January 17rd, 2024
Good morning everyone. I guess I should really say – GREAT MORNING everyone! I received this from the Federal FAA. This our ‘OFFICIAL’ Letter of Authorization, allowing us to fly our RC airplanes ‘WITHOUT’ Remote ID at our flying site. Letter of Authorization
I have been in communications with the AMA and they’ve agreed that this isn’t a “FRIA”, but it’s ‘Official’ and thus they also recognize this as a CBO. The AMA stated that most of the clubs that had been denied in the FRIA request received these letters instead.
Additionally, I just received the below from the AMA Webcast. The map lists our area as being an ‘officially recognized’ FRIA. Have a GREAT day everyone.
KC
FRIA Map Now Available
FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) status has been extended to more than 1,500 AMA club flying fields. AMA staff continue to work hard on behalf of clubs to process a few hundred more and appeal and reverse those that were not granted FRIA status. The FAA has published a map that identifies FRIA sites throughout the US.
FRIA sites
I just finished wrapping a 12’ gymnastic balance beam for my granddaughters. It looks more like Dolly Parton’s coat of many colors. How can you disguise this? Do you think that the kids will know what it is? 😊 By the time I completed it, it looked more like one of my models that I tried to Monocote. But I’m also aware of how happy they’ll be.
I hope and pray that all of you are able to spend Christmas with the family and friends. If you’re traveling out of town, I hope you have safe and uneventful travels. I’ll be looking forward to seeing all of you out at the field soon.
KC
December 23rd, 2023
I just finished wrapping a 12’ gymnastic balance beam for my granddaughters. It looks more like Dolly Parton’s coat of many colors. How can you disguise this? Do you think that the kids will know what it is? 😊 By the time I completed it, it looked more like one of my models that I tried to Monocote. But I’m also aware of how happy they’ll be.
I hope and pray that all of you are able to spend Christmas with the family and friends. If you’re traveling out of town, I hope you have safe and uneventful travels. I’ll be looking forward to seeing all of you out at the field soon.
KC
December 23rd, 2023
I just finished wrapping a 12’ gymnastic balance beam for my granddaughters. It looks more like Dolly Parton’s coat of many colors. How can you disguise this? Do you think that the kids will know what it is? 😊 By the time I completed it, it looked more like one of my models that I tried to Monocote. But I’m also aware of how happy they’ll be.
I hope and pray that all of you are able to spend Christmas with the family and friends. If you’re traveling out of town, I hope you have safe and uneventful travels. I’ll be looking forward to seeing all of you out at the field soon.
KC
December 6th, 2023
Hello everyone,
I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving with family and friends. I’ve renewed my membership to the gym 😊.
Just a reminder for those that are planning to attend the December 12th club meeting: If you desire, we’ll be having our ‘White Elephant’ gift exchange. As in previous years, the price ceiling is set at $15. At this meeting, we’ll be voting in the 2024 club officers. Additionally, we’ll be soliciting names for the “Most Crashes” and also Arc of the Year.
KC
November 9th, 2023
I just received communications from the AMA Government Relations Representative. This provides more clarity to my previous announcements.
“The email from Ms. Stewart is correct in that your FRIA application was likely automatically denied due to location in a 0’ grid. This denial will not affect your LOA or future 7711 AA. Even if the FRIA status is never given to the site, you would still be able to operate under the LOA or AA with a broadcast module added to aircraft. However, we will do everything we can to get you FRIA status at your site. Ilona Maine is our staff member working on your FRIA application and she has already resubmitted your application to the FAA.”
This means that we’re back to our original stance in that we’re waiting for the results of the FRIA application to determine whether or not we’ll need the ‘Remote ID’ modules installed into our aircraft.
I apologize for any confusion or anxiety that I may have caused. I’m simply passing along to you what the respective agencies are telling me.
KC
November 2nd, 2023
I’m actively attempting to answer all questions with regards to our recent FAA Airspace Authorization. With the recent emails and phone calls that I’ve been on, much of the information has been positive, while some of it has put a damper on the optimism that I had.
I’ve had many club members express concern with the wording and the omission of some ‘key terms’. A tremendous shout out to those members that are attempting to keep me on the correct path. I can’t thank you enough. I’m attempting to be the mouth piece primarily for our members.
I finally received this below email from the AMA Director of Government Relations:
“The AA is meant to replace the previous LOA but does not provide any exemptions for Remote ID. You would still need to apply for FRIA status for your site.
“We are aware and agree with the issues that your club member has with the AA. All clubs are receiving AAs with very similar language that does not fit our operations. We have already had meetings with the FAA group leading this process and provided them with a list of needed changes. They agreed in our meeting that the content of the cookie-cutter AAs they were providing to clubs did not apply to our operations and were willing to make changes. I am currently in DC meeting with congressional offices about FRIA issues but will follow up with the AA team regarding this issue and get an update as to where they are in the changes they agreed to make when I return to the office next week.
“Please let me know if you have additional questions.
“Best regards,
Chrystal Pearson, Director of Government Relations”
KC
November 1st, 2023
CHRISTMAS has come early!!!! We have just received an Airspace Authorization from FAA Seattle TRACON. This authorization is effective immediately and valid for the next 2 years. This document replaces our FAA Letter of Authorization and essentially takes the place of the FAA FRIA. This means, that we don’t need to have a Remote ID in our aircraft. We are mandated to ensure that everyone flying at our site complies with all of the requirements that were in our original FAA Letter of Authorization.
This is a tremendous relief and an answer that we were all hoping for,
KC
September 5th, 2023
Here’s the latest on the Club’s FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) request.
On August 24th, I received two simultaneous emails, one from the Drone Zone and the other from the AMA. The email from the Drone Zone was the FAA’s response informing the club that our FRIA was denied due to our close proximity to the Bremerton Airport. This was about two weeks after the Shelton Flyers received a similar denial for the same reason. I sent an immediate response to the AMA including a copy of the current FAA Letter of Agreement (LOA) between the Kitsap ARCS and the FAA Seattle Terminal Radar Approach Control (S46). I received a response back from the AMA stating that they were going to resubmit our FRIA request along with our FAA LOA.
I also sent a copy of our FRIA denial to the FAA official(s) that signed our LOA. I’m attempting to keep both the AMA and the LOA signatories informed of our appeal.
The following weekend I received a phone call from Paul Fleming. He was at the Wenatchee Scale Flying competition. There were some AMA representatives there and Paul gave them an earful. Based on the response from the representatives, it appears that any RC club that was within five miles of an airport received a denial of their FRIA request. It’s like they sent all applications through a filter and any application that failed to meet the 5-mile restriction was automatically denied, regardless of the club’s safety record or how many years that they had been flying from that site.
A member sent me an announcement from Horizon Hobby, offering a Remote ID module for “pre-order”. The announcement further referred to the deadline for installation of these modules for all UAS not operating in a FRIA was to be September 16, 2023. Although there have been a couple of companies that are offering their Remote ID modules on a “pre-order” basis, it is extremely doubtful that the manufacturers will have sufficient quantities of these modules available by the September 16th deadline.
On Sunday, September 3rd, we sent the following inquery to the FAA UAS Support Center:
Has the Sept. 16th date been paused since Remote ID units still haven't shipped??
On Monday, September 4th, we received the following response:
"As of this moment, the RID compliance date remains 16 Sep 2023. We are considering options
with respect to relief from the 16 Sep compliance date. We will have more to share with you
in the near future on FAA websites and social media."
I am waiting from further correspondence from the AMA and the FAA. When I have more information, I’ll keep you informed.
Thanks,
KC