5 Miles From Airport

[Gecko10]

Where do you measure that 5 miles from, the tower, the middle of the airport, etc.

Thanks

 

[AnzacJack]

Boundary fence

 

[ac0j]

dji go 4 measures it for you usually. It will show as a yellow circle (or a different color depending on the airport)

 

[bushie]

All airports have a reference point. It is the official location of the airport for navigation etc. I presume the 5 miles is from there

 

[skadee]

It is from the mid-point of the runway(s).

 

[ac0j]

I dont know if there is a valid reason to need to know that down to more than a few hundred yards. If you think you are too close, move another mile away to be safe.

 

[Mossiback]

You've gotten three different answers already. Since a few hundred feet shouldn't matter, I think the better question is where does DJI and Go 4 think the geo fence starts. I have read posts where someone has suddenly found themselves flying inside of a NFZ and the drone lands where it is.

 

[Gecko10]

I dont know if there is a valid reason to need to know that down to more than a few hundred yards. If you think you are too close, move another mile away to be safe.

I dont know if there is a valid reason to need to know that down to more than a few hundred yards. If you think you are too close, move another mile away to be safe.

Well, in my case my backyard sets right on the borderline, or inside it, depending where the 5 miles is measured from. Yes a few hundred yards does make a difference in my case

 

[Mossiback]

Well, in my case my backyard sets right on the borderline, or inside it, depending where the 5 miles is measured from. Yes a few hundred yards does make a difference in my case

I don't think you will get busted for a few hundred yards. Just be mindful of DJI's geofence which might force a landing if you stray into it.

 

[DanMan32]

DJI doesn't force landing or stop you from flying that far from the airport. I think it's less than 1 mile that it's a full NFZ in DJI.

 

[ac0j]

Well, in my case my backyard sets right on the borderline, or inside it, depending where the 5 miles is measured from. Yes a few hundred yards does make a difference in my case

In that case, just fly!

 

[53-63-6f-74-74]

DJI doesn't force landing or stop you from flying that far from the airport. I think it's less than 1 mile that it's a full NFZ in DJI.

I can tell you that I've had a P4P lose connection and go astray, and once it hit a yellow DJI "Authorization" zone (NOT an NFZ) it force landed. I found it hovering a foot off the ground in a corn field once I reconnected and could see where it was. Upon review of the flight path it was exactly on the edge of the yellow circle, which has a radius of about 1.5 miles from the runway center.

 

[Gecko10]

In that case, just fly!

Well, I have been calling, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Dannyg64506]

Where do you measure that 5 miles from, the tower, the middle of the airport, etc.

Thanks

 

[AnzacJack]

It is from the mid-point of the runway(s).

Not sure what you local laws are, but I can assure you that in Australia at least, the distance is from airfield bounday

 

[Dannyg64506]

I am a retired Air Traffic Controller since 2002, so I may be a bit dated in answering the question, however, I do not think this has changed. The question of the center of the airport came up often. FAA manuals stated the 5-mile radius was from the geographical center of the airport.

 

[Lopez0015]

hey I have a question here? I'm not sure since I think it happened when I registered the drone in 2017 but FAA requires using the B4UFly app for situations like this?

 

[mannok77]

The 5 statute mile limit is because in the US airspace system the controlled airspace designated to an airport that goes to the ground (1 circle class D airports or the bottom circle of the class C airports) is a standard 5 miles from geographical center of airport. The shape and size of class B airspace that goes to the ground is bigger and tailored to the airport. Some class D and C airports have non-standard airspace shapes and sizes. You need to check a current VFR sectional chart. They expire every 56 days. I like using the online sectional charts at skyvector.com, but I'm honestly not sure if they are legal, strictly speaking.

 

[DanMan32]

The funny thing is that class D airspace right through my house is down to ground 0 all the way to the 5 mile limit according to Airmap. Go on the other hand shows D much further out from the airport.
If a plane were at 100ft over my house, they would have issues with many trees. A 200ft minimum ceiling would make more sense at this distance, even if it is an approach path from the west.

 

[mannok77]

One thing I'm not sure if some apps are getting right is the distance. Skyward's website says it used 5 nautical miles, not statute miles. So if an app is using the wrong scale, it would be wrong.