Hi All! Any other Mavic/DJI/drone in the Kalamazoo/SW Michigan area? Looking for any good tips on cool places or things to fly around and get some good shots.
Kalamazoo, MI - New Mavic Pilot
- Thread starter conorearly
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Lapeer20m
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Welcome
I'm just north of Detroit.
Michigan has a drone preemption law which prevents parks, cities, and other municipalities from regulating drones. This means you can fly anywhere the FAA allows without fear of violating some local ordinance.
allrightchill
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Praetorian
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Battle Creek here. Just drove to South Haven and looked for a spot north of town out of the 5 mile range. No luck finding a legal place to launch so the drone stayed in the case.
So far I've just flown outside the 5 mile range around Harper Creek high school and a little further south at Graham Lake.
My next try will be around Gull Lake...
How about you?
So far I've just flown outside the 5 mile range around Harper Creek high school and a little further south at Graham Lake.
My next try will be around Gull Lake...
How about you?
Lapeer20m
Well-Known Member
I just looked at the chart for south haven and don't see any controlled airspace.
What were you trying to keep 5 miles from?
Muskegon, south bend, or Kalamazoo appear to be the nearest controlled airspace to south haven if I'm reading the chart correctly.
Lapeer20m
Well-Known Member
The rings immediately around the blue dots represent controlled airspace at the surface.
Except that one in holland...I don't think that's controlled at the surface.
Palisades nuclear power plant might be the reason for the restricted airspace.
I might try and do Kindleberger Park tomorrow in Parchment. They have a nice water tower to shoot, plus a lot of industrial buildings just outside of town.
I might try and do Kindleberger Park tomorrow in Parchment. They have a nice water tower to shoot, plus a lot of industrial buildings just outside of town.
Mjonesy758
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I am from Bridgman I fly the beach a lot we have the cook nuclear plant and I have no restrictions
Praetorian
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South Haven Area Regional. I thought you had to contact the tower if you were within 5 miles of an airport. I wasn't aware if they had a control tower or not so I just decided to move on..
I'm in Parchment. Just got my Mavic a couple of days ago. It's all registered and I've got my Part 107 certificate so I'm ready to go. I'm also a part 91 pilot so I can help some with airspace questions etc.
conorearly you mentioned flying at Kindleberger. That's within the surface based Class E extension off of Kalamazoo's rwy 17/35 so technically you need ATC permission to fly there.
conorearly you mentioned flying at Kindleberger. That's within the surface based Class E extension off of Kalamazoo's rwy 17/35 so technically you need ATC permission to fly there.
Wasn't Mackinac Island trying to ban drones? I go up there a couple times a year. I haven't tried to fly there yet.
Praetorian
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How about a little local airspace lesson? This is the current sectional chart from our area.
The magenta "Fade" rings around the airports don't really indicate controlled airspace, they indicate the floor of the controlled Class E airspace above. Outside the OD of the ring the floor of the class E is 1200', inside the OD the floor is 700'. Since our upper limit is 400' we can legally fly inside those rings. If you do you need to be aware of airport traffic patterns and likely active runways and pay attention to aircraft activity.
If you look at Benton Harbor airport, it has a dashed magenta circle around it. This is class E "Surface based" controlled airspace, and you can't fly inside here without contacting ATC for permission/clearance. The same holds true for the dashed magenta Class E surface based approach/departure extensions you see north and south of Kalamazoo's airspace. (They're a little hard to see because of the information density) You'll also see that the dashed circle around Kalamazoo is blue. This indicates that it's Class D and you definitely can't fly in that area without contacting ATC. The grey rings around Kalamazoo indicate it's TRSA (terminal radar service area). It's shaped like an upside down wedding cake and because of it's altitude floors has no effect on our flying.
Essentially, we can fly in "Uncontrolled" (by the FAA/ATC) airspace minus any other restrictions like national/state parks, sports arenas, etc. The trick is to know which airspace is controlled. Class E is controlled airspace above 700' or 1200' depending on the magenta fade ring and to the surface in some cases as indicated.
Hope this helps. Critique, disagreement, and questions gladly accepted.
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Praetorian
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Very good information, thank you for taking the time to explain. So inside the magenta and blue rings atc needs notification, others like South Haven Regional you don't need to make contact if there are no magenta or blue dashed lines around correct?
Raptor63
Member
I fly my drone in the Sister Lakes Area, north of Dowagiac, due east from St. Joseph Benton Harbor Area...
Cslucas34
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I'm south of Detroit in Monroe area. If anyone wants to fly together sometime let me know. New pilot here, mavic pro.
Lapeer20m
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Use caution as most of downtown is in controlled airspace because of its proximity to city airport which is class d from 3,100 feet to the surface.
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