so ive been seeing a bunch of stuff lately about the FAA supposedly cracking down harder on remote ID compliance this year and honestly im not sure what to make of it. like are they actually going to start issuing fines or is this the same thing as every other year where they say theyre going to do something and then nothing really changes on the ground

i fly mostly out in rural areas so its not like rangers or anyone is going to stop me but i did just pick up a Mini 4 Pro and it has remote ID built in so i guess im covered either way. just curious what other people are hearing because a guy in my local club was saying his buddy got a warning at a state park recently which would be the first time ive heard of that actually happening to someone real and not just some hypothetical

anyone keeping up with this stuff more closely than me

yeah the enforcement thing is real but its still pretty inconsistent from what ive seen. the FAA doesnt really have the boots on the ground to catch everyone, they mostly rely on local law enforcement and park rangers to do the reporting and half of those guys dont even know what remote ID is yet. that said i wouldnt push my luck because the fines when they do happen are not small. your friend probably got a warning because the ranger knew enough to flag it but not enough to actually write anything up. i think we're in this weird middle period where the rules are clear but the enforcement infrastructure isnt there yet.

this has been confusing me too honestly. i just got into flying a few months ago and spent like two weeks trying to understand remote ID before i even took my first flight lol. from what i read the module requirement is still a thing for older drones but like you said the newer stuff has it built in so at least for anyone buying new gear its kind of a non issue. the state park thing is interesting though, i fly at one near my house sometimes and never thought about it