Gut check time - what would you do?

[Jim Roof]

A client has hired you to photograph an industrial building that is about 2 miles from a Class D airport. You know where you are in relationship to the airport and fully understand that the FAA prohibits you from flying in this area.

Since you have been shooting another location for another client that COULD use your drone, you have it with you.

Pulling up to the second location, you are shocked to see that the gate that was to be left OPEN for your photography is padlocked shut and you cannot contact anyone to give you access to the property even though you DO have permission to photograph the building from the owner.

Here is the question...

Do you fire up your Phantom 4 Pro and use it to 'hop the fence' that is 8 feet tall and, once over the fence, fly your bird at EYE LEVEL to get your shots? You fully realize that the only REAL world danger would be in the event that you had a fly-away situation. What do you do?

I ask this because I have had this situation occur before I ever had my Phantom and in an out of town situation to boot.

What do you do?

 

[andy_k]

Can the FAA revoke your part 107 if you get caught flying there?

 

[Jim Roof]

Can the FAA revoke your part 107 if you get caught flying there?

For the sake of the discussion, let's say yes.

 

[andy_k]

I'd bale out and come back on a day when everything was fully arranged - it's not worth losing your income for the sake of one job.

 

[Jim Roof]

I have had this happen when out of town. The fence was more like 10 feet tall. Had no way to fly a camera at the time, but if I had it would have been a tough call. it was in the middle of nowhere, but probably was in Savannah, GA surface area.

It seems sort of silly that I cannot hover a Phantom 4 Pro 6 feet off the ground if I am 4.9 miles away from a Class D airport.

 

[Crack The Sky]

If I am understanding you, you are in Class D Airspace and do not possess an FAA Waiver/Authorization. A professional would never even think of flying there without FAA authorization. And, I personally would have made my potential client aware of that fact and see if their time schedule would allow for me to attempt to obtain authorization.

 

[Crack The Sky]

I have had this happen when out of town. The fence was more like 10 feet tall. Had no way to fly a camera at the time, but if I had it would have been a tough call. it was in the middle of nowhere, but probably was in Savannah, GA surface area.

It seems sort of silly that I cannot hover a Phantom 4 Pro 6 feet off the ground if I am 4.9 miles away from a Class D airport.

If you are a Part 107 pilot and it's a "tough call" for you whether to break the law or not, and you were "probably" in Savannah "Surface Area", (what ever that is!), you need to think long and hard.

 

[Mier]

If there's a job that needs to be done then do it. You're not flying unsafe and you're not going to do anything horrible, just take pictures. As a precaution edit the photos as normal but remove all EXIF data from them and that should be enough. There's far worse things going on in the world and this isn't one of them.

Go read a book called Three Felonies a Day to realize what a runaway government does to good people.

 

[Crack The Sky]

If there's a job that needs to be done then do it. You're not flying unsafe and you're not going to do anything horrible, just take pictures. As a precaution edit the photos as normal but remove all EXIF data from them and that should be enough. There's far worse things going on in the world and this isn't one of them.

Go read a book called Three Felonies a Day to realize what a runaway government does to good people.

You are shameless. And certainly not worthy of a pilots license, if you have one.

 

[Jim Roof]

If you are a Part 107 pilot and it's a "tough call" for you whether to break the law or not, and you were "probably" in Savannah "Surface Area", (what ever that is!), you need to think long and hard.

A Part 107 Pilot should absolutely know what the 'surface area' is. It is the area that the control tower controls all the way down to the ground level.

Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here. I just thought it was an interesting situation that many of us could find ourselves in at some point.

 

[Mier]

You are shameless. And certainly not worthy of a pilots license, if you have one.

lol...worthy. Never needed one and if I had one I'd still do it since this is just a 2-3 pound can't carry crap flying camera.

What I find laughable are the people that take this so **** seriously they act like you're planning a major heist. If you allow them to control you this easily over something so trivial then what?

 

[JarrodF]

Ask a pilot what they think about a 2-3 pound bird after they experience a bird strike. Obviously flying 6' off the ground doesn't pose any great danger but It's better to be cautious near airports and not risk harm to pilots/passengers because you don't understand the potential down side.

 

[deltamike]

My view - if in doubt then don't.

Eyes and troublesome people are everywhere - and at a time and place you don't expect them to be.

But the bottom line is that the rules and regs are there for a purpose. People would take liberties otherwise.

 

[Mier]

Ask a pilot what they think about a 2-3 pound bird after they experience a bird strike. Obviously flying 6' off the ground doesn't pose any great danger but It's better to be cautious near airports and not risk harm to pilots/passengers because you don't understand the potential down side.

In the same breath you say 6ft isn't a great danger and then immediately jump to caution.

Look I'm not advocating for them to fly directly in the glide path of a runway but **** we have to allow for some common sense otherwise we end up with Canadian rules which will suck in the extreme. I never understood this whipped-dog attitude that seems to pervade drone boards.

 

[Crack The Sky]

lol...worthy. Never needed one and if I had one I'd still do it since this is just a 2-3 pound can't carry crap flying camera.

What I find laughable are the people that take this so **** seriously they act like you're planning a major heist. If you allow them to control you this easily over something so trivial then what?

I wish you lifetime of headwinds.

 

[deltamike]

In the same breath you say 6ft isn't a great danger and then immediately jump to caution.

Look I'm not advocating for them to fly directly in the glide path of a runway but **** we have to allow for some common sense otherwise we end up with Canadian rules which will suck in the extreme. I never understood this whipped-dog attitude that seems to pervade drone boards.

Common sense and rules and regs are a contradiction of terms - we all know that

While I agree with you it only takes some troublemaker to see someone breaking the rules which could then be another nail in the future coffin lid for UAV's however trivial you think the flight might be.

 

[Crack The Sky]

A Part 107 Pilot should absolutely know what the 'surface area' is. It is the area that the control tower controls all the way down to the ground level.

Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here. I just thought it was an interesting situation that many of us could find ourselves in at some point.

Study a bit more. There is only A, B, C, D, E, & G airspace. G is called "uncontrolled". The remainder have differing rules & requirements. For this discussion I will not mention other airspace designations such as Prohibited, Restricted, MOA's, TFR's, ADIZ, Airways, etc

 

[Don Barar]

Hi Jim,

I have a suggestion for you. Are you using KittyHawk and Airmap applications on your smart phone? If not, you should download these applications. Why? Some airports except something called D-NAS and the these applications will tell if that is the case. These applications then provide a way to file a permission to fly request via the D-NAS system from your smart phone and Airmap application.

Hope this is of help.

Donald Barar

 

[Mier]

Common sense and rules and regs are a contradiction of terms - we all know that

While I agree with you it only takes some troublemaker to see someone breaking the rules which could then be another nail in the future coffin lid for UAV's however trivial you think the flight might be.

The constant cowing only serves to embolden them and reduce the fun of the hobby

 

[Mier]

I wish you lifetime of headwinds.

All tailwind baby when I fly. Cheers