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Gsparker

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Nov 17, 2017
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Not sure if I am looking for encouragement, empathy, advice, snark, or just vent. Ha ha. I have been flying for about 6 months, been improving my skills as a pilot, and find flying engaging, relaxing, and just plain fun. The challenge is where to fly. Full disclosure: I am trying not to go rogue because I don't want to give ammunition to those that are not happy with drones.

I see people in this forum talk about just getting out and letting the Mav stretch its legs whimsically, but it seems like NFZ on the Mav and airports are child's play. Okay. So I'll go flying in a national forest, thankfully not a National Park. But then I have to check if it is a Wilderness area, as established by Congress. Well, I'll keep it local. Okay, I fly in the Phoenix area, and I already researched that Class B airspace is a complete no go, based off of Sky Harbor's drone site. Authorization will not be granted by them or the FAA. So I find a nice park with a beautiful mountain. Oh, I just learned from a ranger that I cannot fly in a city park. Well, not knowing the regulation that she is talking about I won the moral victory that I cannot TAKE OFF or LAND in a city park. Ha ha. So, I stroke a few Google terms and finally found the reg she was mentioning. So I will apparently need to find a good point outside of parks to safely take off and land.

So at this point I am getting stressed to fly because it feels like I have to check my Mav, Google the **** out of local regs, study VFR maps, look at B4UFly, double check with KittyHawk, maybe reference Hover, and still keep my fingers crossed. Am I the only one? How does everyone efficiently find interesting places to fly with so many local, state, Federal, and FAA laws/regulations out there?
 
I do have to research the area where I intend to fly as well. Its just prudent to know as much about the area as possible. Every once in a while I get it wrong and fly in an area that I should not be flying in. Usually its state park related.
Its going to happen if you fly often. Dont stress too much.

I encounter rangers from time to time and they educate rather than cite me. Out of all of the FAA issues reported that are related to drones flying in areas they shouldnt be the vast majority are handled as learning moments with the drone flyer being educated on what they did wrong.

The FAA promotes itself in this regard as not being citation hungry.

Does this mean that one can just flagrantly disregard the rules and regulations. Heck No. One should always take steps to learn about thier proposed flight spot. What it does mean is that one will more than likely just be told to move along and why they should move along. Im fine with that if I am actually flying in a spot I shouldn't.

What irks me is all the know it all public nannies that storm up and say "You know you cant fly that drone here" I always ask them what law or statute they are quoting as I would like to research it. (as I pull my field notes notebook out of my back pocket) I then I ask for thier contact information so we can have an open discussion about it in the future.

The truth is they are there to harass you under the thinly veiled profession that they want to keep everyone and everything safe. They dont really want to have an open discussion and possibly learn something new.

They typically scurry off after a few moments.
 
I do have to research the area where I intend to fly as well. Its just prudent to know as much about the area as possible. Every once in a while I get it wrong and fly in an area that I should not be flying in. Usually its state park related.
Its going to happen if you fly often. Dont stress too much.

I encounter rangers from time to time and they educate rather than cite me. Out of all of the FAA issues reported that are related to drones flying in areas they shouldnt be the vast majority are handled as learning moments with the drone flyer being educated on what they did wrong.

The FAA promotes itself in this regard as not being citation hungry.

Does this mean that one can just flagrantly disregard the rules and regulations. Heck No. One should always take steps to learn about thier proposed flight spot. What it does mean is that one will more than likely just be told to move along and why they should move along. Im fine with that if I am actually flying in a spot I shouldn't.

What irks me is all the know it all public nannies that storm up and say "You know you cant fly that drone here" I always ask them what law or statute they are quoting as I would like to research it. (as I pull my field notes notebook out of my back pocket) I then I ask for thier contact information so we can have an open discussion about it in the future.

The truth is they are there to harass you under the thinly veiled profession that they want to keep everyone and everything safe. They dont really want to have an open discussion and possibly learn something new.

They typically scurry off after a few moments.
Thanks you for the thoughtful response. I get unnecessarily stressed because I want to play by the rules and be a positive force. That being said, I need to take a breath and be forgiving of myself and others. :)
 
Usually the worst thing that will happen is you will get a stern warning. If you cant brave that then might as well sell the Mavic to someone who can.
 
Not sure if I am looking for encouragement, empathy, advice, snark, or just vent. Ha ha. I have been flying for about 6 months, been improving my skills as a pilot, and find flying engaging, relaxing, and just plain fun. The challenge is where to fly. Full disclosure: I am trying not to go rogue because I don't want to give ammunition to those that are not happy with drones.

I see people in this forum talk about just getting out and letting the Mav stretch its legs whimsically, but it seems like NFZ on the Mav and airports are child's play. Okay. So I'll go flying in a national forest, thankfully not a National Park. But then I have to check if it is a Wilderness area, as established by Congress. Well, I'll keep it local. Okay, I fly in the Phoenix area, and I already researched that Class B airspace is a complete no go, based off of Sky Harbor's drone site. Authorization will not be granted by them or the FAA. So I find a nice park with a beautiful mountain. Oh, I just learned from a ranger that I cannot fly in a city park. Well, not knowing the regulation that she is talking about I won the moral victory that I cannot TAKE OFF or LAND in a city park. Ha ha. So, I stroke a few Google terms and finally found the reg she was mentioning. So I will apparently need to find a good point outside of parks to safely take off and land.

So at this point I am getting stressed to fly because it feels like I have to check my Mav, Google the **** out of local regs, study VFR maps, look at B4UFly, double check with KittyHawk, maybe reference Hover, and still keep my fingers crossed. Am I the only one? How does everyone efficiently find interesting places to fly with so many local, state, Federal, and FAA laws/regulations out there?

Been flying my MP about 6 months just north of Prescott. And yes, there are a bunch of rules and regs out there that take the spontaneity out of flying. Plus I've had a run-in with a few neighbors who whine about "privacy" and "scaring the horses." I've had a few promise to shoot my drone out of the sky if they can. I've checked with the local police - there are no privacy laws referencing how high you can fly over people's homes. If I am flying in my neighborhood, I try to follow the roads & stay about 100' over houses. I've flown at 100' over many places with horses & none have been excited about my drone. Once you educate most of the people that you are FAA registered & must follow all the rules, they tend to back off because they don't know what they are bitching about.
 
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