Remember that $5 fee you had to pay when you first registered your drone? After a recent court decision, the FAA is issuing a drone registration refund for those who paid the registration fee. If you are a drone hobbyist operator and you didn’t register your UAV, then don’t even worry about this since the FAA recently removed the requirement to register non-commercial drones. When the FAA placed a registration requirement for non-commercial drone operators, the court ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration violated section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which states, “… that the FAA “may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” This basically means that you can now erase your records on the FAA database and get a full UAV registration refund.
How Can You Get a Drone Registration Refund?
After filling out this form, you have to physically mail it to the Civil Aviation Registry address:
- FAA Civil Aviation Registry
- PO Box 25504
- Oklahoma City OK, 73125
How Come The FAA Is Issuing a Drone Registration Refund?
According to Forbes, a prominent American business magazine, an aircraft enthusiast and insurance lawyer beat the Federal Aviation Administration in a David versus Goliath case. John A. Taylor challenged the FAA’s registration rule, and on May 19, 2017, he won that case. The court decided that the FAA’s 2015 registration rule ran contrary to the Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. Check out this John A. Taylor parody song uploaded on YouTube by Victor Villegas:
Who Is Eligible For A Refund?
Hobbyist UAV operators and recreational drone pilots who paid the $5 registration fee are eligible for a refund.
For those who want the official source, the FAA summed it up when they said, “[that] the court’s decision invalidated the registration requirement as it applies to certain model aircraft that meet the definitional and operational requirements provided in section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (PDF). Owners of model aircraft which are operated in compliance with section 336 are not required to register. “ You can also re-check the official source for news updates since the FAA is planning on making a final rule in regards to the future of small UAV registrations, and refunds will currently still be accepted by them.
If you registered your drone and paid the registration fee, don’t forget to get a full refund!
