Hey guys,
Brand new Mavic owner here - purchased on Cyber Monday and haven't even had a chance to fly yet. I'm in the Cleveland area, East suburbs.
Anyway, I have heard it said that it's against park regulations to fly anywhere in the Cleveland Metroparks, so I investigated the park rules online, and found this interesting tidbit:
745.03 RESTRICTIONS.
(b) No person shall launch, land or operate, or cause to be launched, landed or operated, any UAS weighing less than 4.4lbs/2.2kg in any airspace within the Park District except in designated areas and must possess a current certificate of aircraft registration issued by the FAA for the UAS or is flying the UAS strictly for hobby or recreational use.
It states there are "designated areas" that are not off-limits, but I couldn't find anything online that refers to said areas, either on maps or in writing. So I emailed the "general info" contact to see if they could point them out for me.
Here's the response I received:
Hello,
Designated areas within the Park District are open fields, in the following locations except during those dates and times of scheduled events:
· The Polo Fields located in South Chagrin;
· The Top O’ Ledges in the Hinckley Reservation;
· Main Street Diamond located in Mill Stream Run Reservation;
· The fairways of all Cleveland Metroparks golf courses, except Sleepy Hollow or Manakiki, from November 1st through March 15th when the golf course is not open for golf:
o (1) The operator of the UAS shall not be permitted on the greens or tees at any time.
o (2) The operator shall not interfere with any non-golf activity that may be occurring on the golf course (e.g., snowshoeing, cross country skiing, etc.)
Even in designated areas, all operators, whether recreational and commercial, must learn and comply with all FAA regulations. It is not Cleveland Metroparks’ responsibility to inform, train or educate the public about the FAA regulations.
Just thought I'd pass this info along to you locals, in case you had any interest in flying in these areas. Obviously some are near airports, so be sure to follow the rules.
Looking forward to some warmer weather so I can take my Mavic out for her maiden voyage!
Paul