California banned drone flying in local and state parks, so there are precious few wide open spots to fly without taking a 20+ minute drive. There are however, a couple of schools near me with large fields. Obviously, I would only fly when school is out, I've done it on the weekends when it's completely empty and it was quite pleasant. I might work up the courage to fly maybe 2-3 hours after school is over (and no organized use of the field, maybe a few stragglers, at most), but I want to ask to see first, if there are any regulations I'm not aware of regarding that. And secondly, what your experiences have been with that? Is that generally a good/bad idea?
Flying at local schools?
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Rchawks
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I usually google the town and the word "drone" to see if there are any restrictions. In my town in MA there are restrictions on flying from any of the town athletic fields, including the school fields, regardless of whether there are people present or not. There are no signs. To me it would be more reasonable to be flexible when the fields are empty, but that's not the rule here. Most of the other towns in the area have no such rules, so just the FAA rules about flying over people would apply when the fields are in use.
Eagle Eye 62
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To be safe, as long as you take off and land off the School property you are good to go. Nothing anyone can do to stop you. Fly Safe, Fly Stealth!
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Yes, I'm aware of the rules. But I value my relationship with my neighbors, and I tend to avoid places where the intent is clear (unless I had a particularly strong reason to fly in one of those places).
I am in CA as well, thought about it but after looking up local city laws, basically you are not allowed to do anything on school grounds if you are not a student or teacher. All the them are fenced off where I live so if you have to climb a fence, then you are already in some kind of violation should PTA mom spot an adult male on a "child's" playing field.
When I was a kid, all these things were open, anyone could walk onto a field and use it, no one cared. But just look at what happened in the news the other day. People are in fear of their lives at schools so they have become mini fortresses. Unless it's totally open with no fence I would not chance it. Even though it's technically public property in many cases, there are exemptions from allowing the public to use them without prior permission.
When I was a kid, all these things were open, anyone could walk onto a field and use it, no one cared. But just look at what happened in the news the other day. People are in fear of their lives at schools so they have become mini fortresses. Unless it's totally open with no fence I would not chance it. Even though it's technically public property in many cases, there are exemptions from allowing the public to use them without prior permission.
jimlips
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I was unaware that CA banned flying drones in local and State parks. Can you show me where this law is published? Last I checked, all FEDERAL parks are "drone-free" zones, but in State and local parks, it is up to the local District Superintendent on a "per park" basis. See: https://drone-laws.com/drone-laws-in-california/
Drones in State Wilderness Areas, Natural Preserves, and Cultural Preserves are prohibited.
Most of the "prohibitions" state that you cannot TAKE OFF from a park. You can always take off from the street, and fly into/over the park. As has been posted here numerous times, the FAA owns all airspace.
You are right, I misunderstood the regs, several parks near me and the nearest State Park specifically has rules against flying Drones, but it does not seem like a state wide rule yet. That's even more of a bummer though, to know my local area is more restrictive than necessary.
It's legal in CA to fly drones in state parks, but the rub is that they leave it open to each district superintendent within the state to make their own restrictions if they choose. So for example, in Los Angeles County, and Orange County both superintendents have banned drones. So effectively, drones are banned in SoCa state parks even though the state allows them. The wording is not too drone friendly by the way, it's very one sided in it's reasoning.
https://allthingsmalibu.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Drone-Posted-Order.pdf
https://allthingsmalibu.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Drone-Posted-Order.pdf
Yup, several of the larger local parks near me have no drone rules, and Chino Hills State Park has also banned drone flights. That is a big bummer since I frequently hike there, it's a huge area, and the scenery is amazing.
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