Hi all,
New Mavic Air 2 pilot here. Wonderful piece of technology. I'm Hobbyist FAA registered, just getting that out of the way first.
I wanted to take my first flight at a large city park yesterday, so beforehand I checked the city and parks department websites, B4UFLY, as well as just some google reading, to make sure there weren't any restrictions in that spot, and found nothing holding me back. I took two 6-ish minute flights. When I was reviewing my footage later, as I landed at the end of flight 2, there was a city parks department truck parked a ways behind me, in a way that looked like he may have been watching me. On the other hand, it was lunch time, so I figured maybe he was just taking his lunch, as there were a few other cars in the lot apparently doing the same. Now, like I said, I didn't notice this until afterwards on the video, they never approached me or anything. Today I flew at a different large city park, and whaddya know, at the end of my flight, I see another parks department truck parked behind me, again like they were watching me, but no contact. Whatever, I had to get back to work, but as I left, he followed me out of the park until I had gotten back on the street.
Now, the basic info on these flights are, I believe I followed all the rules. Class G airspace, in both cases there were very few people in the park period, and I was definitely maintaining a safe distance from them, proper altitude, within visual distance of myself, etc. I did take off and land from the parking lot, but in fact, I actually took off and landed on the hard tonneau of my truck on day 1, and then proceeded directly over a frozen pond, not having to cross over any other cars, even though they were parked and either empty or drivers just sitting inside (it's cold here), and by coincidence, same thing today, parked near a pond and then took off and flew over it. When I landed, someone had parked next to me, so I landed on the other side of my truck, and there were additional open spaces past that.
So, having a funny feeling in my gut, I called the parks department to inquire, and got redirected to city hall. When I asked the rep if drones are allowed in city parks, he stated that they are not, and this is the part that really makes me question it - he said drones aren't allowed because FAA regulations state that drones can't be flown inside the limits of any city because they are a highly populated area, and also because FAA regulations prohibit flying in public parks.
Now, being a new pilot, I don't know the rules inside and out, but the pre-flight, and now post-flight, research I've done don't agree with this. I see no such language from the FAA. Additionally, I live in Michigan, and the law states that municipalities cannot create their own regulations on UAS use, pilots are only required to follow FAA guidelines.
So, my first question is, am I out of line legally, or are they either uninformed, or just trying to intimidate pilots out of flying?
And, second question, what should I do if I have the right to fly in these areas? I would prefer not to stir up a hornet's nest if they're going to watch me all the time and try to report me to the FAA for some technicality, but also wonder if I should just contact them directly and inform them of the law and see what they say. That is, if I'm even correct about it.
TIA!
New Mavic Air 2 pilot here. Wonderful piece of technology. I'm Hobbyist FAA registered, just getting that out of the way first.
I wanted to take my first flight at a large city park yesterday, so beforehand I checked the city and parks department websites, B4UFLY, as well as just some google reading, to make sure there weren't any restrictions in that spot, and found nothing holding me back. I took two 6-ish minute flights. When I was reviewing my footage later, as I landed at the end of flight 2, there was a city parks department truck parked a ways behind me, in a way that looked like he may have been watching me. On the other hand, it was lunch time, so I figured maybe he was just taking his lunch, as there were a few other cars in the lot apparently doing the same. Now, like I said, I didn't notice this until afterwards on the video, they never approached me or anything. Today I flew at a different large city park, and whaddya know, at the end of my flight, I see another parks department truck parked behind me, again like they were watching me, but no contact. Whatever, I had to get back to work, but as I left, he followed me out of the park until I had gotten back on the street.
Now, the basic info on these flights are, I believe I followed all the rules. Class G airspace, in both cases there were very few people in the park period, and I was definitely maintaining a safe distance from them, proper altitude, within visual distance of myself, etc. I did take off and land from the parking lot, but in fact, I actually took off and landed on the hard tonneau of my truck on day 1, and then proceeded directly over a frozen pond, not having to cross over any other cars, even though they were parked and either empty or drivers just sitting inside (it's cold here), and by coincidence, same thing today, parked near a pond and then took off and flew over it. When I landed, someone had parked next to me, so I landed on the other side of my truck, and there were additional open spaces past that.
So, having a funny feeling in my gut, I called the parks department to inquire, and got redirected to city hall. When I asked the rep if drones are allowed in city parks, he stated that they are not, and this is the part that really makes me question it - he said drones aren't allowed because FAA regulations state that drones can't be flown inside the limits of any city because they are a highly populated area, and also because FAA regulations prohibit flying in public parks.
Now, being a new pilot, I don't know the rules inside and out, but the pre-flight, and now post-flight, research I've done don't agree with this. I see no such language from the FAA. Additionally, I live in Michigan, and the law states that municipalities cannot create their own regulations on UAS use, pilots are only required to follow FAA guidelines.
So, my first question is, am I out of line legally, or are they either uninformed, or just trying to intimidate pilots out of flying?
And, second question, what should I do if I have the right to fly in these areas? I would prefer not to stir up a hornet's nest if they're going to watch me all the time and try to report me to the FAA for some technicality, but also wonder if I should just contact them directly and inform them of the law and see what they say. That is, if I'm even correct about it.
TIA!
