Telling me not to fly there: is he right?

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

First off, I follow the recreational flyer rules, I'm FAA registered, I'm not a newbie, I'm certainly not one of those "how dare any person or agency tell ME where to fly!" fools. I also like to help educate the public, including those who think I'm creepy for piloting a camera in the sky, etc. etc.

I'm flying on the Seattle waterfront, north of downtown (far from the skyscrapers and most tourist areas). For those that know the area: this was NNW of the Olympic Sculpture Park (link for those that don't know there area), not over the people in the park itself.

There is not a NFZ nearby (INTL airports are far away as are the pro sports stadiums), but like a lot of areas around Seattle (with air harbors, helicopters, etc.), I got the "Unpaved airports" warning from DJI GO. For those of you that live in urban areas and get this warning, you know what to do: keep your ears and eyes open.

This guy comes down and tells me that I'm not supposed to be flying anywhere around here.

"You need a commercial license to fly around here"

Me: "No, I don't believe I do."
Him: "Yes you do."
Me: "Are you a pilot?"
Him: "Yes."
Me, pointing to the controller: "Of a UAV?"
Him: "No. My wife is a commercial UAV pilot."

I didn't ask him what kind of certificate she had or how old it is. I just said "You realize that as a recreational flyer, I can fly anywhere that isn't a No Fly Zone or otherwise prohibited, if I follow FAA guidelines" (not pushing the point that these are not actual laws to break). To my knowledge, there was no prohibition for flying in these parts.

Me: "You realize that the rules regarding these things change often?"

Here I am hoping that he went home to double check the current rules. I considered informing him that he should, but didn't.

Him: "You are posing a danger to the float planes landing at Lake Union" (which is about 2 miles away--they fly low over many parts of the city to land, but this far away, not under 400'/120m).
Me: "No, I don't believe I am."
Him: "I recommend that you land immediately" and he walks away. I think he actually came down from the office building nearby.

So, am I wrong?

If I'm not, what should have I told this guy to inform him?

Bonus: he was distracting me from flying. In fact, while he was bothering me, I lost signal with the craft in a middle of a pano. I wish I would have reminded him that he was interfering with the safe piloting of the craft.

I regained connection, but the battery was too low to start it again. I have spare batteries, but after this ordeal, I just landed and packed up.

Speck

 

[Gearbox]

I haven't a clue if you can fly there or not , but that guy has got some nerve . I would have told him , as you said , he was interfering with a flight & told him to show a badge or call one . Then ignore him until one or the other happened .

 

[Zigs]

Technically, you look to be flying under class B airspace. Even though you may be over five miles from the airport, there is a corridor that goes over the area with a lower limit that looks to be 1800 ft. My call would be that you are probably okay flying where you are, although I can't pinpoint exactly where you're at. You do need to take extra caution since class B is a high use area. If I'm misinterpreting, I'd like to hear what others have to say.

-- zigs

 

[AirMan05446]

You need one of these:

 

[N017RW]

What is that for?

It has no significance beyond the space between the wearer's ears.

LOL

 

[KongWerks]

"Thank you for the information. I'm busy flying right now but if you feel that I am doing something illegal, please call the appropriate authorities."

He has no way of knowing if what you are doing is illegal. I have no need to explain my actions to anyone other than the appropriate authorities.

"Please realize that If you continue to interfere with my lawful activities your actions are putting myself and others at risk and I will be forced to call the authorities."

 

[With The Birds]

You were probably just standing in the wrong spot. If people can't see you (you laujch from a well chosen location) they can't come and annoy you.

I had a woman grizzling at me not so long ago flying from the beach over the ocean, there was no issue with where or how I was flying and she suggested I should "go and fly where I came from, didn't need my type around here"... so- I went back on my property, launched and flew back exactly where I had been.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

"Thank you for the information. I'm busy flying right now but if you feel that I am doing something illegal, please call the appropriate authorities."

He has no way of knowing if what you are doing is illegal. I have no need to explain my actions to anyone other than the appropriate authorities.

"Please realize that If you continue to interfere with my lawful activities your actions are putting myself and others at risk and I will be forced to call the authorities."

What u doing talking and flying(distraction) ha na serious i got threaten recently ,gona shoot me out the sky,thought i was spying going past in the sky minding my own bussiness at dusk ,could only see street lights,keep mouthing off 101 law,,(no flying over houses etc) i know i have council permission and with airshare ,all going on while drone hover just above ground level ,so landed and said he should go,,we lucky here rules not so restricted ,all public can fly all parks and reserves as long as the 101 followed,,best solution i have found is to fly elseware,and i dont back down to much but it is a hobbie and sposed to be fun

 

[Deleted member 62848]

What u doing talking and flying(distraction) ha na serious i got threaten recently ,gona shoot me out the sky,thought i was spying going past in the sky minding my own bussiness at dusk ,could only see street lights,keep mouthing off 101 law,,(no flying over houses etc) i know i have council permission and with airshare ,all going on while drone hover just above ground level ,so landed and said he should go,,we lucky here rules not so restricted ,all public can fly all parks and reserves as long as the 101 followed,,best solution i have found is to fly elseware,and i dont back down to much but it is a hobbie and sposed to be fun

Appoligezz kong werks i was posting rply to not a speck of cereal,,must be hungry

 

[Mako79]

You were probably just standing in the wrong spot. If people can't see you (you laujch from a well chosen location) they can't come and annoy you.

I had a woman grizzling at me not so long ago flying from the beach over the ocean, there was no issue with where or how I was flying and she suggested I should "go and fly where I came from, didn't need my type around here"... so- I went back on my property, launched and flew back exactly where I had been.

Yup. I would move too.
My POI are now where to take off without being spotted or disturbed. Thank you lightbridge and occustink for the awesome range.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Thanks all.

It might have been class B, hence the DJI GO warning on startup, but I was already taking care and being alert.

I was already in a very nondescript spot, not actually in any of the nearby parks or public areas. It was down a dead-end street.

This was a place I'd flown before. It was the complainer that was new. I'll probably be much more brief in my next conversation with him, something like KongWerks recommends.

Thanks again,
Speck

 

[Peter Hartmann]

............Him: "You are posing a danger to the float planes landing at Lake Union" (which is about 2 miles away--they fly low over many parts of the city to land, but this far away, not under 400'/120m).k[/QUOTE]..
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Yes - I agree in theory - but in the real world - it would be pretty much impossible for you to hit my airplane with your drone if you wanted to.

( I demonstrated rather dramatically the other day how hard it is to judge distance with any precision - when I allowed a sneaky tree to jump out at my drone, attack it, and kill it.....-not to worry - already ordered a replacement - my "new" Phantom 3 is safely tucked into a UPS truck & headed this way....!)

Also, bear in mind, you are probably aware that anything capable of taking off from the water after the first water landing - float planes, amphib..... Lakes like mine, are pretty **** slow and pretty **** noisy - you can hear us coming way in advance. So for this guy to hassle you over sea-planes miles away...just proves my point about "earthlings"....

Well..the other side of the story....if you hear me coming... get the hell out of my sky when I am using it - I don't want YOUR **** drone coming thru my windshield !

Funny...as both a drone operator and an airplane driver - I get it both ways...the "earthlings" don't understand us, fear us...and when they meet us in person, they cant help being obnoxious or worse. !