Next time you enter your local hobby store, know that you can buy your own deadly Predator drone, maybe even on sale. That's right, the US government is considering regulating all those remote control model airplanes -- propeller and jet models -- as if they were Predator drones. Think about it. They fly by remote control, they can carry cameras, and for the exceedingly clever, can pack some sort of 'warhead.'
Naturally, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, 140,000 members strong, 99% male, and with an average age of 58, opposes any regulation. The 'current' Federal Aviation Administration rules, dated 1981, consist of Advisory Circular 91-57 (ATO-220) Model Aircraft Operating Standards, which suggests flying at 400 foot altitudes or lower and not within 3 miles of an airport.
As for the hobby, it can be fatal. Out of control model aircraft killed four people in the US -- since 1965.
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