Contacted by FAA !

[Tom Gauger]

FYI, the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, all 469 miles of it is a National Park. It's long and very skinny and if you get off the Parkway and past the fence, you are off federal land.

 

[solaman]

Yesterday I received a message on Facebook from someone claiming to be from the FAA. Looking at his profile it seems legit and he actually wants me to call him at his office. He says my videos concern him and there is an allegation of me flying commercially which I have not done. He wants my name and my FAA registration number and to discuss this. I don't mind discussing this with him but I do not feel comfortable just giving him my information especially when I have not done anything wrong. I have no idea what could be concerning in my videos either. Should I call the guy or does this sound like something I should avoid? It seems like a strange way for the FAA to conduct business in my opinion. But I guess he doesn't know who I am so this is the only way they can contact me.

Facebook?? I would not respond at all don't even reply..if this is FAA legit business they will send you an official letter. Don't even respond

 

[donutlou]

Also remember that it's not illegal to fly over the park. Even the FAA told me that. You just cannot take off or land within the park. So as far as knowing exactly where is legal and where isn't legal isn't that easy to know. We are talking about thousands upon thousands of square miles of forests and it's not like you can just always know if you're in the park or outside the park when it comes to something this huge. There are tons of houses all along the parkway where people live. So I guess these people can't fly a drone in their own yard either because it's within the park.


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Hey. Is a national park the same as a national forest?

 

[VictorBravo77]

"It turns out I posted some videos flying near the Blue Ridge Parkway which is off-limits and I was not aware of that."

What do you mean by "off-limits?" New Part 107 regulations require a remote pilot to fly basically by the same rules as Part 91 pilots, at a minimum. Did you consult your local (low altitude VFR) sectionals?? Find restricted or prohibited areas?

My humble advice, if you've called and verified the FAA's concern, is to speak with them cordially and resolve the issue.

vic bravo

 

[joet]

Hey. Is a national park the same as a national forest?

From a drone flying ban perspective, it seems so. National Seashores, Monuments, and the like appears to be all NFZs as near as I have been able to determine. I just hope that in the future they open it up in some manner to those who get Part 107 certified. Knowing that I can't fly some of these places stings.

 

[VictorBravo77]

"It turns out I posted some videos flying near the Blue Ridge Parkway which is off-limits and I was not aware of that."

What do you mean by "off-limits?" New Part 107 regulations require a remote pilot to fly basically by the same rules as Part 91 pilots, at a minimum. Did you consult your local (low altitude VFR) sectionals?? Find restricted or prohibited areas?

My humble advice, if you've called and verified the FAA's concern, is to speak with them cordially and resolve the issue.

vic bravo

And like the IRS telephone scams, rest-assured the FAA's reliance on facebook (god I hate to use that word) is sketchy. But, confirm and verify. IMHO.

 

[davoud]

Well I definitely know it's legit as I have looked up the guys name and he does work for the FAA. However, from a legal standpoint, do I have to tell him anything? I definitely want to discuss this with him but I don't feel the need to give him my name or registration number.

IF he's legitimate, it's not YOUR registration #, it's his #.

 

[DigitalKnight]

Hey. Is a national park the same as a national forest?

I recommend calling the local Ranger office of any National Forest you want to fly in. Some have areas where you can't fly (local rules, often unposted).

For example, I live near Pikes Peak and the area basically south of US 24 within the Pike National Forest is a no-drone zone because it's a recreational area, though not officially a "National Recreation Area".

North of US 24 in the same Pike National Forest it's ok to fly, though the rules are not as clear. The person I spoke to didn't seem very sure, but said she though it was "fine" as long as you're not bothering anyone or the wildlife, away from campgrounds and campsites. Always good to check ahead, in my opinion.

And for what it's worth to the OP and respondents, the Blue Ridge Parkway is part of the National Park Service, but is not a National Park, strictly speaking. Doesn't change the rules, but might matter at a later date if they make it possible to get permission to fly in NPS managed areas.

Sent from my LG V-10 using the PhantomPilots app for Android.

 

[donutlou]

Good point. I like flying in New Hampshire and there are plenty of national forests but Not one national park. Guess they are designated differently and that a park is off limits but a forest is not off limits with the exception of congressional wilderness areas (so people can escape and get peace and quiet)

 

[DroneGuy2016]

Guys you're saying exactly what I've been thinking in my head and trying to say. I knew a National Park was off limits. But I didn't see myself as in a park. I saw the area as a National Forest and thought the forest was ok, just not inside of a park. I need to check online and see where the borders fall.


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[zander lane]

...from what I understand; the national parks fall under jurisdiction of the dept of interior, national forests fall under jurisdiction of dept of agriculture, so are not subject to the blanket no fly zones - as stated previously however, that does not mean all national forests are open for all flying - always consult the local authorities for what's legal BEFORE taking to the air and save yourself possible major headaches in the future!

 

[donutlou]

I've also been trying to find the rules for nh state parks and that has been as difficult as finding colonel sanders secret recipe.


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[DroneGuy2016]

Just throwing this out there... Is it possible that the spot I was flying in on the blue ridge parkway was actually a place I was allowed to fly? Just wondering if that's even a possibility.


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[donutlou]

From what I've read you can't take off or land in a national park or congressional wilderness area and if you didn't take off or land from that parkway (national park territory) then you didn't do anything wrong.
But... To confuse things I've also read that you can't even fly over the Appalachian trail (controlled by federal parks), you need to land then walk through it then take off again, but that could also be the interpretation of the author of the article.


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[iowahill]

Whatever you say can, and WILL be used against you! Ignore this unless they legitimately make a verifiable contact per written notice or Supoena.

 

[BigAl07]

Just throwing this out there... Is it possible that the spot I was flying in on the blue ridge parkway was actually a place I was allowed to fly? Just wondering if that's even a possibility.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Unless you jump through a LOT of hoops there are no places to fly from the Blue Ridge Parkway. It takes a serious of letters, flight planning, and 3 different local, state and Federal signatures for my company to get permission to fly on the BRP training with our Search & Rescue team.

In order to fly from any NPS land you have to have very specifically written authorization signed directly by the Superintendent of the NPS. Regardless if it's hobby or commercial any UAS flight on NPS land requires a special use permits approved by the ADVRP.

I still don't know what the DOT letter would be about. Only time will tell I guess.

 

[flyingadjuster]

VAIL8150,
You are 100% correct if flying commercially for hire, compensation, or to further a business even though there is no compensation. He can fly as a hobbyist as long as the aircraft has an FAA registration. Flying in a national park violates both sets of rules, hobby or Part 107. To fly in the park, he needs a waiver, which takes 3 months and will probably be denied based on "it's federal park." The may be looking at commercial intent since he posted video. No compensation needs to pass for commercial intent, then he needs a Commercial UAS license as you described. A farmer flying over his corn field needs a Commercial UAS license to make it legal. Will he get caught, doubtful. Park video is easily triangulate to find the point or location of the UAS. If you maintain line of site to the drone, how could you not be operating out of park property? A flight log of maintenance, preflight inspections, and flight details are a must to cover your tracks.

 

[Steve G]

Besides all the regs regarding federal land, NC has it's own take on flying in their state parks/land.

Park Rules | NC State Parks

 

[JonEQuest]

Actually I'm not on their radar because they have no clue who I am. They do not know my name or my phone number or my registration number. I have taken down my Facebook page and will also be taking down the YouTube page. I just wanted to post some cool videos for my family and friends to see. But the interesting thing here is that they said I was not breaking any FAA rules, I was breaking the national parks rules is how I understood it. It amazes me that we can drive our cars, walk all over the ground and everything else in national parks and nothing is said but if you fly a remote control helicopter there it's a problem. The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles and goes through several areas where people live and small towns. So I really don't see how the entire Parkway is regulated as a national Park. I could literally exit off of the Parkway and be on a separate highway 5 feet away and that would be legal to fly there? I have never one time seen a sign anywhere on the parkway about flying drones nor do I see anything about national parks on most of it.

Make the videos on YouTube private or just be sure not to label them in a way that search for "drones" will find them. Instead of "My cool drone video" title it "Fun at the park" or "Trip around my neighborhood". I also became concerned and pulled some YouTube videos from public viewing.

 

[joet]

VAIL8150,
You are 100% correct if flying commercially for hire, compensation, or to further a business even though there is no compensation. He can fly as a hobbyist as long as the aircraft has an FAA registration. Flying in a national park violates both sets of rules, hobby or Part 107.

Incorrect. The restriction comes from the NPS, who has the authority to say what you can do when you are standing in a NP. They CANNOT prevent you from flying OVER the park if you are physically outside of it. Of course, there's likely little point to that at most NPs, but there you have it.