Civic Parks and Part 107 Rules

[Kristina Fowler]

I approached a local Civic Park (soccer/baseball, etc) to do aerial work for them. I am Part 107 Certified with a Remote Pilot Certificate. Here is the parks reply: "We have a member of the [subject park board] that flys the Park with his drone on a regular basis for us, He gives us the clip to post if we like, so presently we are not looking at a drone service." The park was granted the right to exist by the county but is not a part of the County government, so the use of the word "Civic" in the title is a bit misleading, but it enjoys heavy and regular use by the surrounding area.

In your opinion, is the park in violation of Part 107 rules if they post the clips to their website or Facebook page, assuming their pilot is not Part 107 certified?

Thanks in advance....

 

[MapMaker53]

Not if the member is also Part 107 certified. And if he is not, it think it would still be somewhat of a gray area since the park was itself established for community recreation and part of a government municipality. I'm not sure if a government municipality qualifies as a commercial entity in the eyes of the FAA. If they post the videos and photos on the park website, it would appear they are promoting the use of the park -- and not to promote a "business". The devil is in the details. Are they paying the member for his videos? Do they charge the public a fee to use the park (beyond normal town taxes)? Good question to ask the FAA, though.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Not if the member is also Part 107 certified. And if he is not, it think it would still be somewhat of a gray area since the park was itself established for community recreation and part of a government municipality. I'm not sure if a government municipality qualifies as a commercial entity in the eyes of the FAA. If they post the videos and photos on the park website, it would appear they are promoting the use of the park -- and not to promote a "business". The devil is in the details.

Thanks for your reply. It's my understanding that any drone activity used for "the furtherance of a business" - even if there is no cash or in-kind payment - requires a Remote Pilot Certificate. I'm assuming that their pilot is a hobbyist (the OP has been edited to reflect that). It's also my understanding that by posting it to their website or other online venues, it constitutes "the furtherance of a business", therefore requiring Part 107 certification.

 

[Richard R]

Government agencies can conduct "public aircraft operations" using public aircraft and with a COA covering certain general operating rules. So a park department as part of local county or city government could conduct flights using county owned (for exampl) aircraft for county business. Anything else is civil and come under Part 107 (see pages 65-66 in the full Part 107 write up). Since the business of a park department is to operate, maintain and promote their parks, one of their employees using his personnel sUAS to film video that the department then uses to advertise the park would be a commercial operation

 

[MapMaker53]

It's my understanding that any drone activity used for "the furtherance of a business" - even if there is no cash or in-kind payment - requires a Remote Pilot Certificate.

That is correct.