it only requires collection of the feedback. An agency could, if it wished, accept the public’s comments, ignore them and issue its final rule. In practice, that does not normally happen.

Instead, the agency will  analyze and remove duplicate filings, form letters and so on. Possibly  they will be “counted” but the specific points raised are  only counted once.

Agency staff will then begin reading the comments and identifying each unique issue. If dozens of people identify the same issues, then this is coalesced into a single issue point.

Once they have collected all of the issues raised, the FAA will proceed to interpret the issues and determine how to modify the proposed rule.

Once this lengthy process is completed, the FAA will issue its final rulemaking. In that document, they will list each of the key issues raised and explain how the resolved or did not resolve the points raised.

Good Comments / Bad Comments

The best comments are those that identify specific issues, explain the problems, provide facts and logic to back up your discussion, and suggest recommended alternatives.

The worst comments are those that rant and whine or which just copy form letters. These comments may be ignored by the FAA.

Continue reading How to write and file comments on the #FAA #NPRM on #drones “remote ID” #UAS #UAV #Drone →

The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making for Remote ID goes well beyond just remote ID. I have not had time – yet – to read the entire proposal, but it does include a requirement that most all model aircraft be tracked in real time, once per second. Where “Internet is available” (which they mean 3G to 5G cell service), the position information must be relayed through a phone app to an Internet cloud database for real time tracking. They propose that third parties will run this air traffic management system and everyone will be charged an annual subscription fee. They’ve pulled a number out of a hat and say this might cost $30 per year (presumably PER aircraft); if this estimate is as accurate as the Affordable Care Act estimates were, then it will probably cost more like $100 per year. They will also change pilot registration to per aircraft registration, charging $5 per aircraft to be registered.

This is contrary to the recommendation of their own consensus of stakeholders advisory committee which recommend EITHER Internet tracking OR broadcast remote ID depending on the use and application. The FAA instead said it wants BOTH to be mandated. It is not entirely clear what happens when Internet is not available, and how they define that. If you have TMobile and no service, but Verizon has coverage are you required to also have Verizon service? While you can fly without Internet service such as in remote lands, there may be enforced restrictions such as a 400 foot horizontal limit (enforced by the certified quadcopter controller).

Continue reading FAA plans to regulate home built model aircraft out of existence – you need to file comments now →