New no fly zone

[bhartwell]

I was flying in Maui, HI today over a nature preserve we were visiting. Beautiful blue ocean, clear as day. Heard someone yelling at me off in the distance. Didn't really pay it much mind, I was busy navigating strong wind gusts that had come up.

A guy comes running over in a wet suit telling me I had to pack up and leave immediately. I give him a glance and ask for some credentials. Turns out he was the resident superintendent of the preserve. As I didn't get an alert about any no fly zones and didn't see any signs posted, I was a bit hesitant to believe some guy in a wet suite. Once he showed me who he was and brought out a copy of the relevant HI ordinances, I thanked him, chatted a bit, packed up and left.

All in all, he was polite about it, just as I was being polite about it and once he realized I had no idea there was a no fly zone in effect.

The really sad thing here is that I can drive a pollution emitting, noisy, highly environmentally impacting car into the middle of this protected area; but fly a battery operated, none pollution emitting, relatively quite, flying camera and you would think I was hunting innocent dolphins with rusty spears for sport.

Doesn't make sense. If we don't start advocating for the safe use of drones, we are going to see these random and pointless bans becoming the norm, and our ability to fly these wonderful devices curtailed to the point of them being effectively useless. Fare warning here, it's not an "if", or really even a "when", it's already happening now.

 

[stones]

Not to mention that road vehicles can and do kill human beings on a day to day basis, yet....
Making sense of "why" we can and can't do certain things...
almost a coin toss.

 

[Andrew Wright]

I was flying in Maui, HI today over a nature preserve we were visiting. Beautiful blue ocean, clear as day. Heard someone yelling at me off in the distance. Didn't really pay it much mind, I was busy navigating strong wind gusts that had come up.

A guy comes running over in a wet suit telling me I had to pack up and leave immediately. I give him a glance and ask for some credentials. Turns out he was the resident superintendent of the preserve. As I didn't get an alert about any no fly zones and didn't see any signs posted, I was a bit hesitant to believe some guy in a wet suite. Once he showed me who he was and brought out a copy of the relevant HI ordinances, I thanked him, chatted a bit, packed up and left.

All in all, he was polite about it, just as I was being polite about it and once he realized I had no idea there was a no fly zone in effect.

The really sad thing here is that I can drive a pollution emitting, noisy, highly environmentally impacting car into the middle of this protected area; but fly a battery operated, none pollution emitting, relatively quite, flying camera and you would think I was hunting innocent dolphins with rusty spears for sport.

Doesn't make sense. If we don't start advocating for the safe use of drones, we are going to see these random and pointless bans becoming the norm, and our ability to fly these wonderful devices curtailed to the point of them being effectively useless. Fare warning here, it's not an "if", or really even a "when", it's already happening now.

And you've just highlighted my frustration with the current situation.

You can spend hours researching a location to fly by checking local ordinance and various maps such as Airmap only to fall foul of rules that haven't been displayed properly or added to the DJI App.

There needs to be a consistent policy across the US so that everyone knows where they are.

On a side note, Phoenix does this really well with a page on their website showing a selected number of parks across the area where drones are permitted. Well done to the law makers there and wish others would follow.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Folks, it might be implied here but the DJI app or B4U fly WILL NOT show local ordinances NFZs, as drone operators/ pilots you're on your own to know the local regs in areas you're going to fly in, plain and simple.

This weekend I did a bunch of work in Boulder CO, they have strict ordinances about flying drones recreationally in open spaces and parks. Before I went out on my "107 missions" I downloaded the City of Boulder's page on flying drones within the city limits. Because all of my flights were truly 107 ops and conducted in industrial areas, I had no issues but was well prepared if I was challenged. Be vigilant! (stepping off soapbox)

 

[bhartwell]

I understand the apps isn't going to be able to track and alert to every local ordinance, which is really the point. The proliferation of local bans, restrictions, meaningless restrictions and radically inconsistent penalties is the problem.

In cases in which safety is an issue (i.e. Airports, large events, disaster areas), appropriate regulations make sense; when applied and enforced by an appropriate oversight agency, like the FAA. But, safety concerns as defined by a local city board, HOA, private citizen, or CNN for God's sake, is a disaster waiting to happen. Why? When you get sued by some guy who doesn't like your having a drone (hey, you could be spying for the Chinese) and get stuck defending yourself in court for no other reason then owning a camera with wings. Or, better yet, when you get a ticket for anywhere around $200 to $1000 just for taking a picture of a beautiful landscape that you had no idea was part of a locally restricted area, you may consider the situation to be a bit out of hand.

Without a forum that speaks for the industry, we will soon have no industry to defend.