They finally made the National news (Good Morning America). Airline pilots reporting Drones (RC controlled UAV's) flying near their planes around airports.
Will these idiots be responsible for ending our hobby?

No. Not at all.
The only thing those idiots will do is ruin any chance of commercial "drone" operators like myself to have any chance of making a livelyhood.

Even yesterday with the new announcements by the FAA they are just cracking down on any commercial ventures, hobbyists that fly at AMA fields and follow the rules have nothing to worry about. (Unless you fly FPV)

This seems a good a place to re- engage this question. The situation since 2014 has changed a lot, in 2015/16 we see fields being shut down and RC flying merged into one homogenous grouping that is far from that. Please take a look and offer some thoughts. Thanks.

Looking for feedback please.

So, there seems to be a "line" emerging that has been pretty obvious to hobbyist from the start but to lawmakers it is unknown and not properly represented. Should a line be determined by: technology or operation? Or has technology come to a point that merges the two and requires a combination of what the technology is and what it's used for?

Hobbyist (Recreational)
vs
Non Hobbyist (normally commercial).

Hobbyist, responsible operator of model aircraft utilizing safety guidelines and operating responsibly with: planes (foamies, micros, trainers, sport, 3D, XA, scale, IMaC, jet,etc), Helis, multi copters (for racing, low altitude FPV racing, etc. )
VS
Non- hobbyist: some either operating safely or seeking help with: Fully or partially autonomous drone or a new term I liked that I saw on a vid the other day "robot" (describing a self contained gimbal mounted prop driven inspection device enclosed in a safety/ protective circular web), GPS navigated, usually with a commercial intent (real estate, aerial photography of non modeling activities, inspection, law enforcement, etc).
And as with anything the "offshoot" and in this case the "real" threat: those who want to do whatever they want with what they bought regardless of safety, any guidelines and with no concern for anyone or anything! The "unable to regulate" if you will.

I'm attempting to get our responsible modelers together to educate and inform legislators and regulators that we need to distance ourselves but not throw any hobbyist "under the bus" while doing so.
I'm reaching out to the hobby community for thoughts and ideas. Thanks for your comments.

Yup, we have to control the drones.

Originally Posted by Lumb

Yup, we have to control the drones.

Ideas how? All serious ideas welcome. They will reach ears. I plan to compile comments here, RCG, and 3DRCF and other media outlets where I have put "feelers"

Sharing some good news from AMA gov't affairs. Please share. This will help set precedent to educate legislators and regulators that aero modeling is not the problem and blanket regulating is not the solution.
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe701...007b761d73&r=0
Those who think AMA hasn't been very busy working this issue that hit like a storm are dead wrong. Please help educate them as well. After all we are all modelers.

Yes. They will ruin it. I am from Millinocket, Maine. While visiting my gf in Rhode Island I went to a hobby shop in foxboro mass. Out front of the shop is a huge signs in the windows that say rc cars, boats, trains, DRONES. You go inside the door and there is a huge display with a 70+ inch HDTV with footage taken from a quad copter flying over the city of foxboro, crossing over I95, hovering 10 feet over crowded beaches. These are not little modles. $800-2000 usd, weighing 7+ pounds, swinging 14 inch props on 6s power. I was there for a half hour and more than a few people came in saying something like "my husband wants one to follow him around on his jet ski, what should I buy?" Of course the owner pushes the most powerful, expensive modle with not a word of safety. Not one buyer knew what a 6s battery was, if the battery could be removed or recharged or if you could even buy an extra battery. His words were something like..".if you ever get into trouble, hit this button and it will return and land at your feet. If the battery gets low it will return to you. Almost anyone can fly one. If you run into something this one with six blades (lol) will keep flying even if you loose one motor" He was encouraging people to fly out of line of sight I will not be going back. The owner said it was the largest hobby shop in new England. There were just ignorant people buying 1/5 scale trucks, buggys, and 1500 dollar aircraft that had no business flying a foamy. In addition it was very difficult to get assistance because it was so busy and none of the 3 employees wanted to help someone looking to buy a few jst connectors and some shrink wrap when the store was filled with idiots staring at the tv playing the video of the quad copter flying over everyone's homes, people driving on streets, and INTERSTATE 95! The owner is not in the interest of the hobby but making money. I'm 31 and got into the hobby with a losi gtx in 1995 and started flying in 2008. It was once a small community with people helping each other out. It is changing. Make no mistake, changes are comming. Bad ones. There was a episode of "family guy" where Peter buys a "drone" He didn't know what he was doing and crashed it onto a neighbors roof. Something needs to be done

I agree there needs to be a line separating us from them.

Originally Posted by morrison250r

I agree there needs to be a line separating us from the bathmate hydromax them.

Hopefully there will be. But I'm certainly not putting it past the politicians to bundle it all together.