B4UFLY Catskills

[Philmans]

Hi All,

New to the forum. I live in the Catskills Mountains of New York State. Plenty of gorgeous scenery and plenty of restrictions. The B4UFLY App never seems to warn me about State Parks, (actually Wilderness, Canoe and Primitive classifications). I know for a fact that I am setting a point smack in the middle of a DEC regulated no fly zone and the app states I am good for takeoff.
I am licensed and working commercially during the outings. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks,

Phil

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.
Even in AZ I always check the state and municipal parks websites. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Jay241]

Welcome to the forum Phil, every state has different rules. A good info source can be found here. Enjoy the forum!

 

[KAOS Imagery]

Hi Phil,

I live north of Albany. I use AirMap, which does show...some...but not all state parks if you toggle that view on. But it does not differentiate Wilderness / Primitive areas in the Adirondacks, so I have to Google that independently or search on DEC. In the ADKs, drones are considered motorized vehicles so can't be used in non motorized areas. A rule of thumb us local pilots use is if we can drive to the location in our vehicle, we can fly there. Doesn't hold true in every instance though. I often fly in "Wild Forest" areas that are easily accessible on dirt roads in my truck and have had no issues.

Happy flying,

Kent

 

[tlswift58]

If you can take off and land in an "authorized" zone and you fly "over" these NFZ's - per most everything I've seen says your good. Yet, NY and many states have stupid rules to be aware of.

Here in NC, I "can't" fly (take off or land) in the Blue Ridge Parkway - it's a NPS. Since it is very narrow in many spots and has public roads running parallel to it in some locations - I "can" take off and land in the public space and "fly" over the Blue Ridge Parkway - as it's FAA airspace - not NPS.

Georgia has one such stupid law - can't fly in state parks or around state buildings. Simple answer is to take off and land outside those zones in public space and then fly to your destination and back.