Do I need to a waiver to fly commercial operations in Class E airspace that has a floor of 700 AGL?

[gladweather]

Do I need to request a waiver to fly a commercial operation in Class E airspace with a floor of 700 feet AGL? This is not the standard Class E airspace that goes to the surface, so is it necessary to wait 60-90 days to get the OK from the FAA. Checked on the Kittyhawk & B4Ufly app, and it suggests that I'm outside of Class E, but a sectional chart suggests that my operation will be within Class E with a floor of 700 ft AGL.

Obviously I won't be conducting any operations above 400ft AGL without contacting the FAA first. So why would I need to get a waiver to operate in an airspace that is 700ft AGL?

 

[Robert Mitchell]

No. As long as you are under the 700 ft shelf you are in class G, no notice required. As long as DJI doesn’t nanny render your flight useless somehow, that is.

 

[sar104]

Do I need to request a waiver to fly a commercial operation in Class E airspace with a floor of 700 feet AGL? This is not the standard Class E airspace that goes to the surface, so is it necessary to wait 60-90 days to get the OK from the FAA. Checked on the Kittyhawk & B4Ufly app, and it suggests that I'm outside of Class E, but a sectional chart suggests that my operation will be within Class E with a floor of 700 ft AGL.

Obviously I won't be conducting any operations above 400ft AGL without contacting the FAA first. So why would I need to get a waiver to operate in an airspace that is 700ft AGL?

You are not within Class E airspace if you are under the Class E floor. And there is no such thing as standard Class E. There is surface Class E, 700 ft Class E and 1200 ft Class E. Not much of anything higher exists in the US anymore.

 

[gladweather]

You are not within Class E airspace if you are under the Class E floor. And there is no such thing as standard Class E. There is surface Class E, 700 ft Class E and 1200 ft Class E. Not much of anything higher exists in the US anymore.

Thanks for the reply, that was very helpful. I was recently flying in an area with a class E floor of 700 ft but the Class E warning Alert popped up my DJI Go app.

After coming home and checking the sectional chart, I was wondering what was up. I was also flying in a valley in the rockies where the elevation changes very quickly. The local town is at an elevation of close to 7500ft MSL and I was flying in a neighborhood about 2 miles away that had an elevation change of more than 700 FT. Is the 700FT floor based on where you take off with your drone AGL at all times? Or is the floor of the class E airspace localized to the AGL of the local town or population?

 

[rfc]

Thanks for the reply, that was very helpful. I was recently flying in an area with a class E floor of 700 ft but the Class E warning Alert popped up my DJI Go app.

After coming home and checking the sectional chart, I was wondering what was up. I was also flying in a valley in the rockies where the elevation changes very quickly. The local town is at an elevation of close to 7500ft MSL and I was flying in a neighborhood about 2 miles away that had an elevation change of more than 700 FT. Is the 700FT floor based on where you take off with your drone AGL at all times? Or is the floor of the class E airspace localized to the AGL of the local town or population?

Last time I looked, AGL meant AGL. I don't know how else it could work, especially where you are.

 

[sar104]

Thanks for the reply, that was very helpful. I was recently flying in an area with a class E floor of 700 ft but the Class E warning Alert popped up my DJI Go app.

After coming home and checking the sectional chart, I was wondering what was up. I was also flying in a valley in the rockies where the elevation changes very quickly. The local town is at an elevation of close to 7500ft MSL and I was flying in a neighborhood about 2 miles away that had an elevation change of more than 700 FT. Is the 700FT floor based on where you take off with your drone AGL at all times? Or is the floor of the class E airspace localized to the AGL of the local town or population?

AGL means above the ground at that point, not relative to the airport or other location.

 

[Lapeer20m]

AGL means above the ground at that point, not relative to the airport or other location.

It's a little tricky from my understanding as class g and class e airspace are typically agl while most of the rest of the classes are measured in msl.

It makes logical sense, when you think about an airliner in class a airspace....it would be silly for them to have to change elevation relative to the surface of the earth.

Conversely, glass e airspace would start below ground level if it were measured in msl if you were in Colorado or any other mountainous state.

 

[PsiFox]

If I’m flying regularly in an area that I need an airspace waiver for, I’ll put in for it, otherwise I just call the ATC and manager to deconflict for the occasional one off under my 107. If you’re flying under 101 you actually have a little more leniency in some regards since you just have to notify airports w/i 5 miles.

AirMap is a pretty good app for checking airspace, I like it a lot more than b4 u fly since it gives you airspace types and phone numbers to contact

 

[Robert Mitchell]

If I’m flying regularly in an area that I need an airspace waiver for, I’ll put in for it, otherwise I just call the ATC and manager to deconflict for the occasional one off under my 107. If you’re flying under 101 you actually have a little more leniency in some regards since you just have to notify airports w/i 5 miles.

AirMap is a pretty good app for checking airspace, I like it a lot more than b4 u fly since it gives you airspace types and phone numbers to contact

Are you familiar with the FAA facility maps? They give you the grids and the airspace definitions (floors and ceilings) where you click. Since they will be essential for the new LAANC system soon, I’ve begun using it extensively.

 

[gladweather]

If I’m flying regularly in an area that I need an airspace waiver for, I’ll put in for it, otherwise I just call the ATC and manager to deconflict for the occasional one off under my 107. If you’re flying under 101 you actually have a little more leniency in some regards since you just have to notify airports w/i 5 miles.

AirMap is a pretty good app for checking airspace, I like it a lot more than b4 u fly since it gives you airspace types and phone numbers to contact

So under part 101 or recreational flying you don't have to contact the airports when flying in surface Class E except when that surface class E is within the 5 mile radius of the airport?

 

[sar104]

So under part 101 or recreational flying you don't have to contact the airports when flying in surface Class E except when that surface class E is within the 5 mile radius of the airport?

Under Part 101 the airspace class is irrelevant (except for surface Class B). You always have to notify airports within 5 miles.

 

[PsiFox]

Are you familiar with the FAA facility maps? They give you the grids and the airspace definitions (floors and ceilings) where you click. Since they will be essential for the new LAANC system soon, I’ve begun using it extensively.

I’m familiar with the maps, but haven’t used them. Are you out where they’re BETA testing LAANC? If so, how is it?

 

[PsiFox]

So under part 101 or recreational flying you don't have to contact the airports when flying in surface Class E except when that surface class E is within the 5 mile radius of the airport?

You’re correct. Part 101 cares about proximity to the airport, not necessarily airspace. There’s a place that I can fly recreationally near me that I don’t need to notify anyone, but as soon as I change to commercial ops I’m at the tail end of surface class E and have to waiver and/or notify.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I’m familiar with the maps, but haven’t used them. Are you out where they’re BETA testing LAANC? If so, how is it?

Haven't used the system yet, but I am hearing rave initial reviews from commercial users groups.