I think a lot of folks that are relatively new to drones (last 5 years or so) cannot see the reasoning behind RID. I will start by saying: I am not
for RID, I repeat: NOT for RID.
But the issue of over-reaching regulations; is one the 'drone community' has brought upon itself. In the second video posted by
@Steve Carr - the guy in that video states at :36 seconds that:
"the drone and model aircraft hobby used to be fairly loosely regulated, in terms of a past-time and profession, with rules increasing as the popularity of camera drones increased"
It was not the popularity or numbers of camera drones that caused the rules increase; but rather a few aspects of the modern drone that caused the PILOTS of said drones to fly in places and in manners that NO RC aircraft had before - many times crashing and causing those that regulate to think 'what if'. Those aspects that were different? A drone could be -1] Launched from anywhere at anytime, - 2] Drones took no skill to launch or fly, and - 3] could be purchased without any understanding or knowledge of airspace or basic rules. All 3 of these conditions still exist to this day with few exceptions.
MODEL AVIATION - RC
A little history: In the US, model aviation was self-regulated for over 70 years. Note: it was NOT 'loosely' regulated, and I would go so far as to say it was very 'tightly' regulated in comparison to drones today. The process by which one got
into RC was in fact; the keystone to RC's self-regulatory success. Becoming a competent pilot meant interaction with other competent, experienced pilots, flying from fixed flying fields (clubs) that had their own unique set of rules. You didn't just show up and fly, there were pit procedures, impound procedures, runway and taxiway procedures, flight patterns and much much more. The AMA safety code was always in your mind, if you were a pilot back then, it was because you knew, (and stuck to) the system. If you couldn't get your head around these things - you didn't last long.
DRONES
When the modern drone came about - no one had to show up at such a field, there was no instruction, for the most part, no experienced mentors, there weren't too many 'Drone' videos and forums like this either, not around or; in their infancy. It is no surprise that over half of new pilots are shocked to find out that not only do they have to register their drone but have to take a TRUST test just to fly for fun? The concept of controlled airspace is non-existent to many newbs. The closest thing drone pilots have to that 'system' that we had as RC pilots are forums like this one. The problem is: no one has to read or ever see these forums before they can find out the hard way.
Drone pilots are a massive group of scattered, disconnected and in general, uniformed - (about those things we must know as pilots) - individuals. There is no structure to greet, educate and train new pilots. Once drones started showing up in places they never should have been, we placed ourselves squarely in the eyes of the FAA and regulatory bodies around the world.
I am of the opinion that the implementation of RID will indeed 'fail' but only to bring about other attempts by regulators to force drone pilots into a shrinking sliver of select airspace where in the end, most will leave the hobby or comply unfortunately.
