Flying Drone from Parking Lot - Question

[Srcrain]

I know there are parts of many other threads that discuss some version of this but I wanted direct advice and for the question to not get lost in a longer post.

I was out flying yesterday at a spot that I having being using for well over one year. It is a large parking lot that is part of a office complex and local park. It is about 80% empty. It is also right on a major harbor area where I fly over the water with no people around. There is a newly constructed outdoor area near the water with volleyball courts and concessions. This area is not yet open.

As I was flying (not near people) one person approached me (he must have been part of the new outdoor area) and said that I needed to land my drone immediately because this was a no fly zone and drones are prohibited. He also said something about an FAA license (referring to Part 107 for commercial pilots). Interesting that he knew that much. Lastly he talked about not wanting drones to take pictures of that area (there really is nothing to see).

I told him a few things. 1) That I am a hobbyist and don't need a 107 license. 2) That I am registered with the FAA and wanted to show my registration card (printed when I registered). 3) That the area that I was flying was not restricted in any way (wanted to show him Airmap, etc.). and 4) That I was within my rights to fly as I wasn't breaking any FAA guidelines.

Here is the problem. I wanted to have him call the police so they could explain all this to him. However, my problem was not where I was flying but where I was launching/landing and where I was parked. I thought that the parking lot was most likely private property and that while I was within my rights in terms of airspace, I was probably not within my rights to be using the parking lot as my base of operations (even if it was empty). The complicating factor is that the lot is shared by multiple business and even a public park, so I am not sure who has the right to restrict drone operations.

The reason this is important to me is that this is my go-to area to fly. I have used it, without incident, probably 50 times or more.

Any thoughts or comments?

 

[PhantomFandom]

I know there are parts of many other threads that discuss some version of this but I wanted direct advice and for the question to not get lost in a longer post.

I was out flying yesterday at a spot that I having being using for well over one year. It is a large parking lot that is part of a office complex and local park. It is about 80% empty. It is also right on a major harbor area where I fly over the water with no people around. There is a newly constructed outdoor area near the water with volleyball courts and concessions. This area is not yet open.

As I was flying (not near people) one person approached me (he must have been part of the new outdoor area) and said that I needed to land my drone immediately because this was a no fly zone and drones are prohibited. He also said something about an FAA license (referring to Part 107 for commercial pilots). Interesting that he knew that much. Lastly he talked about not wanting drones to take pictures of that area (there really is nothing to see).

I told him a few things. 1) That I am a hobbyist and don't need a 107 license. 2) That I am registered with the FAA and wanted to show my registration card (printed when I registered). 3) That the area that I was flying was not restricted in any way (wanted to show him Airmap, etc.). and 4) That I was within my rights to fly as I wasn't breaking any FAA guidelines.

Here is the problem. I wanted to have him call the police so they could explain all this to him. However, my problem was not where I was flying but where I was launching/landing and where I was parked. I thought that the parking lot was most likely private property and that while I was within my rights in terms of airspace, I was probably not within my rights to be using the parking lot as my base of operations (even if it was empty). The complicating factor is that the lot is shared by multiple business and even a public park, so I am not sure who has the right to restrict drone operations.

The reason this is important to me is that this is my go-to area to fly. I have used it, without incident, probably 50 times or more.

Any thoughts or comments?

Well it seems that you have done your research and due diligence. You are correct in that only the FAA controls airspace, so unless there are permanent or temporary flight restrictions in place by the FAA no one can tell you that you can't fly there. That is of course as long as you are obeying all other FAA regulations, as it seems you were.

So the sticky part is the location you are using for takeoff and landing. If it is a privately owned parking lot then the owners of that property (or the designated agents) have every right to restrict you from using it for takeoff and landing of your drone. It is their property so if they don't want you using it for that purpose then you must honor those requests.

If you takeoff and land from public property, you would be fine as long as there are no city ordinances prohibiting you from doing that.

So yes even though you can legally fly there, you must find a place where you can legally takeoff and land.

 

[georgerandybass]

Well it seems that you have done your research and due diligence. You are correct in that only the FAA controls airspace, so unless there are permanent or temporary flight restrictions in place by the FAA no one can tell you that you can't fly there. That is of course as long as you are obeying all other FAA regulations, as it seems you were.

So the sticky part is the location you are using for takeoff and landing. If it is a privately owned parking lot then the owners of that property (or the designated agents) have every right to restrict you from using it for takeoff and landing of your drone. It is their property so if they don't want you using it for that purpose then you must honor those requests.

If you takeoff and land from public property, you would be fine as long as there are no city ordinances prohibiting you from doing that.

So yes even though you can legally fly there, you must find a place where you can legally takeoff and land.

Well stated!

 

[anotherlab]

Well it seems that you have done your research and due diligence. You are correct in that only the FAA controls airspace, so unless there are permanent or temporary flight restrictions in place by the FAA no one can tell you that you can't fly there. That is of course as long as you are obeying all other FAA regulations, as it seems you were.

So the sticky part is the location you are using for takeoff and landing. If it is a privately owned parking lot then the owners of that property (or the designated agents) have every right to restrict you from using it for takeoff and landing of your drone. It is their property so if they don't want you using it for that purpose then you must honor those requests.

If you takeoff and land from public property, you would be fine as long as there are no city ordinances prohibiting you from doing that.

So yes even though you can legally fly there, you must find a place where you can legally takeoff and land.

I couldn't have said that any better. I would have politely asked who he was and who he represented. If the parking lot privately owned, you could always ask for permission. Asking nicely and providing assurances of good behavior can open a lot of doors.

Last year, our company purchased a new (to us) building in a suburban office complex. The building had sat unused for a few years, and a group was using the parking lot for drone racing. We would have been 100% fine with it, had they come to us first. But they didn't and broke a few light fixtures with their drones. We had to put up signs prohibiting the use of our parking lot for non-employees. The lot is big enough and hidden from the road, they could have had a good thing.

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

Some people are just out to spoil another person enjoying themselves and try to enforce authority that they don’t have. As unfortunate as this fact is as I’ve run into this situation myself, it’s a huge world out there with plenty of other places to fly. I was always afraid to get into some confrontation with someone that either escalates into at best an unpleasant to at worst a dangerous situation (people have gotten crazy these days). I also worry about a person coming up and having to interact with them while my aircraft may be in a precarious situation for whatever reason and having to divert attention from it to them. I try to only fly any of my aircraft where I’m extremely unlikely to encounter anyone unless I’m at my local AMA flying field. It’s really a shame that there a so many people out to ruin someone enjoying this fantastic hobby even when you are flying to the letter of the law responsibly.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

I think you handled the situation well. One thing to do if some questions you is politely question them. First would be do own or manage this property? If the answer is no then politely repeat what you've said and continue flying. If the answer is yes then I'd ask for their name and if there is a process in place for getting approval to fly in that location.

As others have mentioned the critical issue is who actually owns the property.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I find if you ignore them long enough, they go away. If they start sticking a cel phone in my face, ill hover the drone and deal with them.

 

[pesto126]

I find if you ignore them long enough, they go away. If they start sticking a cel phone in my face, ill hover the drone and deal with them.

And THIS is escalated YOUTUBE videos are made!

 

[anotherlab]

I find if you ignore them long enough, they go away. If they start sticking a cel phone in my face, ill hover the drone and deal with them.

Without all due respect, I think you get better results by engaging in positive manner. A lot of the time, they have no idea what they are talking about. Being nice and explaining how it works and how we are legal is how we get to have nice things.

When they start with "You are spying on me!", I explain that from a couple of hundred feet up, we all look like ants. And then I offer to show them what it looks like on the screen.

 

[Meta4]

Lastly he talked about not wanting drones to take pictures of that area

Then he'll need to put a roof over it.

Here is the problem. I wanted to have him call the police so they could explain all this to him.

Police are unlikely to have the knowledge or experience to deal with this situation for you.

 

[Bill combs]

I know there are parts of many other threads that discuss some version of this but I wanted direct advice and for the question to not get lost in a longer post.

I was out flying yesterday at a spot that I having being using for well over one year. It is a large parking lot that is part of a office complex and local park. It is about 80% empty. It is also right on a major harbor area where I fly over the water with no people around. There is a newly constructed outdoor area near the water with volleyball courts and concessions. This area is not yet open.

As I was flying (not near people) one person approached me (he must have been part of the new outdoor area) and said that I needed to land my drone immediately because this was a no fly zone and drones are prohibited. He also said something about an FAA license (referring to Part 107 for commercial pilots). Interesting that he knew that much. Lastly he talked about not wanting drones to take pictures of that area (there really is nothing to see).

I told him a few things. 1) That I am a hobbyist and don't need a 107 license. 2) That I am registered with the FAA and wanted to show my registration card (printed when I registered). 3) That the area that I was flying was not restricted in any way (wanted to show him Airmap, etc.). and 4) That I was within my rights to fly as I wasn't breaking any FAA guidelines.

Here is the problem. I wanted to have him call the police so they could explain all this to him. However, my problem was not where I was flying but where I was launching/landing and where I was parked. I thought that the parking lot was most likely private property and that while I was within my rights in terms of airspace, I was probably not within my rights to be using the parking lot as my base of operations (even if it was empty). The complicating factor is that the lot is shared by multiple business and even a public park, so I am not sure who has the right to restrict drone operations.

The reason this is important to me is that this is my go-to area to fly. I have used it, without incident, probably 50 times or more.

Any thoughts or comments?

keep flying and ignore the contr freaks

 

[xspwhite]

Some people are just out to spoil another person enjoying themselves and try to enforce authority that they don’t have. As unfortunate as this fact is as I’ve run into this situation myself, it’s a huge world out there with plenty of other places to fly. I was always afraid to get into some confrontation with someone that either escalates into at best an unpleasant to at worst a dangerous situation (people have gotten crazy these days). I also worry about a person coming up and having to interact with them while my aircraft may be in a precarious situation for whatever reason and having to divert attention from it to them. I try to only fly any of my aircraft where I’m extremely unlikely to encounter anyone unless I’m at my local AMA flying field. It’s really a shame that there a so many people out to ruin someone enjoying this fantastic hobby even when you are flying to the letter of the law responsibly.

So true.. if he would have been running his metal detector, the old geezer would have accused him of ripping up the grass. Some people just like to dip their nose in things and deliberately stir up trouble.

 

[DroneTrooper]

Another tactic that works, at least if the person will engage with you at some level of conversation, is to show them what you can and more importantly can’t see when flying. Then offer to take some footage and shots for them which many people think is really nice to have. I was flying in my neighborhood, lots of open space so not over people, and my neighbor came over, just being curious. I did some circular shots of his house, then we inspected his gutters, I now have a drone friend for life.

 

[Ranger]

Finding out who owns the launch area is important.

I use a hiking app (Gaia GPS w/membership) to have this info readily accessible. Membership allows me to use a map layer that shows property lines and often shows the owner's name. I recently flew from a narrow strip of land between two parcels of conservation land. The group that conserves the land doesn't allow drones, but the narrow strip between was town-owned and good to fly from.

Look online or contact city hall to see who the owner is. Might turn into lasting permission to fly there!

I have no connection to the app mentioned above. Just find it really useful!

 

[bob8755]

Thank you for this post.

I’m in my first week of learning to be a drone pilot. This is something that is high on my priority list. When I'm looking for a place to fly, I pass a lot of nice looking places because I worry about who will be offended and who might feel threatened and who might feel like I'm trespassing. I like the comment about finding the person who can grant permission regarding private property. But, I feel like being in the right doesn’t fully address the personal aspect of this dilemma.

This world has evolved to the point where everyone is touchy about their personal rights and the fact is that everyone seems to be more willing to use more extreme measures to defend their rights. By nature, I'm not confrontational. But I don’t want to be bullied by others or let them “tread on me” either.

I don’t want to get into a shouting match with a moron and I don’t want to be in violation in any of the myriad statutes that have been put in place to help everyone “get along”. I don’t want to have my new drone shot out of the sky by someone I can see or can’t see. And, I really don’t want to get physical trying to defend my own rights. As ridiculous as all this seems, I know that it could happen. I’ve seen far more horrific stuff on the nightly news.

As this hobby (or line of business) gains in popularity, I can see more people flying and there being more drones in the air in more places. I can see more pilots with less regard for others and all the potential problems and resultant regulations and restrictions.

 

[spamgnome]

Some people are just out to spoil another person enjoying themselves and try to enforce authority that they don’t have.

The OP did NOT have authorization to operate from private property.

 

[Ds67888]

Easier to get forgiveness than permission

 

[Thomas B]

Easier to get forgiveness than permission

Interesting vid, but.... What does your crash video have to do with getting permission... did your drone get “shot down”?

 

[theDRONEranger]

While the reply from PhantomFandom seems to be in line with your issue, you also mentioned the parking lot is used by visitors of a local park. If you could dig a little deeper perhaps and contact the legal owner of the parking lot, you may be able to secure written permission to fly from unoccupied areas. It might work. Let the owner know of your safety plan, intent, and general location of launch and recovery. Invite the owner, or rep, out for a look see of your operations. You can show first hand your flight skills and safety procedures. Bottomline: It does not hurt to ask!

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

The OP did NOT have authorization to operate from private property.

Well in one sentence the Op says the lot is private property. That’s followed by him saying that the lot is used for multiple purposes including a PUBLIC park. So it would seem to me that he’s not sure one way or the other and I’m quite sure that neither YOU or I know. I was merely making a statement about the nature of people these days not any one particular circumstance.