Originally Posted by Air Head

Did the pilot reimburse the modeler ?

Nope, and the NTSB found the model at fault.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.a...19X52836&key=1

Oh of course, our friends at the FAA. I should have known.

We're going to have a tough time with all this

Originally Posted by Miami Mike

I don't want "a better rule", I want no such rule!

Did you tell that to your your district VP?

Ryan

Originally Posted by rocketsled666

Of course something has changed - the massive explosion in cheap, easily flown (or more accurately, "steered") quads in the hands of people who have no conception of how to operate them safely and in some cases at least, who think unsafe operation is actually fun.

Yes, that of course is my point. So if this is understood, if this is what keeps being pointed out, what are we doing here?

Originally Posted by rocketsled666

Your self-driving car metaphor is flawed...

It was just a metaphor, not meant for a literal dissection. It is actually really tough to find an outdoor activity that interacts with the public as extensively as radio controlled model airplanes, that has such an outstanding safety record.

Model aviation hasn't really interacted much with the public. We've mostly been flying in isolated areas where there aren't a lot of people. On purpose. Except that now, with the explosion of easy to fly quads in the hands of people who consider them equivalent to a video recorder there is a lot more interaction. We've gone from being on the fringes of visibility to being front and center. That's really what's changed. The public's perception of RC has been skewed negatively by the, albeit few and far between, incidents involving irresponsible fliers using the new technology that lets any meathead get themselves in to trouble.

It really is simple. We fly model airplanes

Good luck getting the FAA to differentiate between drones and line of sight models.

Seems like that's what it's going to take, but hey the AMA got their membership increased.

Lucky for us!