Flying at Circular Quay, Sydney

[stephenn]

So today I got to fly my drone at the Sydney Opera House. I had done all my research but apparently it is restricted airspace according to the on-site security. I proceeded to tell him that it is restricted airspace at the tip of the Opera House all the way up the harbour and this is "Special Use Airspace R405B" which I was completely aware of but then he went on to say that the Opera House had some sort of by-laws that does not allow me to fly it in that area. So I complied by giving him my FAA ID and my license because i wasn't going to bother getting into a fight and he said that I was free to go and fly along the walk that is off the grounds of the Sydney Opera House and thats what I did. I started to fly it and about 8 minutes in a guard that had been watching us for the same amount of time decided to come over to us and tell us that we weren't allowed to fly in the harbour and we could be fined. There seemed to be no problem on the map with where we were flying but apparently it was a problem for this guy. Probably the most annoying thing about this is that he seems to think I cant fly off the walk but he directs be to the other side of Circular Quay to where the Park Hyatt hotel is on the point under the bridge that is inside the R405B airspace. Go figure. Either way, I got some nice pics.

Is there something I don't know about flying here?

 

[With The Birds]

Probably..... keeping a low profile would help, the security guards are looking for something to do. Also you hopefully know sightseeing AC come through almost over the southern pylon at 200ft.

What did you do in processing that image. It looks like it is oversharoened (some weird artifacts aground hard edges)?

Do not fly over the opera house no matter where you launch from. You may find your drone ends up in a net over bear Mrs Maquaries chair.

 

[stephenn]

Probably..... keeping a low profile would help, the security guards are looking for something to do. Also you hopefully know sightseeing AC come through almost over the southern pylon at 200ft.

What did you do in processing that image. It looks like it is oversharoened (some weird artifacts aground hard edges)?

Do not fly over the opera house no matter where you launch from. You may find your drone ends up in a net over bear Mrs Maquaries chair.

I never did fly over the Opera House nor did I the bridge and I was fully aware of all helicopter and light aircraft ops in the area. Everything was planned accordingly.

 

[MSTRPC1]

Nice picture! Do you have anymore?
I live in GA and here is a little frustrating to fly because we have many airports around more than I thought. If you want to fly in any Gwinnett county park you have to ask for a permit with the specific date and time and even the area where you will be flying then wait to see if they approve it.

 

[With The Birds]

I never did fly over the Opera House nor did I the bridge and I was fully aware of all helicopter and light aircraft ops in the area. Everything was planned accordingly.

I wasn't suggesting you flew over the opera house. Just saying it's a bad idea How did you know what full scale AC ops might be in the area?

 

[stephenn]

I wasn't suggesting you flew over the opera house. Just saying it's a bad idea How did you know what full scale AC ops might be in the area?

I used flight aware to see surrounding traffic and watched the wind patterns through out the day. Watching the wind patterns and watching air craft movements, it is quite easy to predict what direction aircraft would most favour when taking off and landing.

 

[stephenn]

Nice picture! Do you have anymore?
I live in GA and here is a little frustrating to fly because we have many airports around more than I thought. If you want to fly in any Gwinnett county park you have to ask for a permit with the specific date and time and even the area where you will be flying then wait to see if they approve it.

Here are two more and that sounds like a real hassle to get in order. Our Civil Aviation Authority only requires us to apply for a permit for commercial ops.

My instagram is @steve_neo_ there are a few more shots of the drone from there on various occasions

 

[With The Birds]

I used flight aware to see surrounding traffic and watched the wind patterns through out the day. Watching the wind patterns and watching air craft movements, it is quite easy to predict what direction aircraft would most favour when taking off and landing.

Thank you for the clarification. Flight aware will be a lot more useful when all AC have transponders, not all now do as you probably know and that includes a lot that fly the harbour scenic route.

 

[MSTRPC1]

I'll check instagram. Thanks for sharing!

 

[V7Sport73]

So today I got to fly my drone at the Sydney Opera House. I had done all my research but apparently it is restricted airspace according to the on-site security. Either way, I got some nice pics.

Is there something I don't know about flying here?

When flying my drone I always try to abide by the rules and regulations as well. But most people don't know anything about drones. So whenever I'm in a situation were naive people are lurking around, I setup in a out of site area and take off. As soon as I land the drone I grab my stuff and run like a thief in the night.

 

[Meta4]

I used flight aware to see surrounding traffic

Flight aware is great for tracking commercial aircraft that have ADS-B transponders - but isn't going to tell you much about general aviation and helicopters.

 

[KevMo Photog]

Here are two more and that sounds like a real hassle to get in order. Our Civil Aviation Authority only requires us to apply for a permit for commercial ops.

My instagram is @steve_neo_ there are a few more shots of the drone from there on various occasions

Great pics man! So as a hobbyist are you able to fly in Australia without a commercial license?

 

[stephenn]

Great pics man! So as a hobbyist are you able to fly in Australia without a commercial license?

Yes. You can fly a drone that weighs under 2kg without a license unless you are flying for money

 

[With The Birds]

Yes. You can fly a drone that weighs under 2kg without a license unless you are flying for money

You may like to familiarise yourself with the recent amendments- you can now fly a sub 2kg drone for commercial gain. You have always been able to fly one without being licenced.

 

[stephenn]

You may like to familiarise yourself with the recent amendments- you can now fly a sub 2kg drone for commercial gain. You have always been able to fly one without being licenced.

Commercial unmanned flight - remotely piloted aircraft under 2kg | Civil Aviation Safety Authority

 

[With The Birds]

Commercial unmanned flight - remotely piloted aircraft under 2kg | Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Thank you for the link, I suspect it is what I have read previously re the September 16 amendments- you can now fly sub 2kg AC for money (contrary to the earlier position you have referred to). I am not sure what point you are attempting to make here.

 

[KevMo Photog]

So you can fly a bird that is under 2kg commercially without any license at all? Wow! That sounds awesome!

 

[With The Birds]

So you can fly a bird that is under 2kg commercially without any license at all? Wow! That sounds awesome!

Yes- there are notification requirements and paperwork but it is a lot simpler. Liability insurance is still a stumbling block, hopefully the insurers will come up with a suitable policy soon.

 

[KevMo Photog]

Yes- there are notification requirements and paperwork but it is a lot simpler. Liability insurance is still a stumbling block, hopefully the insurers will come up with a suitable policy soon.

Wow! Wonder when the US gonna lighten up this much? That would let Phantom's in with no 107 if they would do this.

 

[With The Birds]

Hopefully soon..... we have seen close alignment to date.