Remote Pilot regulations

[MauleSkinner]

I got my Remote Pilot certificate several years ago, but haven’t done anything with it. Now that I’m looking at retirement a little more closely, I’m thinking about playing with model airplanes. The way I’m reading things, a flying model airplane is considered a drone/remotely piloted vehicle for the purposes of Part 107, and even at the sub-250g weights, a Remote Pilot certificate is required and the airplane needs a remote ID if flown outside of a FRIA. So in a fairly extreme case, if I buy a rubber-powered balsa plane at Hobby Lobby to fly with my grandkids in their backyard, a remote pilot certificate and remote ID are required.

Am I reading this right, or do I need better drugs?

 

[Bob Noel]

for sub-250g recreational use I don't believe the remote ID is required. If I understand what you mean be "Remote Pilot cert", I don't think is required either (can you guess that I don't have a remote pilot cert and my drone is under 250g?).

 

[murphey]

for sub-250g recreational use I don't believe the remote ID is required. If I understand what you mean be "Remote Pilot cert", I don't think is required either (can you guess that I don't have a remote pilot cert and my drone is under 250g?).

For under 250g no remote ID is needed UNLESS you're flying it for compensation.
Even under 250g there are many, many places you cannot fly it. Really annoying, as there's a school 100 yd away, no summer classes and a huge parking lot and I'm not allowed to fly there due to school district, city, county & state rules.

I suggest you contact a local AMA chapter - Academy of Model Aeronautics - and see where they fly. Only advantage living under Class B & Class C, is the local AMA has a carve out at Cherry Creek Res (SE of Denver, just north of KAPA) and an RC runway.

Academy of Model Aeronautics

The Academy of Model Aeronautics is a nonprofit community of enthusiasts who come together to celebrate model aviation.

www.modelaircraft.org

What's really annoying, the field at Cherry Creek Res is open to the public but to use the RC field, I'm required to join the RC club. And pay to enter the state park. I'm about to return the larger drone I bought a couple weeks ago, since there's no place convenient except my living room. I've been flying my $10 toys inside the house, and that's about it.

More details about Colorado. Check your state and local rules:

Drone Laws in Colorado (2025) - UAV Coach

A list of drone regulations and links for people flying drones in Colorado.

uavcoach.com

 

[midlifeflyer]

rules.

I suggest you contact a local AMA chapter - Academy of Model Aeronautics - and see where they fly. Only advantage living under Class B & Class C, is the local AMA has a carve out at Cherry Creek Res (SE of Denver, just north of KAPA) and an RC runway.

Isn’t there one at Chatfield too? I seem to recall pointing it out during training flights as a potential emergency landing strip

 

[MauleSkinner]

under 250g no remote ID is needed UNLESS you're flying it for compensation.

Ok, I’m seeing that Part 107 does not apply to operations under 44809, the recreational exception. 44809(c)(2) says more than 55 pounds has to be operated from a fixed site.
Part 48 (registration) is where the sub-250g exception lives.

I need to get these different references organized in my mind.

 

[murphey]

Ok, I’m seeing that Part 107 does not apply to operations under 44809, the recreational exception. 44809(c)(2) says more than 55 pounds has to be operated from a fixed site.
Part 48 (registration) is where the sub-250g exception lives.

I need to get these different references organized in my mind.

Isn’t fun deciphering federal regs? Antidote for insomnia.

you think 107 is bad? CAP has even more regs & requirements on top of 107 if you want to be a CAP drone pilot. ( Or an airplane pilot, too, if that interests you.) CAP drone rules make more sense than the Feds. There’s no drone checkride for the Fed license, but CAP requires 4 hours in advance just to attend the drone academy, then a minimum of 7.5 hours of additional flight time in 5 defined exercises, and then you take a drone checkride. CAP created the equivalent to the FAA airplane ACS. There’s also the requirement for a drone tech who maintains visual contact and has to take 3 additional FEMA classes, over and above the 3 that everyone in CAP takes.

Bummer - no DJI drones allowed on real missions. We can practice with DJI but that’s all. In Colorado right now, there are no CAP drone check pilots, the 2 who were let the cert expire.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Isn’t fun deciphering federal regs? Antidote for insomnia.

Part of the problem is that the training programs don’t like to use reference material, particularly regulations, or even tell you these different bodyies of regulation exist. They simply tell you enough to pass the test rather than providing practical knowledge.

 

[Tools]

The good news, I think control line models are finally off the hook… well, my control line carrier planes have a hook…

 

[Ghery]

Makes me glad I never joined CAP when I had a medical. Now I never will.

The only time I had anything to do with CAP was decades ago when they were looking for a downed aircraft and I joined in the search as an amateur radio operator. As soon as the other ham learned I was a pilot he handed me the mic and said you operate, I'll do the paperwork. You speak "pilot". That was as close as I came to CAP.