Aiports without traffic control tower

[Hubinator]

Hello,

I've been watching these forums for a little while here. I don't yet own a drone/quadcopter whatever you want to call it. I'm waiting to see if the phantom 4 comes out in the next few months and any others that might make use of the new snapdragon flight board.

However my question is, I live in a small rural community of about 2800 people we have a municipal airport outside of town which does not have a air traffic control tower. There are not any regular scheduled flights out of this airport. How are you guys handling "contacting" the airport before your flights? I don't plan on flying near the airport however it is 4 miles south of town so it is within the 5 mile radius. The times I would be flying within the 5 miles radius I would probably be at least 3.5/4 miles from the airport. I'm guessing with our airport it really isn't going to be a big deal, but I'm just trying to figure out the best way to handle it and stay on good terms with everyone from the get go. No one out in this area has a drone yet so I want to set a good example from the start.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Technically, you'd have to at least try to contact them. The fact that they don't have a tower doesn't matter.

 

[Hubinator]

Technically, you'd have to at least try to contact them. The fact that they don't have a tower doesn't matter.

Well the phone number that is listed for the airport actually is just the number to our city office. I'm thinking the best thing to do is to find out the person "in charge" and just have a talk with them and see what process they would like me to follow.

 

[adfischer]

Well the phone number that is listed for the airport actually is just the number to our city office. I'm thinking the best thing to do is to find out the person "in charge" and just have a talk with them and see what process they would like me to follow.

That's exactly what you need to do. You may have to educate them on the rules, but most of the time the airport operators are receptive and will work with you.


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[Hubinator]

Thanks I just wanted to make sure what I was thinking is correct. I kind of feel like I'm jumping the gun as I don't even have a drone yet, but I want to educate myself as much as I can before I get one so that I can operate responsibly and have people in the area see it in a positive light instead of a negative.

 

[John Locke]

As long as you tried to contact the airport, that's key. However, most small airports with no tower don't prevent you from flying from 3mi away, anyway that's my experience. It's the large commercial airports that have a 5mi NFZ. If you're not in the direct flightpath for takeoff or landing for your small town airport, that's good also.

As for the Snapdragon control board, I'm not optimistic it will be a contender anytime soon. It's nothing special, it's just cheaper to build with. I spoke with Qualcomm at the CES show in Vegas about their controller product last month, they didn't even know what Lightbridge was. They plan to use SOW (standard old wifi) for communications, which is what dictates your distance capabilities and signal integrity to and from the drone. If you haven't realized it yet from hanging out in the Adv/Pro section of this P3 forum, Lightbridge is the key to happiness, it sets you free, for MILES. SOW cannot, period. As for Phantom 4, nobody knows anything about the timing of that. Unless it has Lightbridge 2, I'm likely not going to be interested in it. LB2 is touted to provide lower latency video and a 1080P resolution downlink instead of 720P (720 is fantastic by itself). What's unknown is how far LB2 can go, distance-wise. If it's any less than Lightbridge 1, then again, I may not be interested. Lightbridge is the BOMB! I won't own any drone without something like Lightbridge for my aerial video/photo requirements.

 

[Air Ontario]

Does anyone "man" the airport during daylight hours like a fuel service vendor? Look up the airport ICAO 4 letter designator and it should give that info and an airport phone number/manager. HPWBIC

 

[Hubinator]

Does anyone "man" the airport during daylight hours like a fuel service vendor? Look up the airport ICAO 4 letter designator and it should give that info and an airport phone number/manager. HPWBIC

The airport manager is our city manager. I think I will drive out there after I have my drone as I think someone is normally out there during the day as there is also a WWII air museum onsite as well. I figure they should be able to point me in the right direction.


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[Hubinator]

As for the Snapdragon control board, I'm not optimistic it will be a contender anytime soon. It's nothing special, it's just cheaper to build with. I spoke with Qualcomm at the CES show in Vegas about their controller product last month, they didn't even know what Lightbridge was. They plan to use SOW (standard old wifi) for communications, which is what dictates your distance capabilities and signal integrity to and from the drone. If you haven't realized it yet from hanging out in the Adv/Pro section of this P3 forum, Lightbridge is the key to happiness, it sets you free, for MILES. SOW cannot, period. As for Phantom 4, nobody knows anything about the timing of that. Unless it has Lightbridge 2, I'm likely not going to be interested in it. LB2 is touted to provide lower latency video and a 1080P resolution downlink instead of 720P (720 is fantastic by itself). What's unknown is how far LB2 can go, distance-wise. If it's any less than Lightbridge 1, then again, I may not be interested. Lightbridge is the BOMB! I won't own any drone without something like Lightbridge for my aerial video/photo requirements.

I defiantly want lightbridge I have been looking at the P3A the pro would be nice I just don't think I really need 4K video.

The biggest thing I want to see is increased battery life but I suppose I could just get extra batteries as well.

Looking at the history of releases it appears that DJI would be "due" to release a new one in a month or so. I figure it is too cold to be out flying right now anyways. (I'm in Minnesota) I am going to wait for it to warm up and if there is a 4 out then I will look into it, if not I plan on getting the P3A.


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[Illina]

There's an small field like that near me, no tower, no full time services, and such. DJI has placed a NFZ around it so it doesn't matter if I could contact someone, the bird won't fly there.

 

[Hubinator]

There's an small field like that near me, no tower, no full time services, and such. DJI has placed a NFZ around it so it doesn't matter if I could contact someone, the bird won't fly there.

I thought DJI had removed a lot of the NFZ's that prevented operation or are in the process of removing them. Maybe I understood wrong though?


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[Mark The Droner]

There's an small field like that near me, no tower, no full time services, and such. DJI has placed a NFZ around it so it doesn't matter if I could contact someone, the bird won't fly there.

That would piss me off. That's why I can't see getting rid of my P2V. I might get a P3 or P4 someday, but how can I get rid of my P2V when I hear crap like this?