Drone Flight in Urban Areas

[blakekan]

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any cities in the United States or abroad that have started to implement airspace regulations and airways for suas (drones)? By this I mean is there a city that is laying out infrastructure for layered transportation on public roadways (example: cars at surface, small aircraft above, medium size aircraft above that)? If not, is there any news or research out there regarding this development? Thank you!

 

[spsphotos]

Cities do not have the authority to control airspace in that manner. FAA controls everthing 1 micron above the ground till the vacuum of space if it's over the US. . You have been watching Fifth Element...lol.

 

[Thomas B]

@spsphotos is correct above.
Get the scoop at the FAA DroneZone:

FAADroneZone

faadronezone.faa.gov

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

I live in Montreal and we have some great new infrastructures to view from a drone, such as the New Champlain Bridge and the REM (light Rail project).

However, I was told by security for the bridge authority that I could not fly my drone in the "area" (undefined by the security agent).

He referred me to the SSL (Signature Saint-Laurant) "Drone Use Policy" found at this link:

Samuel De Champlain Bridge

Find out about the use of drones above the Samuel De Champlain Bridge and the entire corridor managed by Signature on the Saint Lawrence.

www.samueldechamplainbridge.ca

(if the link doesn't work, just google "Drone Use Policy")

I finally asked NavCanada (they are mandated by Transport Canada to control airspace in Canada) if there were any restrictions to flying in this area.
(You cannot operate your RPA in controlled airspace unless you receive a written RPAS Flight Authorization
from NAV CANADA)

The area of interest is class "C" airspace.

So I applied for Flight Authorization after submitting a flight plan, and NavCanada granted my request! (Each time I fly in class "C" airspace with my M2Z, I have been granted authorization by NavCanada).

They also informed me that the website's Drone Use Policy has no jurisdiction to enforce that policy.

So check with the competent authority first and don't believe everything posted on a website which says you cannot fly in a specific area, and always ask the governing authority for flight authorization in controlled airspace.

 

[spsphotos]

In the US, only the FAA (and I'm assuming Nave Canada is the same thing) controls ALL airspace. While local jurisdictions can restrict you from taking off and landing in specified areas, they cannot tell you where you can or cannot fly. The FAA can specify certain areas as no-fly or require auth but no other federal, state, local agencies can do that. They are 100% unenforcable. Usually, they do this out of 1) Ignorance 2) Scare off the uneducated.

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

In the present case, if the website is managed by a competent authority, I would say that they opted for (2): Scare off the uneducated.

Fortunately we have the present forum which allows better education on these subjects of interest.