It took them over two years to put this fine together after Trappy posted his video online. I always wondered if they would go after him. Not that it matters that much for him personally as he lives in Europe. He also has some footage online of NYC and the Statue of Liberty from his plane, which I would expect the FAA wouldn’t like as well.
Stay safe…and don’t be famous for the wrong reasons.
the following from aero-news.net
“The FAA has fined the pilot of an R/C airplane, which it classifies as a UAS, $10,000 for what the agency says is the reckless and careless operation of a Ritewing Zephyr powered glider aircraft in the vicinity of the University of Virginia (UVA), Charlottesville, Virginia.
According to the FAA, the operator… whose name is Raphael Pirker but who is known as “Trappy” … was the pilot in command of the aircraft, and that he does not “possess a Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate.”
The Order of Assessment (Docket No. 2012EA210009) charges that Trappy operated the aircraft with a camera aboard that sent real-time video to the ground; that the flight was performed for compensation; and that he operated the aircraft at altitudes of approximately 10 feet to approximately 400 feet over the University of Virginia in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.”
