FAA 107 / Flying Under Class B Airspace

DJinCA · May 2, 2018

Hey everyone!

First post, and hopefully a simple question.

In a lot of videos for 107 training the instructor / instructions will basically say that you are not allowed to fly in any Class B airspace without authorization, often drawing a circle around the outermost boundaries. However, technically on the outermost boundaries the Class B airspace doesn't extend to the surface.

Now, don't get me wrong, I stay as far away from airports as possible. However, let's say I have a client who wants to have some real estate video made BENEATH the outermost Class B tier. For example, if the outermost Class B tier starts at 2,500 ft, would I be legal to fly under that space without FAA approval and / or tower notification or is the outermost boundary considered from SFC up?

droneworx · May 2, 2018

ATC clearance is needed for all Class B activity. Class B is the most restrictive and is also the most complicated as it surrounds the busiest airports. As you descend from 10K feet to the deck the size gets smaller, generally called an upside down cake (I think thats what you meant by outermost ring, just want to make sure I was clear on what you were saying). The important part is that every airports Class B is different and can sometimes be erratic, its not always perfect circles, LAX has this long offshoot that goes all the way out to Orange County because of approach. If you are at 300 feet, you could not be in Class B in one area, and then drive a mile south and be in Class B again. So, is it legal? technically yes, but the safest thing is to just avoid Class B Airspace at the distance of its outermost ring, thats what I was taught, to avoid a potential interaction which could land you in jail. Or always get an authorization even if your going to be close, better be safe than sorry, and I will tell you even with a Part 107, getting Class B authorization is pretty difficult. I did a radio tower inspection once in LA and it took about a month to get an OK for a 15 minute flight at 1am.