Higher than 400' AGL altitude for Hobby - special case?

[snowghost]

Not as detailed, but this is a nice summary as well.

 

[bullerman1946]

So we all should know by know by now (in the USA) that the new Hobby rules prohibit operation over 400' AGL in Class G and in any place of Class B ,C, D ( unless an agreement between the area and FAA exists) and "within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport ".

This is the same as the Part 107 rule (with the exception of within 400' of a structure). So why have I emphasized part of the above? Because the FAA has defined what it means by "surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport " to mean not the actual Class E surface which normally appears as a magenta dashed circle / boundary around a Class E airport but typically (Instrument Approach protected area) an extension area of a Class D airport.

Here's previous discussion: Search results for query: surface class e


View attachment 112518
In the above picture I have identified 3 areas:

The first area in the lower right is a Class E (surface to 3500 MSL) area for an airport.
It's the dashed magenta circle for Cochran Regional airport. You cannot fly here..

The second area is the top left. It is a Class D (surface to 1,000 MSL) airport.
It's the dashed blue circle for Palm Springs airport. You cannot fly here.

The third area the dashed magenta rectangles attached to the right of the Class D Palm Springs airport. They are NOT surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport ". They are classified as E3 & E4 [correction - not: E2 (IIRC)] airspace know as a " Class E surface extension", They go from surface to the next higher airspace, typically (in the picture above) regular Class E around an airport that starts at 700' AGL.

So it appears, in the third area, hobbyist can go up to 700' AGL. If there was no fuzzy magenta line surround, the limit would be 1200' ALG as that's normally where Class E starts.

I'll end with the warning that the area I point out is typically for an aircraft Instrument Approach, so while it might be OK to fly up to the 700'/1200' limit, there could be aircraft using that area for landing and you must not interfere with them.

Let the discussion begin!

[edited for E2/E3 - not E2 airspace]

Makes my head hurt to read that.

 

[Harleydude]

It's funny and almost ironic that all the work I've done over the past 6 years has called for me to climb to 400' only a hand full of times. Every other job is done in roughly the 120'-250' AGL range. The irony being that when the limitation first came down the pike I was thinking that this was going to ruin my UAV career. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I think "droning" is kind of like getting your first car. "Pushing limitations and boundaries" is our first order of business. But then as time wears on we become more concerned with gas mileage (battery life) and reliability. We're no longer compelled to see how fast we can go or how high we can fly. If I go the rest of my life without flying over 400' AGL I can be happy with that.

D