FPV Coalition Advocating for Recreational Drone Max Weight Increase from 250g to 1kg

The FPV Coalition seeks help from its members and the entire drone community to help advocate for increasing the weight restriction for recreational drone use from 250g to 1kg. Such a change would allow recreational users to fly larger and more capable drones without having to register with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — and, according to the FPV Coalition, without significant impact to safety — making the hobby more accessible and less expensive to pursue.

Is 250g too light for the weight exemption of recreational registration? I think so. Take a look at [the FPV Freedom Coalition] page and see if you'd like to help out. I would suggest a personal email rather than the form letter (form letters don't have the same impact in Congress), but if that's all you can do, please do it. It doesn't take that much time, and it will help out all who fly recreationally. And most of us also fly recreationally.

Vic Moss, Drone Service Providers Alliance

Template Advocating Weight Increase for Recreational Drones

The FPV Coalition has provided a memo for members of the drone community to copy and paste when contacting their representatives in Congress. The memo provides background information on the current sUAS registration requirements and the need for the proposed change.

MEMO TO CONGRESS ON RAISING REGISTRATION AND REMOTE ID REQUIREMENTS FROM 250 GRAMS TO 1 KILOGRAM

Subject: Request to raise the lower bound of 250 grams to 1 kg of the sUAS registration requirements in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023

To:  Congressional Representative / Senator,

I am a member of the First-Person View Freedom Coalition. This organization is one of the four FAA recognized Community Based Organizations.  

In 2015, the FAA established small Unmanned Aircraft System registration between 0.55 pounds (250 grams) to 55 pounds (citation 1). We request the lower bound of this rule be increased to 1 kilogram.  In 2018, HR 2810, section 1092(a) reinstated sUAS registration. Then, on January 2021, the FAA issued the Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft rule (citation 2) where the FAA established that all registered UAS must have Remote Identification. The safety record of sUAS continues to be excellent with zero fatalities from a sUAS impacting an individual on the ground by an electric powered multi-rotor.  

We request that Congress include in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023 a mandate to the FAA to raise the lower bound of the registration requirement. Explicit in this request is the recommendation to also raise the remote identification requirement to 1 kg. Our membership urges Congress to mandate the FAA to make this change as there are no discernible safety risks.  There is a substantial benefit for recreational operators having the ability to fly model airplanes and other sUAS where they can fly them today.  And, this change would have the benefit to businesses serving the 1.76 million recreational sUAS operators in the USA today (citation 3).

Thank you for your consideration of this critical issue.

(From the FPV Freedom Coalition site)

The coalition encourages members to focus on their local representatives when reaching out to Congress, as this is where outreach is most effective.

It is important for the drone community to get involved and make their voices heard on this issue. While safety is of the utmost importance when it comes to drones, regulations should also be reasonable and not overly burdensome for hobbyists and businesses. By advocating for this change, the drone community can help ensure that regulations are fair, balanced, and data-driven.

Such changes may also lead the way for more reasonable Part 107 commercial weight restrictions, such as increasing the maximum weight of Category 1 drones. Even a small increase in the Category 1 weight restriction would allow more ready-to-fly drones to operate over safely and legally over people. Currently, no such drones exist, with the DJI Mini-series being just 10-20g over the 250g limit when the required prop guards are installed.