RFID and the hobby chat

Well, thank you for reviving your original vision! I hope we see a lot more than the half dozen old-timers I see in the membership list here. I've been largely out of the hobby for a couple of years while the FAA does it's song and dance of trying to eliminate our hobby. For now I'll stay under 250 grams and call it a day. I wonder how many lives RID would have saved in the past year? Or are they making rules for the purpose of being an obstacle to entering our hobby?

Rule breakers break any law they feel like. I have been on the freeway doing 70 mph and got passed by some one doing about 100 mph.
Guys like that started all this crap in the first place, flying drones close to planes or cars, then posting the videos on YouTube, they won't fly with ID no matter what the rules say.

One of the regional Vice presidents is a personal friend of mine. I have known him since 1985.
He has told me about all the fighting the AMA did on our behalf about this entire RFID thing.

FAA first wanted a ID devise in each model aircraft registered to that plane alone and not transferable, if you destroyed the plane, you apparently would be out the device also.
Plus it would send info to some service like a cell phone carrier that would charge a fee per month probably for each plane you had along with your basic fee.
Then it would be relayed to aircraft flying around. Can you imagine the mess of info they would get if we were having a big fun fly event?
And no FRIA sites

AMA fought for us and finally got it down to one unit we can swap into any plane and just sends ID to cell phones with the proper APP in a close area and does not relay to aircraft.

And if you fly at an approved field you don't need anything.

Don't think the rules about FRIA are set in stone, One of my fields is about 1 mile from a hospital helicopter landing area. And we surrounded by homes so it is an electric only field.
We are a FRIA approved site because the hospital has no problems with us and we have been there for 24 years, ALL private aircraft know about us and steer clear of the field.

If your safety record is good your field will probably get approved.

In your backyard you need an ID device when they become actually required.
But even then, I just saw something about getting private flying area approved. Sounded like a big backyard field might pass. I don't know how real this is though. Might be a Scam.

I tried to buy a ID device before our field got approved because I didn't think it would happen. Apparently my order didn't go through because I don't see it on my account.

I see RFID as the end of the responsible side of the hobby. The laws, far from making RC safe, have left the irresponsible fliers unfettered because they won't follow any rules anyway. Meanwhile we who have safely flown in a responsible manner for decades are just deciding it's not worth all the trouble and expense any more.

When you add $100 to the cost of every model you fly you end the hobby. Even if it added $50 to every model that's the end. Our only saving grace is a model weight below which you don't need the nonsense. But having flown 2 meter and larger sailplanes all my life, safely and without incident, that's a bitter pill to swallow.