http://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/

FROM FLITETEST.COM:-

FAQ

Do I need to register my hobby RC airplanes or "toy" quadcopters?

Yes. "Registration is a statutory requirement that applies to all aircraft.  Under this rule, any owner of a small UAS who has previously operated an unmanned aircraft exclusively as a model aircraft prior to December 21, 2015, must register no later than February 19, 2016."

Any aircraft over 0.55 pounds and under 55 pounds qualifies and must be registered.

Do I have to register each of my RC aircraft separately?

No. For those of you who have dozen's of aircraft, you register once as a pilot you will receive a registration number that must be displayed on all of your aircraft. As a pilot you will need to give your name, home address and email address. 


Does it cost?


Yes and no. There will be a $5 fee for registering that is good for 3 years. However as a big 30 day push from (from Dec. 21, 2015 to Jan 20, 2016) to get as many people as possible registered they will be "refunding" the $5 to anyone who registers in this time frame.


Well what if I don't?


"Failure to register an aircraft may result in regulatory and criminal sanctions. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years."


Why is the FAA doing this now?



"We expect hundreds of thousands of model unmanned aircraft will be purchased this holiday season," said FAA Administrator Huerta. "Registration gives us the opportunity to educate these new airspace users before they fly so they know the airspace rules and understand they are accountable to the public for flying responsibly."


My Thoughts


There is obviously going to be some chaos with supposedly a million drones being sold this holiday season. However something that drone registration doesn't prevent is people doing really dumb things with their RC aircraft. All it does is mildly increases the chance of identifying and prosecuting someone who isn't aware of or doesn't care about the rules that keeps everyone safe.
I personally will be registering my aircraft when the registration site becomes available but like most other people who will be quick to register, I am one of the least likely offenders of established rules.

- See more at: http://flitetest.com/articles/faa-rc-registration-faq#sthash.gAiKcFkK.dpuf

Quote from: aniket210696 on December 15, 2015, 01:15:47 AM
...
My Thoughts

...However something that drone registration doesn't prevent is people doing really dumb things with their RC aircraft. All it does is mildly increases the chance of identifying and prosecuting someone who isn't aware of or doesn't care about the rules that keeps everyone safe.
...

I agree. First time 'drone' pilots are bound to make mistakes. Instead of prosecuting them, the US government should impose regulations like cumpolsory shrouds, sensors for detecting people and avoiding collisions and software fail-safes.

Hope, our government comes up with a better set of rules.

The FAA FAQ for registration is here: http://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/faqs/

God knows what DGCA is thinking about it. They surely will get ideas from these new rules in USA. But it has to be adapted according to Indian scenario. That means they will take more time to think. The rules will not come out anytime soon in India if this drags on.

DGCA will follow and setup similar rules shortly
Once done it will be like visiting rto office
For registration

Hope they don't charge for the registration like the FAA...

forget that i hope we don't have to go out of the way to get things done for registration

Quote from: chintal on December 15, 2015, 03:20:56 PM
DGCA will follow and setup similar rules shortly
Once done it will be like visiting rto office
For registration

We have been hearing shortly for a long time. Here short means long and long means eternity

Anyway, in my letter to DGCA posted in http://www.rcindia.org/chatter-zone/petition-on-change-org-successfully-created/150/ I had suggested about voluntary online registration. Otherwise it would be too much of trouble ...whenever we make a drone we have to go somewhere and take a licence and then maybe it crashes in a few days and we make yet another with some different components and again we have to repeat the whole process. This might be feasible in USA but in Indian red tape context it would mean harassment.

This is the part of the letter sent to PMO in July (who forwarded it to DGCA) regarding drone registration :

Quote
7.   There have been arguments by certain quarters that licence may be issued for flying UAVs similar to that issued for vehicles or for persons who are flying. However, such a proposal in respect of recreational flyers will be counter-productive in such a big country like ours. Apart from taxing the government machinery, it may give rise to the infamous "Licence Raj", corruption, red tape and harassment. In the USA, the FAA has not proposed any licensing in respect of the recreational users. However, if at all some control needs to be exercised in respect of flying of UAVs considering security aspects, a proposal is given to use e-Governance for this purpose for "self-registration" of UAVs by persons flying them.

Proposal for Online Self-Registration System for recreational users of UAV using e-Governance

-   A web portal may be created for self-registration of UAV fliers and their UAVs
-   Flyers can be citizens of India or International tourists and can self-register themselves online. This will be a one-time registration
-   Domestic flyers may be identified and linked with Aadhar Card Number or Election Identity Card number
-   International flyers may be identified and linked with their passport numbers
-   Once the person self-registers himself/herself online, he/she can register one or more UAVs flown by him/her
-   Photos, weight and other capabilities of the UAV e.g camera, FPV, telemetry etc. and similar details can be uploaded by the user himself/herself
-   After entering details of UAV, a printout of UAV identification number can be generated from the system and pasted on the UAV itself
-   Places where they are likely to fly can be entered online by the user himself. For example, if someone wants to fly in Goa, he/she will enter the time and dates and locations online. Flying locations can be indicated on a Google Map mashup at the site or just mentioned.
-   The map can also automatically display restricted areas where flying should not be done. Time dependent restricted areas can also be shown e.g. around Red Fort area on August 15
-   After the user registers the location to fly (which can be a date or a range of dates) he/she can generate a printout, which he should carry with himself at the time of flying. Authorities can also ask for the slip anytime from the flier

With the above system, no manual intervention and permission is required. No specific agency is required to deploy personnel for licensing. However, all UAVs are self-registered and have a registration number. All flyers are also identified. No harassment will be made to persons possessing self-registration printouts. Also authorities can take action against persons without self-registration documents and seize UAVs not having self-registration documents.

They won't make any changes
They will just follow faa
And I hope what faa has done is final without further delays
So that we can at least fly instead of a complete ban

Well...if they want to blindly follow FAA, so be it. But at least they should come up with something. But I'm afraid even that would be delayed. The system of registration in India can't be put into place unless they create the infrastructure, registration authority, offices, train officials on the rules and technicalities and so on. This, in India will take at least 1 year, if not more. Even after that I'm sure people will face harassment. In India the concentration of drone fliers is not as much as in USA. A person living in a suburb or small town may have to travel to a metro to get his drone registered. And next time he makes another one, he has to travel again. In such a scenario, people would prefer to fly illegally rather than take the trouble. So simply lifting a ban and putting into place a rule which leads to harassment will not solve anything for fliers. DGCA should think everything in the Indian context rather than aping FAA on everything. Otherwise they will have a rule which will create difficulties for everyone.

 

Re: Petition to DGCA

Here's a suggestion for DGCA:

1. Make all of us register with FAA (free till 20th Jan 2016!)
2. Ask FAA to give DGCA access to their database

Will save DGCA all the trouble of setting up a monitoring system.
Cheep and besht, huh?

Well...sir...ideal solutions are not always the most acceptable ones. This will never happen. No sovereign country can swallow its pride and say that we are incapable with developing our own rules and software and instead want to use that of USA. Moreover, the US FAA database uses social security number as primary key. Adapting it to Indian context means redesigning the whole software.

The registration in itself is not a problem. It is possible to make a working software in 5 days. Even I can make one...I have made more complicated ones than that. NIC can easily develop such a software in a few days once the government gives it the software requirement specifications. And that will come for free because its a govt. agency.

The difficult part is framing the policy and figuring out how the government wants to implement that. Once our government makes up its mind, implementation of software will not be a factor at all.