Yesterday, December 14th, 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a ruling that would require drone owners to register any "unmanned aircraft" weighing between .55 and 55 lbs. According to the press release, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx, classes drone users with pilots, "Make no mistake: unmanned aircraft enthusiasts are aviators, and with that title, comes a great deal of responsibility." Registration will become mandatory on December 21. Any drone purchased after that date will need to be registered before it can be flown. For current drone owners (those whose drones were purchased before December 21st), the registration deadline is February 19, 2016. The FAA will charge a $5 fee for registration, but will waive that charge if drones are registered within the first 30 days of registration (December 21–January 20, 2016). Failure to register your drone will result in heavy penalties from the FAA. There are two ways to register your drone: either through a paper-based application or an online registration available on the FAA's website: www.faa.gov. Once registered, owners/operators are expected to carry a certificate of registration with them at all times, and attach their registration number on the chassis of their drone.
Registration does not yet support registration of small UAS (drones) used in connection with businesses, though it will in the future, limiting the need to register to private users. The FAA, in their FAQ, has specifically stated paper airplanes, toy balloons, and Frisbees are exempt from registration. For more information, here's a link to the FAA's official press release. To register your drone through the FAA's online registration system, follow this link. Be sure to check back, as we will be updating this post as more information rolls in. What's your take on the newly implemented drone registration?