Flying near airport?

MTH

MTH

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Hi all,
Don't own a Phantom yet, but I have a question. First of all I live in Phoenix, Az. which seems like a pretty good place to fly. I would be flying as a hobbyist. My main concern, right now, is airports. I understand the regs about calling the airport, but I was reading a post somewhere that even with permission from the tower the Phantom will not power up unless you contact DJI and give them your driver's license and a credit card. Is this correct? What size airport? I live within a couple of miles of a ultralite airfield. According to AIRMAP I need to call the field and let them know I will be flying. Would or would not the Phantom fly here without contacting DJI?

Secondly how difficult is it to get permission from a larger airport?

Lastly, at least for now, where I live it is not uncommon for "ghetto birds" (police helicopters) to fly over and even circle around. Even though there are no heliports on the map do I need to or should I contact the police before flying?

Well one more. Please someone tell me that it is a bad idea to pick up a referb Typhoon H for under $900 over a P4P.

Thanks all
Mitch
 
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As far as the calling DJI and giving a credit card ... no. I called my airport recently and they had no clue what I was talking about really. I'm guessing it depends on how often they get calls , how high you'll be flying etc.

I've heard they won't power up close to an airport without some sort of code you get from the FAA after submitting a form online. Go to the FAA.com and there is a section explaining it.
 
AirAssault said:
I've heard they won't power up close to an airport without some sort of code you get from the FAA after submitting a form online.
Click to expand...

That one's a head scratcher along with your "credit card and driver's license"–and I'm a private pilot and licensed 107 operator.

Why not make the call to your local airport and ask them if you could fly today? (and I realize you don't own a drone.)

SB
 
Sagebrush, thanks.

I do own a drone, just not a Phantom, and I have called smaller airports near my house. Phoenix has set aside 8 parks where drone flying is allowed. It's just that 5 of parks are within 5 miles of an airport. 4 of those are near Sky Harbor. Now I know that people do fly at at least one of the 4 because I read that it is used by an AMA club for meets. I think it odd that another of the 4 is/may be within Class B airspace.

I just want to make sure that the Phantom 4 will fly in these parks after getting permission from the airport. Not that interesting, but the open space of the park allows for a place close by to practice.

Of course when I was searching for information I couldn't find anything. Start this thread and all of a sudden see the thread "DJi blocking you from flying near an airport".

Thanks again
 
The inner ring class B at Sky Harbor has an odd bow tie shape probably because of the mountains.VFRMAP - Digital Aeronautical Charts
As long as those parks aren't within the bow tie, you are in the clear, just still need to notify the airport/tower anytime you are flying within 5 miles. You could still fly within the bow tie, but not without prior authorization (not just a call to the tower). All of the others around Phoenix are class D and should only require a phone call. There are no 'NFZs' outside of the bow tie and DJI should have no reason prevent you from flying there. At most, you should be able to 'self authorize'.
 
DJI has its own map for its geofencing. There's 3 classifications for affected locations. Green just warns you and you can check a couple checkboxes to agree you have clearance and take full responsibility.
Yellow needs an account with DJI, identity verified by drivers license, credit card or verification code sent to mobile device.
If you want to fly in a yellow zone and your app has internet, you can authorize right from the app. For offline activation, you apply online with DJI on their site, they give you a code, you enter the code in the app.
You can't self authorize for red zones. If you have FAA clearance for red zones, you need to email DJI about it. I'll find the web link for the DJI site but I have put it in thea post in another topic somewhere on this forum.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
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MTH,

I don't live in Phoenix but I live nearby. I found this after a quick search.

https://www.phoenix.gov/district6site/Documents/08-04-15 Draft of Drone Ordinance.pdfhttps://www.phoenix.gov/district6site/Documents/08-04-15 Draft of Drone Ordinance.pdf

But my belief is that it no longer is in effect due to state law...

View Document - Arizona Legislature AZ ARS 13-3729

You can't fly over certain "public" places like power plants, dams, water treatment plants, and other places a terrorist might be interested in.

But cities can't enact rules about where to fly, except they can make rules about flying over city properties. They can also restrict flying at city parks as long as they designate a park where it's is allowed.

But there are probably thousands of retention basins for water capture that aren't owned by the city, but by home owner associations or other corporations in need of water retention basins. There's one by my house that I usually fly at.






Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
Richard R said:
The inner ring class B at Sky Harbor has an odd bow tie shape probably because of the mountains.VFRMAP - Digital Aeronautical Charts
As long as those parks aren't within the bow tie, you are in the clear, just still need to notify the airport/tower anytime you are flying within 5 miles. You could still fly within the bow tie, but not without prior authorization (not just a call to the tower). All of the others around Phoenix are class D and should only require a phone call. There are no 'NFZs' outside of the bow tie and DJI should have no reason prevent you from flying there. At most, you should be able to 'self authorize'.
Click to expand...
1487466712860.png

1487466722807.png


Sent from my SM-T813 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I discovered a few new things.
There's a setting in the app in General settings just above About. This selects old and new style NFZ where it warns you if you try to turn it off the old style is less dynamic and could cause you issues.
I also noticed the map on 3.1.3 shows the restriction boundaries. I live in the thick green circle, just inside the 5 mile radius of the county airport. There's a yellow circle which I think is the 1.5 mile radius and a small red circle offset from the center of the other circle which is the county jail.
If I connect my AC, a thin green circle shows up about 7 mile radius from the airport. Not sure what that is all about as it doesn't show up with Airmap or B4UFly. With airman, schools and such do show up as tiny circles.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
OK, class D and E airspace extends further than 5 miles out from the airport. I think though the DJI light green circle went further out than the class E space.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Any of you pilots or part 107 operators know why I see restrictions beyond 5 miles from the airport?
It is Brooksville regional in Florida. It is large enough to handle commercial jets but generally used by smaller planes with either UPS or FedEx landing their jets there. Haven't seen any major jets flying low 5 miles out like I'd see at TIA.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Not a Part 107 guy (yet) but my 2 cents... the Class D around BKV seems to be a radius of 5 NM instead of the 'standard' 4.2 NM (5.75 vs 4.8 statute miles).The ICAO map shows this as a yellow circle around BKV along with the orange 5 statute mile circle around the airport. Tampa Class B (and C) airspace does extend to just north of BKV but the floor of the Class B is at 6,000 MSL. Beyond that I don't know. Buggy software in the app maybe if you're seeing restrictions beyond 5 NM on the north side of the airport.

Edit: numbers
 
I just want to fly about 20’ in the air for a picture and it wont let me. I think it’s in direct path of nearby airport.
 
Noob said:
I just want to fly about 20’ in the air for a picture and it wont let me. I think it’s in direct path of nearby airport.
Click to expand...

How far from the actual airport are you? If within 5 miles you need to call & notify.
 
Noob said:
Yes, it’s within 5 miles. After I notify, how does it unlock the drone to allow to fly?
Click to expand...

Some areas around an airport you can NOT unlock. You'll have to search for DJI GO Unlock procedures.
 
I’m surprise there isnt a feature that lets you fly under a certain height (maybe something like 50 ft) that doesnt require any special permission.
 

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