If you don’t like FAA drone regulations, you’re probably not the only cookie in the jar. Many people don’t like them because of putting too much stress on regulation our airspace at least when it comes to small unmanned aerial vehicles. One drone enthusiast (who’s also a lawyer) happened to have a serious problem with FAA drone regulations so he decided to sue them. But, what does all this have to do with you guys? Well, it was just a clever introduction to a story that will end up getting some of you an extra 5 bucks…
All of you who paid the $5 fee when registering your drone at FAA’s website are now eligible to get a full refund. Yup, that’s true! This is because that lawsuit didn’t go in favor of the FAA and now they are obliged to correct the issues. That significantly changed the regulations regarding small UAVs. Few months back, you had to register virtually all drones (except toys) even if you were only a casual user. With John Taylor’s lawsuit against FAA resulting in a win, those registrations became obsolete. Now, even though FAA is most likely to make an appeal and reinstall their rules and regulations, the current laws are active and they actually offer $5 refund to people who paid the fees.
How can you get the refund?
If you are eligible for the refund (basically, you’re eligible if you’ve paid the $5 registration fee), simply head on over HERE. You will be greeted with a special FAA form (3 pages long, nothing too drastic) that you will, of course, need to fill out. It contains basic check formulas for compliances on various regulations as well as your personal and bank account info. After you’re done with filling it out, a simple email wouldn’t do the trick. Unfortunately, FAA Civil Aviation Registry apparently works with outdated mail system which requires you to physically mail them the copy of the filled-out form to the below stated address:
- FAA Civil Aviation Registry
- PO Box 25504
- Oklahoma City OK, 73125
Why is FAA issuing these refunds?
Like I stated above, FAA is now offering full refunds ($5) for their fees to people who registered their small UAVs for casual uses. This is because they lost a huge case against a prominent drone enthusiast John Taylor regarding their registration rule. More precisely, FAA’s registration rule was contrary to the Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. This effectively means exactly that FAA has to get rid of registration for casual users and get a full refund to people who paid fees for it. It’s a pretty neat deal, you have to admit!
Does this mean I don’t have to register my drones anymore?
That’s exactly what it means ! The new regulation is now in command that doesn’t oblige anyone to register their small UAVs (under 55 pounds) as long as they are for causal purposes. But, keep in mind that this won’t on for a long period of time. In a couple of months, I’m pretty sure the registration procedure will come back but most likely in a different form. While this new law is active, many of you will be using unregistered drones… but you still have to obey all rules just like you would with a registered one. That means keep your drone within your line of sight, don’t fly into private property without owner’s permission, keep away from airports and so on… Just because your drone is not registered doesn’t mean you won’t get in trouble if you do something out of the above.
Larry achieved great results working as an instructor at our partnering company where he prepared students for Part 107 exams.
Proud father of two beautiful kids, which is pretty much explaining why he's not publishing as often on DronesGlobe as he used before.
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