Where to see flight restrictions? DJI GEO or B4UFLY?

[sinaus]

I wanted to take my son to fly in the park so far contacted Pima County and I got replied that drones are not allowed unless you have a pilot license. I will be good if any of the App will reflect that in Tucson, no one can fly their drones in any of the park. So hard to find a place to have fun. May be I should consider getting a bicycle instead.

 

[BIGLUG24]

UAV Forecast is a great app to have and the polar pro app is very good it will tell you the best filters to use that day where
you are at

 

[Arkarian]

Just find another place. I felt the same for a while until I found places I could go. There are plenty of places just outside the city along rivers etc. parks tend to have a lot of Fing rules.

 

[sinaus]

Just find another place. I felt the same for a while until I found places I could go. There are plenty of places just outside the city along rivers etc. parks tend to have a lot of Fing rules.

I found a place to fly now but just I don't have the confidence. I am very afraid of fly away situation as I somehow can't trust the app that I use (UAV forecast). Appreciate your help Arkarian and thank you.

 

[sinaus]

UAV Forecast is a great app to have and the polar pro app is very good it will tell you the best filters to use that day where
you are at

Do you think this app is accurate? I do have filters and yes it does help with the video. Thanks for the info.

 

[sinaus]

Hover has the advantage of giving you the phone # to call, and in my area only shows the airports that I need to call. The Go 4 app then warns me when I'm near an unpaved runway, but that's not really a concern--just be careful and keep your ears open for approaching planes and choppers.

I noticed that some choppers around my place were flying way below 400 feet but according to Airmap I am allowed to fly. So here is the problem, when I heard the chopper, I think it will be too late to bring it down because it takes sometime for my drone to descend as the chopper was real fast. Aren't the chopper pilots suppose to fly higher than 400 feet?

 

[Arkarian]

They do have the right of way. Maybe fly 200 feet instead of 400?

 

[sinaus]

Somehow 200 I was afraid to annoy my neighbors and they might think someone spying on them. 200 feet I still can hear my drone pretty well. A real bummer.

 

[Arkarian]

I agree at 400 feet the drone is hard to see and hear.
I’d call that nearby helipad and complain they are flying too low over your neighborhood [emoji12]

 

[sinaus]

I agree at 400 feet the drone is hard to see and hear.
I’d call that nearby helipad and complain they are flying too low over your neighborhood [emoji12]

Good thinking but I don't really know where these copters were flying from or to. Should contact FAA instead?

 

[Jerrymk1]

I brought this up in PhantomPilots. I'll copy that post below (it's long). Basically, IMHO they are all crap, can't be relied on and are incorrect. That is just the bottom line. The FAA's B4UFly app is terribly lacking and focuses mainly on any possible airport that might exist. No one can rely on that app alone. For example it does not even contain jails and prison's, where it's illegal to fly. I think DJI has probably done the best job. They are less obligated to give out NFZ info, have done so already and it's really the most correct.

-------------------------------

I don't see that anyone has really offered any type of solutions to the issue of avoiding NFZ. DJI's info is of little help and certainly the FAA is (still) falling WAY short of what they should be doing.

Let me start with DJI. I think they have done a good job when weighted against what they should be responsible for. They have built in many NFZ to their software. However, this pretty much only includes large airports and prisons. I personally think they have done a very good job in giving only warnings when near these locations and only shutting down the drone when it's about a miles away from the center of the location.

Who I fault most is the FAA. The actual tax paid entity that is charge of NFZ. Do this... search right now online for a searchable map of NFZ in the US. I have never been able to find one from the FAA. Please feel free to post here is you know where the FAA has this online. What they have done is put out a smartphone app (B4UFly). They can include a searchable map in a cell phone but not online?

We know for a fact that we can't trust the FAA's review of the actual laws governing UAV use... we always need to go directly to those regulations. Go to the FAA's website and try to actually find the regulations explaining why you need to call the airport. It will probably take awhile to find this information.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Sec_331_336_UAS.pdf

The main part that applies is Section 336. I'll paste part of this below:

Now I could go on and on about the issues with the wording above but let me focus on one item... #5.

What is an "airport" as it applies to this entire section? It's not defined. You can find an explanation from the FAA in other areas of their website:

"An airport is defined in the law as any area of land or water used or intended for landing or takeoff of aircraft including appurtenant area used or intended for airport buildings, facilities, as well as rights of way together with the buildings and facilities."

So if the FAA chooses to follow their own information, you'd need to call anyone with anything that looks like could be used for a helicopter. So you'd need to include all helipads in the area. How many people call the local hospitals? If you do... PLEASE record that conversation as I'd love to hear their confusion.

Let me move in to the app....

If you look at the B4UFly app, it appears that the app almost agrees with this. That is, it seems to list most places that the FAA could know where aircraft can take off and land. This includes hospitals and small helipads. Other have commented on this (a fellow SLC flier recently)... if you were to go by the app, you may need to call a _lot_ of airports in order to fly in just one location. When I use a local zip code in the app, here is what was displayed:

If I were to follow the map above, I've be calling 9 hospitals and some crazy small "airport" (it's called "Number 18" on the map) to obtain permission to launch a drone 1" off the ground. Seriously? How do I call "Number 18"? Then, what is that huge red area? It seems that Salt Lake International Airport is within hat area (though, the circle for the airport appears cut off in the north east corner) but there is nothing else showing to state what that large red areas is. I also did a search for Lehi, UT which contains a prison. We all know you cannot fly over a prison. Guess what.... nothing on the map for that!

So this is what the FAA gives us so that we can know where we can and cannot fly. This not only does not really help, it makes the situation worse in many cases. This really only scratches the surface of how badly

 

[Arkarian]

Use Airmap. So far it's the best one i've found and i've also heard a rumor that the Airmap system will be what FAA utilizes in the near future for digital notifications. B4UFLY is just bad and doesn't even provide contact phone numbers. I use Hover as well but mainly for the their opening page which shows the KP index. Not sure why but hover does not include a lot of airport/heliport information.

I check Airmap and Hover. Airmap is good. I would like to see the clearance part of Airmap be made available to hobbyist. Right now it is only commercial.

 

[AMann]

I check Airmap and Hover. Airmap is good. I would like to see the clearance part of Airmap be made available to hobbyist. Right now it is only commercial.

The Airmap app for IOS is free, hobby fliers should use it too- just dont use the mission reporting keys.

 

[Krieger’s Drone]

Why they don't sell transponders for the drones? The mavic 2 Enterprise has one. The most problems will be gone. You can see where the plane are.

 

[Northern_Bob]

I noticed that some choppers around my place were flying way below 400 feet but according to Airmap I am allowed to fly. So here is the problem, when I heard the chopper, I think it will be too late to bring it down because it takes sometime for my drone to descend as the chopper was real fast. Aren't the chopper pilots suppose to fly higher than 400 feet?

I would think that if you are flying at say 300ft and a chopper comes into view low and fast at 250ft you would have the option to go higher. If you don’t think you can get below the chopper quick enough then scooting up to 500+ feet would be the safest route. Yes, it violates the 400ft ceiling but in an emergency getting safely out of the way could include doing just that.

I will let others correct me if I’m wrong.
NB

 

[Shon]

I really like AirMap. Even in places where it is generally okay to fly, it alerts me to TFR, First responder activity, and gives me a timeframe as to when those TFRs will be lifted. It also offers phone numbers to call for the Airports as well.

 

[Arkarian]

Why they don't sell transponders for the drones? The mavic 2 Enterprise has one. The most problems will be gone. You can see where the plane are.

If the drone is at or below 400 feet as they are suppose to be, then you have no need for a transponder. If you fly your drone above 400 feet you would also have a need to talk to and hear air traffic control. Things will get infinitely more complex and expensive than they need to be.