Due to drone laws & restrictions, does anyone else feel it to be nearly impossible to legally fly anywhere other than their backyard...?

[TheBlueFlyer]

I just get that feeling when i delve in to the local laws. my rationale is kind of like this-

- say you want to do an overhead of a reservoir, park or other public lands, well my state has specifically forbid flying of drones in state parks
- my county has forbid it

... say you then need to takeoff-land from outside of the park

- obviously you cannot takeoff / land from the road, so that is out of the questions
- you will be told no if you ask if you can roll up in someones front yard to takeoff and land, so private property is out of the question

so where are you left to fly, then....? within the short distance from your back yard (if you own the land/property, but what if you dont...?) and over some BLM lands, and that seems to be about it.

maybe some operators do fly outside those parameters and no one says anything, which is awesome, but still, feels like its basically illegal to fly anywhere other than above your back yard.

i recently started flying but the ONLY time it seems almost clear-cut is when you are hired specifically for drone work and have written permission to takeoff / land from said property, or you do it from your own property.

am not really one to "push it," even if some people wouldnt care. you still open yourself up to getting put on blast if you do literally anything wrong.

 

[51 Drones]

What county/state is this? I have never heard of a county banning the launch/landing of UAV’s. Even if they did, there is still easements.

 

[TheBlueFlyer]

I never said the entire ocunty or entire state "banned it - im talking about in practical terms.

Colorado US

 

[BigAl07]

I never said the entire ocunty or entire state "banned it - im talking about in practical terms.

Colorado US

Actually you DID say that..

"- my county has forbid it"

If it were even half as hard as you insinuate then no one would be flying hardly at all.

 

[db4476]

Colorado doesn't seem too restrictive to me, other than just 2 state parks are open to drones. A handful of cities ban launching/landing in parks or city property.

Look here for more info:
Colorado Done Laws 1
Colorado Drone Laws 2

I'm sure you have a lot of BLM and USFS areas in Colorado, and for the most part they are very open about Drones.

Cheers!

 

[MA2 317]

I have a similar situation with my county park system.

They changed the wording of the park rules from use of a drone ON the property to 400' above the property.

Unfortunately, the county parks are wrong if they try to enforce this.

I'll park my car in the park, walk across the street and fly from a public sidewalk over the park all day long if I wanted too, but the parks aren't that interesting. Trails and trees.


.

 

[TheBlueFlyer]

Actually you DID say that..

"- my county has forbid it"

If it were even half as hard as you insinuate then no one would be flying hardly at all.

Calm down, no need to become so aggressive. This is a simple discussion about the general consensus amongst drone operators and i find your assertion of my perspective to be an outright exaggeration

In case there werent any clues in my post, I am mainly talking about - not just flying - but landing and taking off - which is a necessity when flying a drone.

I Misread "county" for "country."

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

 

[TheBlueFlyer]

Colorado doesn't seem too restrictive to me, other than just 2 state parks are open to drones. A handful of cities ban launching/landing in parks or city property.

Look here for more info:
Colorado Done Laws 1
Colorado Drone Laws 2

I'm sure you have a lot of BLM and USFS areas in Colorado, and for the most part they are very open about Drones.

Cheers!

Im mostly talking about taking off and landing, as I laid out earlier, I dont see how it is possible with the current restrictions around, say, Horsetooth Reservoir and probably many other places.

Cant take off on private land. public sidewalks. within the parks. so youre relegated to BLM land.

 

[TheBlueFlyer]

I have a similar situation with my county park system.

They changed the wording of the park rules from use of a drone ON the property to 400' above the property.

Unfortunately, the county parks are wrong if they try to enforce this.

I'll park my car in the park, walk across the street and fly from a public sidewalk over the park all day long if I wanted too, but the parks aren't that interesting. Trails and trees.


.

Question here.... can you takeoff or land from a public sidewalk legally.....?

do you think parks can legally restrict the 400ft airspace above them....?

Not trying to fin a "workaround" but ill have to see if "public sidewalk" is in the language for local laws here.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

I think this greatly depends on where you live. I live in a suburb of NYC surrounded by class B, C and D airspace so I either have to travel (not extremely far) or get FAA authorization to fly in my immediate area. In some places you have to get a county permit and even with the permit there are certain months you can't fly in county parks. This seems stifling to those just getting into the hobby.

Unfortunately some of the rules were put in place because some people have no common sense and the county, state or federal officials used that as a reason to clamp down. Unfortunately the tendency is for these officials to go overboard, with remote ID being a perfect example IMHO of going to far.

 

[db4476]

I have a similar situation with my county park system.

They changed the wording of the park rules from use of a drone ON the property to 400' above the property.

Unfortunately, the county parks are wrong if they try to enforce this.

I'll park my car in the park, walk across the street and fly from a public sidewalk over the park all day long if I wanted too, but the parks aren't that interesting. Trails and trees.


.

A similar altitude limit was struck down in Singer vs City of Newton in 2017 at the federal court level. The City of Newton had 4 provisions about drones that were challenged in court, and the city lost on all of them.

Read more here: Singer vs City of Newton

Scroll down, the altitude restriction is the second point invalided by the court.

Cheers!

 

[rklesla]

Las Vegas is a no drone zone in a city parks. Nevada is a no drone zone in all state parks. National parks, monuments, etc are also no drone zones. Correct there isn't much left, once my drone dies I'm done. It's harder to find a place to fly it than not. I'm perfectly fine with the broadcasting signal if they open up the areas to use them. Totally get the areas by the landing of an airport, but Valley of Fire state park when no one is around? Government felt because of a few bad apples just blanket ban them all.

 

[BigAl07]

Calm down, no need to become so aggressive. This is a simple discussion about the general consensus amongst drone operators and i find your assertion of my perspective to be an outright exaggeration

In case there werent any clues in my post, I am mainly talking about - not just flying - but landing and taking off - which is a necessity when flying a drone.

I Misread "county" for "country."

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

What? Man I'm very calm and far from aggressive. LOL!

I am surrounded by NPS land yet I am able to fly daily (not hypothetically but literally) with no problems. Check out some of the rules put forth by the state of NC in terms of UAS flying.... silly restrictive yet somehow we fly for FUN and for HIRE regularly.

While there are absolutely more drone rules than every before it's nothing to drive a little while to fly. Keep in mind that just a few years ago we could ONLY fly from a dedicated flying site and they were few and far in between. Our group would get up early on a Saturday morning, meet at 7am, and drive 3 hours to fly at flying fields in other areas. So having to drive to an area to fly your UAS isn't really that big of a deal when you take a moment to step back and look at the big picture.

 

[Dozerb]

I just get that feeling when i delve in to the local laws. my rationale is kind of like this-

- say you want to do an overhead of a reservoir, park or other public lands, well my state has specifically forbid flying of drones in state parks
- my county has forbid it

... say you then need to takeoff-land from outside of the park

- obviously you cannot takeoff / land from the road, so that is out of the questions
- you will be told no if you ask if you can roll up in someones front yard to takeoff and land, so private property is out of the question

so where are you left to fly, then....? within the short distance from your back yard (if you own the land/property, but what if you dont...?) and over some BLM lands, and that seems to be about it.

maybe some operators do fly outside those parameters and no one says anything, which is awesome, but still, feels like its basically illegal to fly anywhere other than above your back yard.

i recently started flying but the ONLY time it seems almost clear-cut is when you are hired specifically for drone work and have written permission to takeoff / land from said property, or you do it from your own property.

am not really one to "push it," even if some people wouldnt care. you still open yourself up to getting put on blast if you do literally anything wrong.

Don't feel bad im not even allowed to fly in my own back yard. The FAA is a bit to crazy with there rules.

 

[MA2 317]

Question here.... can you takeoff or land from a public sidewalk legally.....?

do you think parks can legally restrict the 400ft airspace above them....?

Not trying to fin a "workaround" but ill have to see if "public sidewalk" is in the language for local laws here.

Beats me about the leagality of the sidewalk. I'm not on private property and nobody is around to be disturbed.

They can't pass the 400' rule. The FAA governs the airspace and the county parks department is not the FAA. They can do want they want with the property, not the air above it.

.

 

[Saladshooter]

Im mostly talking about taking off and landing, as I laid out earlier, I dont see how it is possible with the current restrictions around, say, Horsetooth Reservoir and probably many other places.

I can understand your feelings.... around Horsetooth you have Fort Collins imposing restrictions on their public property, then you have all the park lands around the lake are restricted for taking off.

It is getting harder to fly.... partly because of paranoid people who don't understand how drones work, jacked up news pieces which have very little truth in them, and the jerks who are flying around airports and stadiums.

I would take a few risks and ask someone with a home there if you could stand in their driveway and get some footage of the lake. Offer them a video or nice photos as an exchange.

 

[AusTrekie]

Agree ! So many locations that have scenic views, and National Parks with no fly zones, becoming so difficult to find a good location without restrictions, with many of these places, if flying the Drone with care, and keeping to the standard Drone rules, you would think be ok, by Not !! So Frustrating, and know how you feel.

 

[beachcombing]

Question here.... can you takeoff or land from a public sidewalk legally.....?

do you think parks can legally restrict the 400ft airspace above them....?

Not trying to fin a "workaround" but ill have to see if "public sidewalk" is in the language for local laws here.

Question here.... can you takeoff or land from a public sidewalk legally.....? - Yes
do you think parks can legally restrict the 400ft airspace above them....? - No. Only the FAA can regulate airspace in the US.

 

[Slade]

I live in Colorado near a Regional airport. I follow the regulations and have occasionally had close encounters of the scary kind with low flying helicopters and Canadian Geese which number in the thousands in our area. I’ve never run into restrictions or issues or Karens. Be safe. Happy flying.

 

[crlmjohnson]

That why I get my part 107, so that I could understand why and where I could fly my drone