US rules history: from the model aircraft special rule to Remote ID.

This page is history: what each US rule said when it was made, and when. The rules in force on 30 October 2026 are on the law in the United States, and nothing here is legal advice.

What this page rests on. The FAA's own website (faa.gov) could not be opened for this site's research. The dates and wording below come instead from Federal Register texts on govinfo.gov and federalregister.gov, the statute as published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the D.C. Circuit's published opinion, FCC documents, AMA documents, and, where marked, law-firm alerts, trade reports or search summaries. Association rules (AMA) are named as association rules, not law.

Before racing: 1981 to 2012

• 1981 and 2007, FAA: in its 2014 interpretation (79 FR 36172), the FAA recounts that it first recognised in 1981 that model aircraft can endanger full-scale aircraft and people on the ground, recommending voluntary operating standards in Advisory Circular 91-57, and that it clarified its approach to unmanned aircraft in a 2007 policy statement.
• April and October 2008: Model Aviation (August 2012) records that the FAA began its small unmanned aircraft regulatory effort in April 2008, and that the AMA recognised FPV flying in October 2008 with its first FPV policy, AMA Document 550 (an association rule).
• 14 February 2012, Congress: the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-95) was signed. Its section 336, a "special rule for model aircraft", defined a model aircraft as one capable of sustained flight, flown within visual line of sight of the operator, and flown for hobby or recreation (as quoted in 79 FR 36172).

2014: the FAA's reading on goggles

The FAA's "Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft" (Docket FAA-2014-0396, 79 FR 36172, published 25 June 2014, effective 23 June 2014, comments due 25 July 2014) said visual line of sight means an unobstructed view, and that the statute would preclude vision-enhancing devices such as binoculars, night vision goggles and goggles designed to give a first-person view. In a footnote the FAA said it knew at least one community-based organisation allowed FPV with goggles, and that goggles may obstruct the operator's vision.

The AMA wrote on 31 August 2016 that it had petitioned the US Court of Appeals in August 2014 for review of that interpretation, arguing it misread Congress on line of sight for FPV goggles; that the case was on hold while the FAA reviewed comments; and that FPV with a spotter under the special rule and AMA Document 550 remained acceptable for its members. That is the association's position. The outcome of the petition was not found. When the post was read for this site, it gave no ratio of spotters to pilots.

2015 to 2017: registration, Part 107 and a court ruling

• 16 and 21 December 2015, FAA: "Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft", an interim final rule (80 FR 78593), was published on 16 December and took effect on 21 December 2015, creating web registration of small unmanned aircraft including those flown as model aircraft. This rests on search summaries of the Federal Register record.
• 28 June and 29 August 2016, FAA: the Part 107 final rule (81 FR 42064, Docket FAA-2015-0150) was published on 28 June and took effect on 29 August 2016. It required the aircraft to stay within visual line of sight of the remote pilot in command and the person at the controls, or of a visual observer, and said a first-person-view camera cannot satisfy the see-and-avoid requirement but may be used if that requirement is met in other ways. Part 107 did not apply to model aircraft meeting section 336.
• 19 May 2017, D.C. Circuit: in Taylor v. Huerta (No. 15-1495, argued 14 March 2017; opinion by Judge Kavanaugh), the court held that the 2015 registration rule, as applied to model aircraft, directly violated section 336's bar on new rules for model aircraft, and vacated it to that extent.
• December 2017, Congress: section 1092(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (H.R. 2810) restored the vacated registration and marking requirements for hobbyist drones. A Wiley law alert of 18 December 2017 says the President signed it "on Tuesday", which is 12 December 2017.

2018 and 2019: the FCC, and the end of section 336

• 5 June 2018, FCC: Enforcement Advisory No. 2018-02 (DA 18-581) said drone audio/video transmitters are intentional radiators that may not be advertised, sold or used unless FCC-approved, or unless they operate only on frequencies allocated to amateur licensees, and that operating amateur equipment needs an amateur licence. The same day the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (FCC 18-71) over the marketing of noncompliant drone video transmitters. Radio rules as they stand are on radio rules by country.
• 5 October 2018, Congress: the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-254) was signed. Its section 349 repealed the section 336 special rule and replaced it with an exception for limited recreational operations, codified at 49 U.S.C. 44809 (84 FR 22552).
• 17 May 2019, FAA: a notice on the new exception (84 FR 22552, Docket FAA-2019-0364) said the old part 101 subpart E rules no longer applied; that a visual observer is generally optional but is required for FPV, because FPV limits the operator's scan of the airspace; and that the knowledge-test condition would apply only once the FAA made the test available.

2021 to 2024: the test, Remote ID and amendments

• 15 January 2021, FAA: the Remote Identification final rule (86 FR 4390, Docket FAA-2019-1100) gave an effective date of 16 March 2021, required producers of standard Remote ID aircraft to comply by 16 September 2022 and operators by 16 September 2023, and opened applications for FAA-Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs) from community-based organisations and educational institutions from 16 September 2022. Home-built aircraft without Remote ID could fly only in a FRIA unless fitted with a broadcast module. A March 2021 Federal Register action and a trade report, both seen only as search summaries, say the effective date moved to 21 April 2021; that later date is unconfirmed.
• 15 January 2021, FAA: the same day, 14 CFR 48.15 was amended (Amendment 48-3). The registration exception for aircraft of 0.55 pounds or less, which the 2016 text gave to any such aircraft, now applies only to aircraft flown exclusively under 49 U.S.C. 44809 (the 2016 wording as summarised by search).
• 3 March 2021, AMA: Document 550 was updated; it requires an AMA FPV spotter next to the pilot for every FPV flight (an association rule).
• 22 June 2021, FAA: the Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST), the test the 2018 Act requires, launched when the FAA announced its first approved test administrators (DroneXL, 22 June 2021). Reports give 16 or 17 administrators; the number is unconfirmed.
• September 2023, FAA: citing broadcast-module supply problems and a FRIA application backlog, the FAA said it would use enforcement discretion for Remote ID noncompliance by operators on or before 16 March 2024 (FR Doc. 2023-20074, published 15 September 2023).
• 16 May 2024, Congress: Pub. L. 118-63 amended 49 U.S.C. 44809, adding a process for the FAA to approve recreational fixed sites and requiring it to prioritise FRIA requests at approved fixed sites (LII copy).
• 1 July 2024, FAA: Remote ID talking points published on FAASafety.gov name drone racing organisations as an example of operators that may ask the FAA for authorisation to deviate from the Remote ID operating requirements.

2025: the FCC Covered List

The FCC's fact sheet of 7 January 2026 says that since 22 December 2025 new foreign-produced drones and drone critical components, including flight controllers, radios, cameras, batteries and motors, cannot receive FCC authorisation, while models the FCC authorised before then can still be sold and used. No FCC statement after 7 January 2026 was read, so the list's state on 30 October 2026 is unconfirmed; see the FCC Covered List.

Remote ID as it applies today is on Remote ID, and the same dates appear in the timeline.