B4UFLY

[TDASEN]

New to flying drone. Question. If B4UFLY app is showing green are you required to get laanc authorization?

 

[vindibona1]

Welcome to drone piloting. You'll get the hang of all of it in no time if you hang out here. There are a ton of experts here who know far more than me at this point, but I'll tell you what I know.

I don't use B4UFLY often but have it on my phone. I just pulled it up to look at it to see the airspace display. I live not far from Chicago O'Hare, and have several airports in the area. So, from what I can see from B4UFLY, blue, green and pink are restricted airspaces requiring ATC authorization. The yellow circles are "advisory" areas, usually indicating arenas, which are ok to fly near as long up until one hour before an event, when they become a NFZ (no fly zone) up until one hour after the event. I think they may indicate heliports too, which generally have no restrictions, but are there to make you aware of potential helicopter operations.

There are a few other programs that you may want ot download as well if you haven't already. Kittyhawk, which is related to B4UFLY, Airmap and UAV Forecast. Kittyhawk is a little more detailed and it provides more details than B4UFLY (which is why I am not as familiar with B4). I know that Kittyhawk and Airmap can request LAANC authorization in the app. Not sure about B4. I like UAV Forecast because it gives me more information about wind conditions.

 

[TDASEN]

Welcome to drone piloting. You'll get the hang of all of it in no time if you hang out here. There are a ton of experts here who know far more than me at this point, but I'll tell you what I know.

I don't use B4UFLY often but have it on my phone. I just pulled it up to look at it to see the airspace display. I live not far from Chicago O'Hare, and have several airports in the area. So, from what I can see from B4UFLY, blue, green and pink are restricted airspaces requiring ATC authorization. The yellow circles are "advisory" areas, usually indicating arenas, which are ok to fly near as long up until one hour before an event, when they become a NFZ (no fly zone) up until one hour after the event. I think they may indicate heliports too, which generally have no restrictions, but are there to make you aware of potential helicopter operations.

There are a few other programs that you may want ot download as well if you haven't already. Kittyhawk, which is related to B4UFLY, Airmap and UAV Forecast. Kittyhawk is a little more detailed and it provides more details than B4UFLY (which is why I am not as familiar with B4). I know that Kittyhawk and Airmap can request LAANC authorization in the app. Not sure about B4. I like UAV Forecast because it gives me more information about wind conditions.

 

[TDASEN]

Thank You for the information

 

[vindibona1]

You are most welcome.

It’s good to see that you are checking the rules and using one of the many apps to help you make sure that you are flying responsibly.

 

[karlblessing]

Not directly related to rules, but also look at apps like Windy, to check the wind speeds and gusts of an area and their forecast when planning to fly. Part of being a good pilot is not getting caught out in winds or gusts that are beyond your drones capability (and note that surface wind speed, and speeds 100m up may differ). It's not cool when your drone starts to drift further away from you and you can't get it back to you before signal gets lost.

Edit: KittyHawk seems to include those wind condition information.