They may be in on the same briefings as AOPA.
Here's a helpful set of pages for hobbiest drone pilots:
Best Practices for Flying your Drone within Five Miles of an Airport - AOPA
and more to what you were asked
The airport manager or employee will likely be interested in the following information:
- Where you will be operating (address or latitude/longitude)
- The altitudes at which you will be flying (below 400 feet above ground level)
- What type of flying activity you will be doing
- The number of aircraft and a basic description of the aircraft
- When you will be flying and for how long
- Your name and a method of contacting you such as a cell phone number or radio frequency
I can understand notifying a control tower, since they have control over their airspace - 5 miles up to 3000’, and can communicate with pilots about UAV traffic that may affect them. Absent an entity that communicates with pilots, it’s not clear how the owner of the “blacktop” would use the notification of the sUAV operation.
Unfortunately, most private airports/heliports are unattended. In my experience, calling the number in the FAA registry for these facilities usually goes to voicemail, and you don’t get a callback. If somebody does answer, they usually have no idea of what to do with the information you’re giving them.
A few days ago, I called the number for a hospital helipad several times and the call went to VM each time. I left a message including my cell number…but nobody called back. I called the main switchboard and they had no idea where to refer me, so they passed me to Security, who didn’t know either. I gave them the name of the person on the FAA registry, and they said he was in facilities, so I got transferred there. The man who answered there wasn’t very helpful either, but at least, assured me he’d make sure I got the callback - he told me they only do things like cleaning the snow from the helipad. No call back yet, but I’m not holding my breath.
Another helipad call got a quick return, but not from the person the FAA had listed. That person, for whom I left the VM, had one of their pilots, who was also 107 certified, call me; he knew exactly what I was talking about, and only asked where I flew from. When I told him, he said that at that distance they were well above 400’. He basically said there was no issue unless I was right near the pad, and that I wouldn’t have to call each time. He said if they saw me, they’d go around, and if I saw them, I should just land. Pleasant conversation, problem solved. If only it was so easy everywhere.
Does anybody know if there’s any effort going on to change the 5 mile rule? How about eliminating it for private facilities and/or or those without any control tower or other means to let pilots know where you’re at? Or maybe reducing the distance to 1 mile, if you’d stay below say 200’. The way it is now, I end up calling a lot of people who have no idea what to do with that info, or just seem annoyed by my call. I’m all for safety, but I think putting a high powered strobe (Firehouse 4 LED) on my
MA will make far more difference than a phone call to someone not in a position to notify actual pilots.