Flying in class B airspace as a recreational pilot

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Is there anything against this? I am in the process of planning out a flight, a flight outside of the 5mi radius of an airport, but the area is still considered class B airspace (according to airmap).
 
Class B is the exception to the 5 mile rule. For all others , you just notify. For Class B, you have to have specific atc permission and coordination! Not sure, but wouldn't be surprised if 'coordination' might involve two-way radio comma.
 
interesting. It doesnt show up on knowb4ufly as an area I cannot fly. good to know.
 
Class Bravo is the tightest airspace we have. Bravo = Busy.... insanely busy.

As a full size manned aircraft pilot you do NOT enter Class BRAVO w/o 2-way comms.
 
That makes sense. It seems class B goes about 7.5 miles around Logan Airport.
 
interesting. It doesnt show up on knowb4ufly as an area I cannot fly. good to know.
Not necesarily a fan of b4ufly, but if it is showing you ok, you might want to double check your location. Airman is another app that can help. Last resort, look at an actual sectional. That's the ultimate authority. You can go here http://www.airnav.com/airport
put in your airport and the airport directory will come up. One of the segments is the appropriate sectional are for the airport.
 
Yep, the inner ring for KBOS is at 8 nm.
 
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Class B is the exception to the 5 mile rule. For all others , you just notify. For Class B, you have to have specific atc permission and coordination! Not sure, but wouldn't be surprised if 'coordination' might involve two-way radio comma.

Richard, where did you find that rule for hobbyist?
 
When flying for recreational / hobby you can fly in class bravo airspace as long as you're not within 5 miles. Of course that assumes you follow all of the other rules as a hobby flier ( 400', line of sight, etc).
Sorry, that is just wrong. No recreational flying in Class B without ATC APPROVAL AND COORDINATION. Check the FAA webpage here Airspace Restrictions
Spells it out clearly with no mention of 5 miles
 
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When flying for recreational / hobby you can fly in class bravo airspace as long as you're not within 5 miles. Of course that assumes you follow all of the other rules as a hobby flier ( 400', line of sight, etc).


Not true my friend. The FAA is very specific about Bravo airspace. I'll find the link and post it back here shortly.

*Edit: Never mind I walked away from my computer BEFORE hitting SEND and the link has already been provided LOL! *
 
When flying for recreational / hobby you can fly in class bravo airspace as long as you're not within 5 miles. Of course that assumes you follow all of the other rules as a hobby flier ( 400', line of sight, etc).

It might be a good idea to post a link or cite a source for such information in the future.
It's a good habit and prevents more misinformation from be posted and then repeated here and elsewhere.
 
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It seems the rules are constantly changing. B4UFly still says 5 miles. The FAA site said 5 miles up until recently. No specific mention of class B.
Now it says what it says. Go figure. Best bet is to go to the FAA site for information rather than a forum.
 
It's possible that most class B airspace is contained within 5 miles, and being an exception to the rule, they do not mention it everywhere. Either way, the previous link is pretty clear, and it makes perfect sense why it is a rule.
 
It's possible that most class B airspace is contained within 5 miles, and being an exception to the rule, they do not mention it everywhere. Either way, the previous link is pretty clear, and it makes perfect sense why it is a rule.
It seems to me that the two places a hobbyist would look would be B4UFly and the FAA getting started site.
Why the rule is buried at the end of that link kind of strange.
I also think the language is somewhat ambiguous. I read it as "it is highly unlikely that you will get permission within 5 miles" so don't bother unless you have a really good reason.
I also doubt a manned aircraft would be below 400' 5 miles from the airport. I live 5.5 miles from kclt (Charlotte) and by the time a flight is over my home it's already at 5-10,000 feet.
I could be wrong but interesting dialogue. Better safe than sorry.
 
Right from the FAA site:

Recreational operators are required to give notice for flights within five miles of an airport to BOTH the airport operator and air traffic control tower, if the airport has a tower. However, recreational operations are not permitted in Class B airspace around most major airports without specific air traffic permission and coordination.


That answers the Class B airspace question.

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Ahhh, Boston Massachusetts, KBOS. Now this presents a conundrum for the hobbyist. Let's break this down in steps.

The Class B airspace around the airport is surface to 7,000ft. (Cool - I've never flown there as PIC but have flown in other Class Bravo airspace as a GA pilot). The area of that is a ring radius of 8 NM or aprox. 9.2 statute miles.

Hobbyist flying is governed by Public Law 11-95, section 336, not the FAA, when conditions are met..

336 says to qualify as a hobbyist (among other things which we all know by now), follow the 5 mile notification rule and "the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;" .

The most common used / quoted community-based organization is the AMA. As an aside, someone please link to other drone / uav community-based organization(s).

The AMA rules, as published in AMA Document 560 (https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/560.pdf) only speak of notification when flying within 5 miles of an airport, like 336. Per other discussions, 'notification' is not a one sided "I'm doing this" but must include being able to receive a negative "don't fly" reply.

AMA and 336 use statute miles (SM), not nautical miles (SM). This is clarified somewhere, I do not have the source available to me right now.

Summary:

1. FAA has no justification when following AMA rules.

2. AMA doesn't deal with airspace, only distance.

3. The FAA web page mentioned, saying "However, recreational operations are not permitted in Class B airspace around most major airports without specific air traffic permission and coordination" is vague at best and via section 336 is outside it's jurisdiction. It's just a web page, not a published rule. Show me the published rule or TFR.

4. Therefore It's ok to fly when outside of 5 SM from KBOS, when following AMA rules as there is no actual FAA rule against it..

Pick it apart guys. Show me where I'm, wrong. Really. But don't go by something that you read unless it actually follows the written law, not some webpage that makes up it's own rules. I've got a book that's 2 inches thick with small type font that details all the FAA rules. But hey if the FAA has actually published something in the Federal Register that says something along the line of what is on that web page as an emergency rule or the like, I'll agree. FYI, there are only 37 Class Bravo airports.

Now am I advocating flying in any part of Class B? No I'm not.I'm just playing devils advocate is showing that there is nothing prohibiting what I've detailed above. Always use common sense even if the rules allow something. Petition the relevant parties to change the rules when needed.
 
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Class Bravo is the tightest airspace we have. Bravo = Busy.... insanely busy.

As a full size manned aircraft pilot you do NOT enter Class BRAVO w/o 2-way comms.

Class C requires two-way communication be established to enter Class C airspace.
Class B requires two-way communication be established and an ATC clearance be obtained to enter Class B airspace.
 
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