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

Good places to fly around St Louis, Missouri?

ash2020

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2018
Messages
77
Reactions
19
Age
72
Hi all, I'm travelling to the U.S. from the UK and staying in St Louis for a week. I'm wondering whether to take my Mavic 2 with me or take the easy option and leave it at home. I understand you have to register with the FAA and that you have to take it in your cabin bag. Are there any other vital pieces of information that I need to know, other than general safety rules, which appear to be very similar to the UK.

If I do take it, any recommendations where to fly? I guess built up areas are a no no, despite all the amazing footage on youtube, which is clearly illegal.

Thanks for any advice.
Andy
 
Hi all, I'm travelling to the U.S. from the UK and staying in St Louis for a week. I'm wondering whether to take my Mavic 2 with me or take the easy option and leave it at home. I understand you have to register with the FAA and that you have to take it in your cabin bag. Are there any other vital pieces of information that I need to know, other than general safety rules, which appear to be very similar to the UK.

If I do take it, any recommendations where to fly? I guess built up areas are a no no, despite all the amazing footage on youtube, which is clearly illegal.

Thanks for any advice.
Andy

Hey Andy I’m originally from St. Louis and still go back a lot since my family is there.

It depends on where you will be staying and how far you are willing to go to fly. The place that makes the most sense I think would be Forest Park. It’s a big Park with plenty of room to fly and is not in any restricted airspace.

You aren’t gonna find much in terms of landscape but there are good city scapes. You’ll just have to be aware when there’s a Cardinals baseball game in town because that will reduce where you can fly in the city. There’s a 3 mile radius no fly zone in effect starting 1 hour before till one hour after baseball games
 
Just be aware there is Scott Air Force Base and the St. Louis Downtown Airport on the Illinois side of the river, Lambert Airport to the north side of the city, and the Arch is a national park, which is a no-no.

8b245cf7ede4bf025a5ef9ebd525d302.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Supermartio
Just be aware there is Scott Air Force Base and the St. Louis Downtown Airport on the Illinois side of the river, Lambert Airport to the north side of the city, and the Arch is a national park, which is a no-no.

8b245cf7ede4bf025a5ef9ebd525d302.jpg
Is the Arch really a National Park? I never knew that. Must be the smallest National Park in the country. Anyway you just can’t fly directly over it
 
Actually, quite a bit of the ground around the Arch is national park, including, I believe, some of the land on the Illinois side of the river.
 
Hey Andy I’m originally from St. Louis and still go back a lot since my family is there.

It depends on where you will be staying and how far you are willing to go to fly. The place that makes the most sense I think would be Forest Park. It’s a big Park with plenty of room to fly and is not in any restricted airspace.

You aren’t gonna find much in terms of landscape but there are good city scapes. You’ll just have to be aware when there’s a Cardinals baseball game in town because that will reduce where you can fly in the city. There’s a 3 mile radius no fly zone in effect starting 1 hour before till one hour after baseball games

Thanks brett, some great information there. I guess its cityscapes I'm after, we've got all the landscapes here in Scotland :). I'm just very nervous about flying anywhere near people or cities! We're staying at Fenton and, although my wife will be pretty immobile after having surgery, I think I need to hire a car and get out and about a bit. Thanks for the info about the baseball game, that's the sort of thing I wouldn't have thought of, and I guessed that the arch would be a no go, otherwise you wouldn't be able to move for drone pilots!
Thanks again.
 
Just be aware there is Scott Air Force Base and the St. Louis Downtown Airport on the Illinois side of the river, Lambert Airport to the north side of the city, and the Arch is a national park, which is a no-no.

8b245cf7ede4bf025a5ef9ebd525d302.jpg
Thanks Mr Salty. That's fantastic. Providing I stay away from the no fly areas are people pretty relaxed about drones or is there a lot of paranoia and hatred out there?
 
Hey Andy I’m originally from St. Louis and still go back a lot since my family is there.

It depends on where you will be staying and how far you are willing to go to fly. The place that makes the most sense I think would be Forest Park. It’s a big Park with plenty of room to fly and is not in any restricted airspace.

You aren’t gonna find much in terms of landscape but there are good city scapes. You’ll just have to be aware when there’s a Cardinals baseball game in town because that will reduce where you can fly in the city. There’s a 3 mile radius no fly zone in effect starting 1 hour before till one hour after baseball games
Hey Brett,
We have a choice of two hotels, one is La Quinta at Westport and the other is Drury Inn at Fenton. Which would you say was the nicer area to stay?
 
Thanks. That's good to know. We may even go for Creve Couer as its much nearer to Mercy Hospital, where we're going.

That’s where I was born! Small world eh?

That’s basically where I grew up, in Town and Country which is right next to Creve Couer. Nice area, clean, and safe. A little on the bland side but good if that’s closer to where you will be.

I fly my drone around there all the time. I don’t think most people even notice. Not exactly a ton to see out there in the suburbs but you could take it further into the city and get some cool shots.
 
Hey, what a coincidence. I like the "safe" word! We'll probably hire a car for a few days and will see some different areas. Thanks again for your advice.
 
Hey, what a coincidence. I like the "safe" word! We'll probably hire a car for a few days and will see some different areas. Thanks again for your advice.

Np and yea the safe part can’t be said for all parts of St. Louis and I’m sure that’s not something you are use to in Scotland. Just be aware of it and your driver will be able to help you stay away from those parts. You are far from those places in Creve Coure so nothing to worry about out there
 
I saw this on Saturday but didn't have time to respond. Anyway, Westport is closer to Mercy than Fenton but not by much. Both areas are classic American suburbia. As far as where to fly, downtown may be prohibitive with the Arch grounds off-limits and the possibility of baseball but there's still other downtown areas: Soulard (Anheuser-Busch is there), Central West End, SLU campus, amongst others. The Arch may still be a possibility if you launched off of park grounds and stayed over the Mississippi River. As mentioned, Forest Park is one of the largest city parks in the country. It's actually larger than Central Park in NY. It's on the western edge of the city but you can still get nice vistas of downtown. There's a beautiful Mormon temple five minutes from Mercy Hospital. There's only 200 or so of those in the world. Non-Mormons can't access the grounds directly but plenty of places around it to launch from. Laumeier Sculpture Park (https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org) is closer to Fenton but only five or six miles from Westport. As the name suggests, it's a park with a lot of sculptures in it. Castlewood State Park is nearby (8 miles) with beautiful vistas of the Meramec River. St. Charles, MO is five miles from Westport, along the Missouri River with an old town area that would be cool to fly around. Thirty miles west of Mercy is Missouri wine country with a lot of beautiful vistas of the Missouri River and the wineries along them. There're other places, these are just a few I've thought of. BTW, I'm in St. Louis, actually in Town & Country like Brett (was). If you have any questions, let me know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrScooter
I saw this on Saturday but didn't have time to respond. Anyway, Westport is closer to Mercy than Fenton but not by much. Both areas are classic American suburbia. As far as where to fly, downtown may be prohibitive with the Arch grounds off-limits and the possibility of baseball but there's still other downtown areas: Soulard (Anheuser-Busch is there), Central West End, SLU campus, amongst others. The Arch may still be a possibility if you launched off of park grounds and stayed over the Mississippi River. As mentioned, Forest Park is one of the largest city parks in the country. It's actually larger than Central Park in NY. It's on the western edge of the city but you can still get nice vistas of downtown. There's a beautiful Mormon temple five minutes from Mercy Hospital. There's only 200 or so of those in the world. Non-Mormons can't access the grounds directly but plenty of places around it to launch from. Laumeier Sculpture Park (https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org) is closer to Fenton but only five or six miles from Westport. As the name suggests, it's a park with a lot of sculptures in it. Castlewood State Park is nearby (8 miles) with beautiful vistas of the Meramec River. St. Charles, MO is five miles from Westport, along the Missouri River with an old town area that would be cool to fly around. Thirty miles west of Mercy is Missouri wine country with a lot of beautiful vistas of the Missouri River and the wineries along them. There're other places, these are just a few I've thought of. BTW, I'm in St. Louis, actually in Town & Country like Brett (was). If you have any questions, let me know.
Oh Laumeier is a great suggestion! Why didn't I think of that/done that myself!
 
I saw this on Saturday but didn't have time to respond. Anyway, Westport is closer to Mercy than Fenton but not by much. Both areas are classic American suburbia. As far as where to fly, downtown may be prohibitive with the Arch grounds off-limits and the possibility of baseball but there's still other downtown areas: Soulard (Anheuser-Busch is there), Central West End, SLU campus, amongst others. The Arch may still be a possibility if you launched off of park grounds and stayed over the Mississippi River. As mentioned, Forest Park is one of the largest city parks in the country. It's actually larger than Central Park in NY. It's on the western edge of the city but you can still get nice vistas of downtown. There's a beautiful Mormon temple five minutes from Mercy Hospital. There's only 200 or so of those in the world. Non-Mormons can't access the grounds directly but plenty of places around it to launch from. Laumeier Sculpture Park (https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org) is closer to Fenton but only five or six miles from Westport. As the name suggests, it's a park with a lot of sculptures in it. Castlewood State Park is nearby (8 miles) with beautiful vistas of the Meramec River. St. Charles, MO is five miles from Westport, along the Missouri River with an old town area that would be cool to fly around. Thirty miles west of Mercy is Missouri wine country with a lot of beautiful vistas of the Missouri River and the wineries along them. There're other places, these are just a few I've thought of. BTW, I'm in St. Louis, actually in Town & Country like Brett (was). If you have any questions, let me know.

Hey Thanks Paul.
Sorry, I couldn't respond during our journey and I've only just managed to get stable WiFi in the hotel. We're in St Louis now.
Thanks so much for all your suggestions, I'm going to check some of them out, although we haven't got a hire car, we're doing everything by Uber.
My wife's having surgery tomorrow and will have a week of recuperation in the hotel, so I'm hoping to get out a bit when the hotel room walls get too overpowering.
Am I going to be OK flying near roads, buildings etc. as long as I stay away from airports and NFZs?
I'll try Forest Park.
Thanks again
Andrew
 
Flying shouldn't be a problem in most areas. I haven't been flying long but fortunately I haven't come across any crazies complaining about the noise, their privacy, etc. BTW, I have the craziest neighbor on the planet and he either hasn't noticed me flying or doesn't care. The airports are in areas where there really isn't much to "see" so you should be good. Hope your wife does well and you enjoy our city. Make sure you get a chance to try some of our amazing restaurants. If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,600
Messages
1,554,278
Members
159,607
Latest member
Schmidteh121