Tower Restricts to 100 Feet

[rgunnell]

Been flying remote aircraft (planes and helis) for 15 years. I'm an AMA member and was a member of an AMA approved club. R/C fixed wing guys don't much like helis or drones. Been my experience anyway. So I exited the club scene.

So now I fly solo with the Mavic. I'm a safe flyer and also live within 5mi of a municipal airport. Only fly in open areas, never above houses, people or vehicles.

When I call into the tower, they always restrict me to 100' of altitude and sometimes they don't let me fly at all. Has this been your experience?

 

[Lapeer20m]

Is it controlled airspace? If so, what class?

 

[rgunnell]

Is Class D

 

[ThisIsCusel]

How close to the airport are you?

You actually are not asking for permission. Give them coordinates, a radius, max altitude, time and date, and a contact #. If they want to alert other aircraft you are there, it is up to them as they have been notified. Just give right of way to any manned aircraft.

 

[rgunnell]

Ah. Ok. So if they say no, I can say too bad?

How do I report coordinates and radius ... in tower speak?

 

[ThisIsCusel]

Use Google maps to drop a pin and write down coordinates.

"Hi, my name is...I am a UAV hobbyist. I am calling to inform you I will be flying at x'y"north latitude and x'y" west longitude below 400' and within visual line of sight on mm/dd time. You can reach me in event of emergency at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thankyou and have a nice day.

 

[rgunnell]

Thanks! "...Thank you and have a nice day." Love that part. LOL

 

[Strafe1]

Sounds like a good approach. Did they ever give you a reason why you couldn't fly, or only fly below 100'?
Attached is the supporting information from the FAA website:

 

[ThisIsCusel]

As a disclaimer: use common sense. Within a mile, they might have good reason to ask you don't fly. Have you looked at a sectional chart? Do you know the runway orientation? Ask yourself these things. Are you prepared? Could something out of your control occur? Am I having fun?

 

[rgunnell]

Sounds like a good approach. Did they ever give you a reason why you couldn't fly, or only fly below 100'?
Attached is the supporting information from the FAA website:

View attachment 12549

We can object but still fly? What's the purpose in notifying then? ... in my case today, they didn't take my name, didn't take my number ... just said, stay under 100' and call us back when you're done. Doesn't make much sense.

 

[boone]

We can object but still fly? What's the purpose in notifying then? ... in my case today, they didn't take my name, didn't take my number ... just said, stay under 100' and call us back when you're done. Doesn't make much sense.

I'm my experience, I've just said as the people above stated. I'm a uav pilot. I'm going to be flying at x y for n number of minutes. I wanted to alert you to my presence. Thank you.

They've always been more than accommodating and sometimes I've had a nice conversation with them. They actually were very helpful and seemed incredibly knowledgeable as you'd expect. After all, you're not calling a hot dog stand (no offense intended to any hot dog vendors out there). But...

If they ever told me to stay within a certain height or gave me any other guidelines, I'd follow them to a T. Maybe that's just me. While a lot of people may read the rules to say that the call is simply a courtesy, I'd also guess that communication is required to help keep everyone safe as well. If they tell you to do something, it's completely fair to ask for a reason, and I'd be surprised if they didn't offer one, but the bottom line is they are most likely giving you those instructions for some safety reason. Ask them what that is. They should have no problem telling you.

 

[tcope]

What's the purpose in notifying then?

They need to know so that they can assist manned aircraft in the area... knowing that there is an unmanned aircraft in a certain area. Also, they can let you know of any situations in your area. I called an airport last week and they explained where the aircraft would approch from and that they are usually at 1000' in the area I was flying. They also let me know that some of the helicopters _might_ be in the area. It can be a useful exchange of information.

 

[boone]

And I should add that I have been told I couldn't fly before by the tower. But it was because they misunderstood that I was giving advance notice for when the airspace cleared. There was an air show in the area and all of the airspace was closed until 5. My alert to them was for 5:30 and after we cleared that up they were fine. I live in an area surrounded by airports and helipads along the coast so it was a huge relief when I realized calling them wasn't a huge ordeal. Plus it sounds cool.

Who are you calling?

Oh, just calling air traffic control to get clearance for some airspace. (brushes off shoulder)

 

[boone]

Also, I would not ever put anything up in controlled airspace when an FAA certified tower operator has instructed you otherwise. Even if you don't cause an accident. I'm not sure if you've seen the fines they can enforce on you, but I've read of some cases where I'd have asked for jail time instead.

So maybe you're thinking "well maybe I should just not call then and ask for forgiveness later" but why would you willfully ignore the rules you clearly read and understand and already complied with? Don't give up on that process you've already committed to now. You're on the right road. Don't let this discourage you from doing what you're doing. You've done an good job of learning the rules and complying with them. You've gone the extra effort to reach out to a community for help too, so kudos. Keep it up. For me personally, I'd recommend talking to them because they're just like you. Foster a healthy relationship with these people who are tasked with making sure pilots and passengers in manned aircraft don't end up dead. Seems like the right thing to me, anyway.

 

[rgunnell]

Agreed, I don't mess with them. I followed their instructions. Did a lot of reading before I ever bought this drone. Almost didnt buy, but now that I read it all, registered, etc. I feel pretty comfortable flying but only when I have permission.

 

[RC5728]

Also, I would not ever put anything up in controlled airspace when an FAA certified tower operator has instructed you otherwise. Even if you don't cause an accident. I'm not sure if you've seen the fines they can enforce on you, but I've read of some cases where I'd have asked for jail time instead.

So maybe you're thinking "well maybe I should just not call then and ask for forgiveness later" but why would you willfully ignore the rules you clearly read and understand and already complied with? Don't give up on that process you've already committed to now. You're on the right road. Don't let this discourage you from doing what you're doing. You've done an good job of learning the rules and complying with them. You've gone the extra effort to reach out to a community for help too, so kudos. Keep it up. For me personally, I'd recommend talking to them because they're just like you. Foster a healthy relationship with these people who are tasked with making sure pilots and passengers in manned aircraft don't end up dead. Seems like the right thing to me, anyway.

Actually you are NOT required to do anything except notify them.

If they try to tell you not to fly or something, like the case in the OP, it may be a good idea to do as they say, but according to the FAA you are not legally required to do anything except just notify them.

 

[boone]

Actually you are NOT required to do anything except notify them.

If they try to tell you not to fly or something, like the case in the OP, it may be a good idea to do as they say, but according to the FAA you are not legally required to do anything except just notify them.

That is 100% correct.

 

[boone]

I do not disagree at all, and honestly I wasn't trying to imply anything different than that. But..if you do contact the tower and they give you instruction, which I personally have not experienced, then I'd guess you would open yourself up to fines at least in the event that you created a problem or you were tracked down as a result of willfully ignoring the direction. It's true that the requirement just says to call. But when you call, you're not just leaving a voicemeail. You interact with a person. If that person gives instructions, it's up to you if you want to ignore them or not.

 

[boone]

I'll just add this last comment. I don't care what the rules are. I really don't. I read them, and I try to follow them. But honestly, I'll decide what rules to follow and which ones to ignore, just like all of us do every day. The only thing I really care about is safety. I don't ever want to hurt anyone. To that end, I'll go out of my way to coordinate with a tower to make sure I'm taking every step I can to ensure I never do that. Maybe the rules say I don't have to listen to them. I don't care. Where I live, there are lots of small aircraft being flown up and down the coast, and sometimes at altitudes that are lower than 500'. Sometimes I'm actually in those planes (as co pilot, I would not fly below 500 personally). They're choosing what rules to obey just like we do. By calling the tower and following their guidelines, I feel like I'm taking every measure I can to make sure I don't hurt anyone, and if that's beyond or outside of the rules, I don't care.

 

[mkp2020]

Some good discussion from all. I happened onto a pretty thorough coverage of this from AOPA and recommend it as a guide.

Best Practices for Flying your Drone within Five Miles of an Airport - AOPA