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California Trip

brahern02

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Hello all,
Trying to figure out some good places to fly on vacation. From the looks of things, it will be very limited. We will begin our trip in LA. Not sure where we are staying yet, but more than likely around Santa Monica, Venice Beach, or Hollywood. Looking for some good areas around there. I know LAX is close to the beaches, I would need LAANC approval and that's fine. My biggest issue is it seems that these areas or pretty off limits for drones. Sana Monica has a law about no drones on the beaches, beach parking lots, etc. Can't find anything outwardly banning you from Venice, but it looks to be right in the runway path of Sana Monica Airport. LAANC is possible if approved, but if not, then no way.

We will be going up the Pacific Coast Highway to SF. This whole area seems like a no go zone for drones. Between the NOAA marine sanctuary areas and the State/National Parks, I'm guessing there will be little to know flying in these areas. If anyone knows of somewhere legal to fly, that would be great.

SF itself is very iffy. I've never been to LA, but I'm familiar with SF. I have a few areas in mind. Treasure Island is one of them. Also found a good spot near the Bay Bridge, but I'll have to scout it out. I have no interest in flying over the downtown area, I want to go out over the bay. I would love to find a place in western SF to fly too. The beaches are under state control so no take offs or landings, but I'm sure I could find a spot.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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Hello all,
Trying to figure out some good places to fly on vacation. From the looks of things, it will be very limited. We will begin our trip in LA. Not sure where we are staying yet, but more than likely around Santa Monica, Venice Beach, or Hollywood. Looking for some good areas around there. I know LAX is close to the beaches, I would need LAANC approval and that's fine. My biggest issue is it seems that these areas or pretty off limits for drones. Sana Monica has a law about no drones on the beaches, beach parking lots, etc. Can't find anything outwardly banning you from Venice, but it looks to be right in the runway path of Sana Monica Airport. LAANC is possible if approved, but if not, then no way.

We will be going up the Pacific Coast Highway to SF. This whole area seems like a no go zone for drones. Between the NOAA marine sanctuary areas and the State/National Parks, I'm guessing there will be little to know flying in these areas. If anyone knows of somewhere legal to fly, that would be great.

SF itself is very iffy. I've never been to LA, but I'm familiar with SF. I have a few areas in mind. Treasure Island is one of them. Also found a good spot near the Bay Bridge, but I'll have to scout it out. I have no interest in flying over the downtown area, I want to go out over the bay. I would love to find a place in western SF to fly too. The beaches are under state control so no take offs or landings, but I'm sure I could find a spot.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Maybe Point Reyes? Dunno.
 
brahern02 there are plenty of drop off points and stops you can make. Remember, Santa Monica does not own the air space. You may be able to take off on private property and fly over un-populated areas along the coast. I do not have specific places I've flown but I've been up and down the coast with LAANC approval. A quick search yielded this:

Flying over California Coast

Hope this helps and have a fun trip!!
 
really Santa monica is a no fly? oops then I took my Mavic Mini there to the pier a week ago and flew.... i saw no signs saying i couldnt and the app map didnt show a NFZ.... granted i only went up from the parking lot and flew over the sand where there were no people... also some 3 years ago i flew on the hollywood hills while hiking up to the sign. not sure if that still possible though
 
While traveling up Hwy 1 from Cambria to San Francisco, keep in mind the Monterey Marine Sanctuary extends from the high tide water line along the coast. Here is the map:

mbnmsbw1_lg.jpg


You can fly over land along the coast as long as you don‘t pass through the invisible vertical wall that follows the high tide water line.

Mark
 
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Hi brahern02,

In the SF area, the east side of the city is fairly open for flying, as long as there isn't a sports event.

I've flown about a dozen times from the city, and always get there at or slightly before sun up when few people are out. There is a large parking lot south of the bay bridge and another spot behind the ferry building to get out over the bay for some nice views. South of that there's a makeover going on near the new Chase Center where many of the old industrial buildings are being torn down or renovated.

I've flown from as far west as an area near Pier 45, just east of the takeoff/landing restrictions and haven't tried anything to the west. The coast guard occasionally flies low, in particular around the channel between the GG Bridge and Alcatraz, so I stayed low close to the shore.

Treasure Island is also a good spot. In particular, I like to fly from the former Alameda Air Station.

Just north of the Richmond Bridge there's a coastal area called Point Molate, which has an interesting history. There's a sunken ship, an old winery which was turned into a fuel depot during WWII, and a small island lighthouse which is also a B&B.

Have a great trip!

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really Santa monica is a no fly? oops then I took my Mavic Mini there to the pier a week ago and flew.... i saw no signs saying i couldnt and the app map didnt show a NFZ.... granted i only went up from the parking lot and flew over the sand where there were no people... also some 3 years ago i flew on the hollywood hills while hiking up to the sign. not sure if that still possible though

The beach is a no take off and landing zone. Also, the LAANC apps say that it is a 50 foot authorization area. So you cannot fly above 50ft and you need authorization to do so. Looks like it can be done though. The DJI app isn't really reputable as far as NFZ and airport zones. They leave a lot of areas unlocked when they shouldn't be. Seems like they are just guessing on a lot of it. Use an app like Kittyhawk to check before you fly.
 
While traveling up Hwy 1 from Cambria to San Francisco, keep in mind the Monterey Marine Sanctuary extends from the high tide water line along the coast. Here is the map:

mbnmsbw1_lg.jpg


You can fly over land along the coast as long as you don‘t pass through the invisible vertical wall that follows the high tide water line.

Mark
Thanks, I saw that on the FAA sectional. This is a sneaky one, as not all the apps have it listed. Thanks for posting this, people really do need to be aware of this so they don't get themselves in trouble.
 
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Hi brahern02,

In the SF area, the east side of the city is fairly open for flying, as long as there isn't a sports event.

I've flown about a dozen times from the city, and always get there at or slightly before sun up when few people are out. There is a large parking lot south of the bay bridge and another spot behind the ferry building to get out over the bay for some nice views. South of that there's a makeover going on near the new Chase Center where many of the old industrial buildings are being torn down or renovated.

I've flown from as far west as an area near Pier 45, just east of the takeoff/landing restrictions and haven't tried anything to the west. The coast guard occasionally flies low, in particular around the channel between the GG Bridge and Alcatraz, so I stayed low close to the shore.

Treasure Island is also a good spot. In particular, I like to fly from the former Alameda Air Station.

Just north of the Richmond Bridge there's a coastal area called Point Molate, which has an interesting history. There's a sunken ship, an old winery which was turned into a fuel depot during WWII, and a small island lighthouse which is also a B&B.

Have a great trip!

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Thanks so much for this! That parking lot was actually one of the places I planned to fly from. Where is the last photo from? Oakland?
 
GDadd - great photos and colors look great. I lived out there for years (although no M2P then) and they bring back some real fond memories!!

I was looking at going back to a house I have there in the Oakland hills over x-mas so following along as I have been doing similar research myself.
 
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The beach is a no take off and landing zone. Also, the LAANC apps say that it is a 50 foot authorization area. So you cannot fly above 50ft and you need authorization to do so. Looks like it can be done though. The DJI app isn't really reputable as far as NFZ and airport zones. They leave a lot of areas unlocked when they shouldn't be. Seems like they are just guessing on a lot of it. Use an app like Kittyhawk to check before you fly.
yea i was in a far corner of the parking lot near the pier. no other cars around me and only went up and maybe 50ft from my truck.just wanted to see how the mini handled the wind
 
Thanks so much for this! That parking lot was actually one of the places I planned to fly from. Where is the last photo from? Oakland?
It's in SF, south of the new Chase Center, about 3 miles south of the parking lot by the Bay Bridge.

1575480509941.png
 
Where is this parking lot south of the Bay Bridge?

Is it a paid lot?
 
BTW, anyone know about the Monterey Peninsula, along the coast south of Pacific Grove?

It's not marked in Airmap.

Of course once you go south of the peninsula the whole coast is an NOAA wildlife sanctuary all the way down to almost Morro Bay, which also isn't marked in Airmap.

Neither is Santa Barbara.
 
Here is a video I made from San Francisco;


Disclaimer: This is old footage and was taken before there were any real rules when it came to drones. It’s not reckless but some might point out a few things.
 
I have flown in the San Pedro/Palos Verdes area without a problem and I know there are near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena that I have seen people fly.
 
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