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Flying at altitude: Mount Evans Colorado 14,265ft

Very nice! and welcome to the group!
 
What places in Colorado are definite NFZ other than National Parks and Airports? I plan to go there soon and hope to use my bird. From this list what is most likely to be not flyable for legal reasons:
Mt. Evans
Pikes Peak
Black Hawk
Garden of the Gods
Estes Park
Any suggestions what to see over there? or what to avoid?
Will appreciate all info...
 
Too many to name but State parks are out as well. For open spaces you have to check county by county. I love deer creek canyon but it is Jefferson county open space which is out. I just flew at Devils Head this morning which is on national forest land which is always fine to fly in. Just do your research.
 
Nice job! That's the kind of flying I'm doing this summer around Rado. How was the wind up there that day? I fly around Summit County all the time and you have to pick and choose what days you can fly. Especially at the tops of the mountains!
 
What places in Colorado are definite NFZ other than National Parks and Airports? I plan to go there soon and hope to use my bird. From this list what is most likely to be not flyable for legal reasons:
Mt. Evans
Pikes Peak
Black Hawk
Garden of the Gods
Estes Park
Any suggestions what to see over there? or what to avoid?
Will appreciate all info...
Garden of the gods is Colorado Springs city parks which are out. If you study a map you can fly on the boarder and still get great shots. The area around Blackhawk is probably good. It is in a national forest. Check out Nevadaville, Colorado's most well preserved ghost town.
 
Nice job! That's the kind of flying I'm doing this summer around Rado. How was the wind up there that day? I fly around Summit County all the time and you have to pick and choose what days you can fly. Especially at the tops of the mountains!
I got lucky with a calmer day. I got a few warnings but didn't notice any issues. I don't fly over 20mph. It is usually calmer in the mornings that high up but it's a total crap shoot, you are almost touching the jet stream at 14000'.
 
Too many to name but State parks are out as well. For open spaces you have to check county by county. I love deer creek canyon but it is Jefferson county open space which is out. I just flew at Devils Head this morning which is on national forest land which is always fine to fly in. Just do your research.
Thanks,
that is part of my reserach ;-)
 
I was flying on Mount Evans, today (08/26/2017). I was under the impression that it's legal for us to fly drones there, as long as you're not in the Denver park at the lake. At the lake, I spoke to a park ranger, who agreed with my thoughts... that the lake was off limits, but otherwise, I was free to fly where I thought possible.

We were out flying further up above tree line , away from people, when the park service stopped and told us that drones were illegal on Mount Evans. I told them that I would comply with them, but that I had checked online before flying, and believed that I was not breaking any applicable laws. When I asked about the source of their knowledge, they responded that their manager had told them.

I wish there would be some sort of finality to these issues; if they had "business cards" with the actual law, that could be handed out, it would simplify communication between rangers and pilots.
 
Unfortunately, I had to land it too. I was told by very nice park ranger that one of the summit's slopes is Wilderness. As we all should know that is NFZ. I was not aware of that prior to visit.
BTW, my video clip from summit of Mount Evans got somehow corrupted... Instant Karma? :(
 
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What a beautiful planet we live on... I'm not religious at all, but watching that video does make even the most ardent skeptic question how lucky we are to be here.

I did notice some artifacts just above the ridge line as you flew the circular POI route - almost like the heat off of a BBQ grill. Was that in the original? Or is that just an effect of compression by YouTube? There's just a ton of pixels changing with each frame, and I'm wondering whether the MP got a bit overwhelmed.

Also, did you happen to watch the prop RPM? I'm curious if they had to spin faster at 14k feet...
 
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Reactions: Knight Hawk
What a beautiful planet we live on... I'm not religious at all, but watching that video does make even the most ardent skeptic question how lucky we are to be here.

I did notice some artifacts just above the ridge line as you flew the circular POI route - almost like the heat off of a BBQ grill. Was that in the original? Or is that just an effect of compression by YouTube? There's just a ton of pixels changing with each frame, and I'm wondering whether the MP got a bit overwhelmed.

Also, did you happen to watch the prop RPM? I'm curious if they had to spin faster at 14k feet...
 
As a climber that gets around this state, i will say drones are absolutely annoying. Why? As a climber i enter a remote environment to enjoy nature. Then, out of nowhere there is what sounds like a thousand bees hovering over you. We risk our lives to pursue our passion, intensely focused on what is in front of us whilst these "pilots" hover over our heads so they can capture our adventures. This is extremely distracting and dangerous. I was on Mt. Evans this past Saturday doing the sawtooth, and I really wish I had a shotgun to shoot these bastards down.
 
JMF, does "awesome" mean that your goal is to disturb the wilderness areas that people enjoy? Just curious.
 
Arbel, most folks here are not around to harass, break laws and regs, or disturb your personal outings. But, like the rest of things in this world, with freedom comes the ability for arsewipes to be free to be arsewipes. Not making excuses for them, but don’t paint others with that big brush you’ve got perched up there on your mile high horse. Now, all that being said... I am into photography/videography and I do enjoy both recording as well as viewing beautiful, blessed by God, scenery, however it’s because there’s no room in your attitude for our hobbies or passions that we’ve arrived in the situation we are in. You say you’re trying to get away so don’t go there... Super. Yet, SUAS operators also get the “don’t fly around here, there’s too many people, too much traffic, this is all restricted-crap elsewhere in the very places you’re trying to escape from. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t in lots of cases for SUAS pilots. Maybe things will get better for all with the new rules coming out and there can be some sort of sane balance reached once some of the bad actors are weeded out, but even then...I don’t think anyone’s ever going to figure out how to fix stupid.
 
As a climber that gets around this state, i will say drones are absolutely annoying. Why? As a climber i enter a remote environment to enjoy nature. Then, out of nowhere there is what sounds like a thousand bees hovering over you. We risk our lives to pursue our passion, intensely focused on what is in front of us whilst these "pilots" hover over our heads so they can capture our adventures. This is extremely distracting and dangerous. I was on Mt. Evans this past Saturday doing the sawtooth, and I really wish I had a shotgun to shoot these bastards down.
So you consider your chosen form of recreation is somehow supperior to others. Tough!
If it is legal i will fly where i like. Thankly i live in a nation where any fool cannot own a firearm.
 
As a climber that gets around this state, i will say drones are absolutely annoying. Why? As a climber i enter a remote environment to enjoy nature. Then, out of nowhere there is what sounds like a thousand bees hovering over you. We risk our lives to pursue our passion, intensely focused on what is in front of us whilst these "pilots" hover over our heads so they can capture our adventures. This is extremely distracting and dangerous. I was on Mt. Evans this past Saturday doing the sawtooth, and I really wish I had a shotgun to shoot these bastards down.

And yet other climbers I have encountered wave at the drone and seem to be happy to see it. To each their own.
 
If you shoot a drone down you are admitting to a crime ahead of time. It is equivalent to shooting down an airliner by law. Then if it lands and hurts or kills someone, you will have those charges as well.
 
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