I now notify airports before I fly

ParsnipHysorter · Jan 6, 2016

ForistellFlyer said:
Always believe the federal govt.
if you like you Doctor you can keep him

Indeed.... and DJI said, if you like your firmware, you can keep your firmware!!!

snerd · Jan 6, 2016

ParsnipHysorter said:
Indeed.... and DJI said, if you like your firmware, you can keep your firmware!!!

Indeed. .......... and Pelosi said we have to pass the bill to find out what's in the bill. We've all climbed aboard the Crazy Train!

Mark The Droner · Jan 6, 2016

I'd say if you go to the trouble to contact them and they don't pick up their phone, then you're clear. Make a log note of it somewhere and you have done your duty. That's only my humble opinion which ain't worth much.

Somebody posted this yesterday which I found interesting: DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

It shows the closest hospital having a warning zone of 2.5 miles radius. I knew the hospital was over there but I never thought of it as a warning zone, so I saw the warning zones in this map as a convenience. Fortunately I'm 3 miles from the hospital.

Darmie · Jan 7, 2016

I can't find the app for my android.

JFHughes08088 · Jan 7, 2016

Darmie said:
I can't find the app for my android.

Doesn't look like its out yet - I downloaded it on my iPhone

Larebel · Jan 7, 2016

Darmie said:
I can't find the app for my android.

You can get the Android app here. I installed it yesterday. It is in beta testing. You must go to the link from your Android device.

B4UFLY Smartphone App

Badfinger · Jan 7, 2016

I've at least seen one App that lists and outlines in red airplane museums as no fly zones!!

WetDog · Jan 7, 2016

My local airport is in a complete tizzy. I called them a while ago, and the operator said 'uh, thanks'. Called them two days ago and they were clueless. They referred me to the regional supervisor who was pleasant and partially informed. He suggested I make up a paper notification stating I will follow the 'rules' and just mail it to them. I pointed out that I essentially did that when I registered - something he was completely unaware of.

He did mention that they are going to have the FAA rep come around and try to clear things up in the near future, but so far it's 'what we have here is a failure to communicate' type thing.

Mityone · Jan 7, 2016

I know it's all in our best interest to call the control tower of the airport near your house if you are within 5 miles. Well, I called 2 different numbers listed and I was directed to call another one. I tried calling it at least three times with no answer. What are we supposed to do?

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Badfinger · Jan 7, 2016

Fly, l'd stay below 400 AGL and do most of it away from the AP.

snerd · Jan 7, 2016

It's really hard to imagine that as much as drones have been in the news, and that new requirements have been put in place, and all of this was done very "publicly", it's really hard to imagine any airport manager "anywhere" not knowing "anything" about this stuff. We live in interesting times indeed.

ski_doctor · Jan 8, 2016

I pulled up the Aimap.io site (nice by the way) and chuckled when I enabled public and private airspace restrictions. As the attached screenshot shows, it would take me the better part of an afternoon to notify all of the airports in some areas I might wish to fly.

Energy Guy · Jan 8, 2016

ski_doctor said:
I pulled up the Aimap.io site (nice by the way) and chuckled when I enabled public and private airspace restrictions. As the attached screenshot shows, it would take me the better part of an afternoon to notify all of the airports in some areas I might wish to fly.

I know. I'm on the Peninsula and at least 2 shown on your private map are grass airstrips on private property for homeowners to commute to the Seattle metro area. I'd bet their phone numbers are unlisted, too. What about the state owned airstrips on the ocean beaches or where they stage smoke jumpers and mountain rescues? They see almost zero traffic year round. I'm not going to get too worked up about not notifying all those unless DJI locks down the app for all these seldom-used sites.

ski_doctor · Jan 8, 2016

Not to mention almost the entirety of the ocean beaches and upper peninsula.

TeamAmtrak · Jan 9, 2016

Ok, great discussion! So, a couple of things. First, the FAA has done a poor job of outreach to airport owners and managers, no big surprise. Many of the airport owners and operators don't have a clue on how they are supposed to respond to drone pilots that notify them. How do you find the contact info: the FAA will soon be recommending the following link for those seeking contact info: Airport/Facility Directory – Basic Search

This is the same link that FAA recommends to all manned aircraft pilots when they do their preflight planning. The new B4UFLY app should really have this, and I hope that people using the beta version of the app in Android recommend this to FAA, I know I will be doing that. In fact, wouldn't it be nice if an airport owner could also post information on how they would like to be notified (e.g. email, etc) or when notification might be required (e.g. certain areas around the airport?) Yes, I will be recommending that as well.

The IT folks that built the registration platform are not the same that developed the healthcare.gov site, I saw that in a post in this string. In fact, as of yesterday, there were already 191,000 successful registrations.

Heliports are included in the 5-mile notification requirement as interpreted by the FAA. I noted in this string there was a post indicating 2 miles. That is only for commercial operators and appears in their COA requirements for operation. For hobbyist's, it is 5 miles for heliports and seaplane bases. So right now, as we await further guidance and interpretation from the FAA, I'm doing my best to notify and basically establish a relationship with the airports near my area of operation, the idea being that I want to manage the risk of interfering with manned aircraft. Happy flying!

SDODD · Jan 9, 2016

JFHughes08088 said:
So the FAA released its app, B4UFLY, which lets you know what airports and/or heliports are within 5 miles of you. Lucky me - I have 5 of them. 1 hospital heliport, 1 private heliport, 2 community airports and 1 New Jersey Turnpike Authority heliport. Boy, are they going to get sick of hearing from me. I work from home and will take time during the day to grab a quick flight frequently. I'll be talking to them at least 5 times a week. Fortunately, the airports are OK with me emailing them in advance.

Since they are a few miles away, their aircraft are above 850 ft until final, which is about 1/2 mile out. If one of their planes is at or below 400 feet where I live, they have much bigger problems than my drone.

The heliports were surprised to hear from me and didn't quite know what to make of my notification. They said thanks and that was it.

Welcome to the new world.

I think we are going to discover that FAA is not going to be interested unless there is a problem and they find the craft with your number on it, as required, and then discover you were breaking rules. Otherwise the operative response of government applies: Go to hell, send taxes.

iride4u · Jan 9, 2016

If you are to follow this app then most of the front range of Colorado is off limits. Many farmers as well as large land owners have grass strips that are rarely used. These are all on the app to include ones that are no longer useable do to development. Some of the marked items are as much as a mile away from their actual location.

Badfinger · Jan 9, 2016

Has anyone been told by an airport that they can't fly or been given special instructions?

tcope · Jan 9, 2016

snerd said:
It's really hard to imagine that as much as drones have been in the news, and that new requirements have been put in place, and all of this was done very "publicly", it's really hard to imagine any airport manager "anywhere" not knowing "anything" about this stuff. We live in interesting times indeed.

It is ironic. I think we flyers "see" more of this news then mos people. But the people who know I fly usually mention those news articles to me.

I think what this really shows is that drones are not that big of an issue to most airports (imagine that). If they were, more towers would feel the need to be prepared. On our end I think we just do what we are supposed to do and let everyone else worry about their part. It gets people off our backs and this whole thing becomes the non-issue it really should have always been.

WetDog · Jan 9, 2016

snerd said:
It's really hard to imagine that as much as drones have been in the news, and that new requirements have been put in place, and all of this was done very "publicly", it's really hard to imagine any airport manager "anywhere" not knowing "anything" about this stuff. We live in interesting times indeed.

Not really. While drones may be on our radar, they may not be an issue at every small airport in the country. Apparently I was the first (and to my knowledge only) person to call the tower. There are a couple of other P3's in town - unless mine are sneaking out the back door. So other folks are either willfully ignoring the rules or just ignorant of them. As I mentioned, the regional airport manager said there was going to be a Webinar about drones in the near future. I'm going to call them back after that to see if they have any more useful ideas.