Today, the Senate passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, and we expect President Trump to sign it into law soon. This bill includes significant modifications to our hobby. While some of the changes are positive, and include provisions that AMA has championed, overall the bill is problematic, such as a 400 AGL altitude cap in Class G airspace.
None of the provisions included in this bill go into effect immediately. The status quo remains – and we all should continue to fly in accordance with AMA’s safety guidelines until the FAA creates new rules, which could take some time. We will let you know as soon as we have more information on this process and timeline.
In the meantime, the AMA is already working behind-the-scenes to minimize the impact of this bill and advocate for lighter regulatory restrictions on our hobby. In fact, the AMA anticipates there will be many opportunities to work with the FAA on protecting and preserving our hobby in the future.
What do you think about this? Going forward will it harm our hobby or not??
Be sure to monitor your emails, social media and the www.modelaircraft.org/gov for the latest information. In addition, you can read a detailed assessment of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 here or the entire Section 349 here.
