DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Flying near airports

Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
14
Reactions
8
Age
33
Location
Syracuse, NY
So heres my quick story:

I am in Albuquerque for work and wanted to throw my Mavic 2 Pro about 30-40 feet into the sky to get a nice view of the mountains. This is about two miles from the airport so I had to go through the unlocking procedure. I was amazed at how secure DJI has NFZ's. I did have permission for this (though it was really not necessary given my altitude) so I'm wondering... has anyone else flown close to an airport and what has your experience been? I was extremely nervous despite the fact that I knew that it would be impossible to hit anything at my altitude. It was more the fear of an NFZ and that I've never been in Class C airspace before. It was necessary given that I didn't feel like driving anywhere after my flight, but it isn't something I'd enjoy doing often. Also, has anyone ever received permission to fly near a runway where you're able to get footage of planes taking off? I've never tried, but I'd be interested in doing so if they'd allow it. Any thoughts on this are appreciated!
 
Personally, I can't find any reason to fly anywhere near any working airport. Just too much risk, no matter what altitude. I would rather just get in my truck and drive to where I can fly without being anywhere a working flight path, especially in a large city.

Just me.

Paul C
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mavic Air Head
Personally, I can't find any reason to fly anywhere near any working airport. Just too much risk, no matter what altitude. I would rather just get in my truck and drive to where I can fly without being anywhere a working flight path, especially in a large city.

Just me.

Paul C
Unfortunately not all of us have the same options you do
 
My take-off point of my main practice area is just inside (< a mile) the NFZs of Chandler Regional and Chandler Municipal. Through the FAA DroneZone I have been able, first to get a 1 month clearance using the standard online form, and second, when I filled out to renew it I was contacted and offered the ability to fly in this 4 square mile area for 6 months.
 
My take-off point of my main practice area is just inside (< a mile) the NFZs of Chandler Regional and Chandler Municipal. Through the FAA DroneZone I have been able, first to get a 1 month clearance using the standard online form, and second, when I filled out to renew it I was contacted and offered the ability to fly in this 4 square mile area for 6 months.
Thank you!
 
So heres my quick story:

I am in Albuquerque for work and wanted to throw my Mavic 2 Pro about 30-40 feet into the sky to get a nice view of the mountains. This is about two miles from the airport so I had to go through the unlocking procedure. I was amazed at how secure DJI has NFZ's. I did have permission for this (though it was really not necessary given my altitude) so I'm wondering... has anyone else flown close to an airport and what has your experience been? I was extremely nervous despite the fact that I knew that it would be impossible to hit anything at my altitude. It was more the fear of an NFZ and that I've never been in Class C airspace before. It was necessary given that I didn't feel like driving anywhere after my flight, but it isn't something I'd enjoy doing often. Also, has anyone ever received permission to fly near a runway where you're able to get footage of planes taking off? I've never tried, but I'd be interested in doing so if they'd allow it. Any thoughts on this are appreciated!

It's not completely clear from your post, but did you actually get a required FAA clearance via a LAANC provider such as AirMap or Kittyhawk? Regardless of what altitude you need to have either a LAANC (or alternatively DroneZone) authorization to fly in controlled airspace these days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gindra and BigAl07
I'm also in Albuquerque, but on the other side of the river. My property line is 0.04 miles from the zone around Double Eagle airport. There are plenty of places you can go to get the view you wanted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mavic Air Head
So heres my quick story:

I am in Albuquerque for work and wanted to throw my Mavic 2 Pro about 30-40 feet into the sky to get a nice view of the mountains. This is about two miles from the airport so I had to go through the unlocking procedure. I was amazed at how secure DJI has NFZ's. I did have permission for this (though it was really not necessary given my altitude) so I'm wondering... has anyone else flown close to an airport and what has your experience been? I was extremely nervous despite the fact that I knew that it would be impossible to hit anything at my altitude. It was more the fear of an NFZ and that I've never been in Class C airspace before. It was necessary given that I didn't feel like driving anywhere after my flight, but it isn't something I'd enjoy doing often. Also, has anyone ever received permission to fly near a runway where you're able to get footage of planes taking off? I've never tried, but I'd be interested in doing so if they'd allow it. Any thoughts on this are appreciated!

The area within a 5 mile radius of the airport is controlled airspace down to the surface so even to fly at 3 feet you technically need authorization.
 
I'm also in Albuquerque, but on the other side of the river. My property line is 0.04 miles from the zone around Double Eagle airport. There are plenty of places you can go to get the view you wanted.
Wow you aren't far from where I am at all! I would have gone out, but I had a long day with my flight so I didn't feel like it. Any suggestions on where to explore without breaking laws? I'm mainly looking for good desert and mountain footage.
 
Until recently (LAANC) I had to call the tower at the airport near me every time I flew. I am within the 5 mile radius, and there is actually some sort of "barrier" which the drone would not go through, but rather skim along it instead unless I also got the DJI app to release me (clicking the buttons that I understand, entering phone number, checking okay, etc). The LAANC seems to be taking over that, and I don't have to call them anymore. I felt bad too for the tower folks who had to field these calls from drone operators, verify your info, pay attention to the flights in progress, and so on. I'm sure they are happy not to have to take the calls anymore. Its not a super large metro airport, but it is used by some commercial, private, and the local Air National Guard. I rarely went very high up, and never in the path of any runway (there are way out of my range anyway). Not worth it, I just wanted to fly around where I live, and take video of the waterways and boats. Anyway, I never had any bad or negative issues with the whole situation other than when the app would not let me fly for unknown reasons.
 
I live inside Class C KCOS by approximately 1 mile. I fly, low level, test flights in 2 different parks nearby the house. My altitudes are always restricted to 50 and 75 feet. Anything higher and it is nearly impossible to get LAANC approval via AIRMAP. I still must go the usual route with DJI Unlock regardless! The parks are handy for prep purposes.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,583
Messages
1,554,086
Members
159,587
Latest member
Bigbrute