New airspace restriction ... and lesson learned

[81Saluki]

Thought some of you might get a chuckle out of this story. Hope I posted this in the right forum/discussion.

To start ... I live in central Iowa. On Monday, we had a storm roll through the state (several states, actually) that produced widespread damage in both towns and the country. I flew my Mavic Mini around my house in town after the storm to see if there was any major tree, power, etc damage. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet with minimal damage in our neighborhood. During the flight, however, I got an error saying some propellors were too fast or something like that. So I noted which ones they wanted me to replace and quit for the day.

Fast forward to today ... I replaced the props and went outside to do a check flight before I head up to the farm to check on our crops this weekend. I turned everything on and got an error saying something like “Restricted area, no takeoff allowed”. WHAT?? I just flew on Monday! So I went to the DJI Fly map area and, sure enough, my house was now in a restricted flight zone. I could have chewed nails!!

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.

I was finally able to fly at 18:45 local time when the restriction was lifted (and determined that my new props are good).

For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

 

[Peter B]

Thought some of you might get a chuckle out of this story. Hope I posted this in the right forum/discussion.

To start ... I live in central Iowa. On Monday, we had a storm roll through the state (several states, actually) that produced widespread damage in both towns and the country. I flew my Mavic Mini around my house in town after the storm to see if there was any major tree, power, etc damage. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet with minimal damage in our neighborhood. During the flight, however, I got an error saying some propellors were too fast or something like that. So I noted which ones they wanted me to replace and quit for the day.

Fast forward to today ... I replaced the props and went outside to do a check flight before I head up to the farm to check on our crops this weekend. I turned everything on and got an error saying something like “Restricted area, no takeoff allowed”. WHAT?? I just flew on Monday! So I went to the DJI Fly map area and, sure enough, my house was now in a restricted flight zone. I could have chewed nails!!

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.

I was finally able to fly at 18:45 local time when the restriction was lifted (and determined that my new props are good).

For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

It happens all the time if you live in the Palm Beach area.

 

[Ironace]

Try living in the Washington DC SFRA.... I am lucky that I am so far out that I almost straddle the line and I don't have to deal with to many TFR's

 

[Tentoes]

That's a surprise!

Glad the app knew about it!

 

[Tentoes]

My story, but way pre-drone:

Sept 11, 2001, My wife got home about 5:30 from work and shouted, "They've stopped all the tankers, get into town and fill up the gas can. It's the last gas you'll ever buy!

I thought, "Probably not that dire."

Anyhow, as I was headed into town, I saw a jetliner in the air. "Now, what are YOU doing up there? No planes are allowed to fly except Air Force 1."

When I got back home with 2 gallons of gas, I told my story. My wife said, "Oh, they just said he was heading for, Nebraska, I think." So we looked at a map, and yep, he'd have been passing just north of us.

 

[DanaMc]

Thought some of you might get a chuckle out of this story. Hope I posted this in the right forum/discussion.

To start ... I live in central Iowa. On Monday, we had a storm roll through the state (several states, actually) that produced widespread damage in both towns and the country. I flew my Mavic Mini around my house in town after the storm to see if there was any major tree, power, etc damage. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet with minimal damage in our neighborhood. During the flight, however, I got an error saying some propellors were too fast or something like that. So I noted which ones they wanted me to replace and quit for the day.

Fast forward to today ... I replaced the props and went outside to do a check flight before I head up to the farm to check on our crops this weekend. I turned everything on and got an error saying something like “Restricted area, no takeoff allowed”. WHAT?? I just flew on Monday! So I went to the DJI Fly map area and, sure enough, my house was now in a restricted flight zone. I could have chewed nails!!

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.

I was finally able to fly at 18:45 local time when the restriction was lifted (and determined that my new props are good).

For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

I had a similar experience when Trump came to town. I’m 25 miles from the airport and the same from his venue. My restriction was in place for 3 days prior and 3 days after. And I was trying to fly in my backyard.

 

[rpreuss]

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.


For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

I don't think it is funny at all. I live 30 miles from Donald Frump's Bedminster Golf Course in North Jersey. Almost every Friday - Sunday the entire northern half of New Jersey, parts of eastern PA, and New York are "FORBIDDEN" because POTUS is in town. Bright red circles for the golf course, Morristown Airport, Teterboro. And this applies to all private recreational pilots and they aren't happy. We just learned to live with it for the last 4 years.

Enjoy flying. I'm grounded from 2:45 this afternoon until Sunday after 6:30pm. 12 notifications on B4UFLY.

 

[Bxr532001]

Thought some of you might get a chuckle out of this story. Hope I posted this in the right forum/discussion.

To start ... I live in central Iowa. On Monday, we had a storm roll through the state (several states, actually) that produced widespread damage in both towns and the country. I flew my Mavic Mini around my house in town after the storm to see if there was any major tree, power, etc damage. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet with minimal damage in our neighborhood. During the flight, however, I got an error saying some propellors were too fast or something like that. So I noted which ones they wanted me to replace and quit for the day.

Fast forward to today ... I replaced the props and went outside to do a check flight before I head up to the farm to check on our crops this weekend. I turned everything on and got an error saying something like “Restricted area, no takeoff allowed”. WHAT?? I just flew on Monday! So I went to the DJI Fly map area and, sure enough, my house was now in a restricted flight zone. I could have chewed nails!!

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.

I was finally able to fly at 18:45 local time when the restriction was lifted (and determined that my new props are good).

For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

I had a similar incident when POTUS was in town for the Christmas holiday. The first time I tried to take off, my bird would not start. There was a TFR in place that I wasn't aware of. Thinking he had left town, I tried to fly a second time, but again it would not start. I learned after a little research I could expect a no fly zone with a 30 mile radius when The President was in town.

 

[GrafXXX]

Welcome to life in NJ, it starts typically friday evening on any weekends he mentions golf, NJ or Bedminster. had many weekends this summer that were restricted, for anyone around NJ the red circle typically extends from Bedminster south east past Middletown

 

[hchen]

Thanks all for your wonderful and useful stories! It is nice to know that DJI is able to keep the restriction information updated in real time.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Thought some of you might get a chuckle out of this story. Hope I posted this in the right forum/discussion.

To start ... I live in central Iowa. On Monday, we had a storm roll through the state (several states, actually) that produced widespread damage in both towns and the country. I flew my Mavic Mini around my house in town after the storm to see if there was any major tree, power, etc damage. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet with minimal damage in our neighborhood. During the flight, however, I got an error saying some propellors were too fast or something like that. So I noted which ones they wanted me to replace and quit for the day.

Fast forward to today ... I replaced the props and went outside to do a check flight before I head up to the farm to check on our crops this weekend. I turned everything on and got an error saying something like “Restricted area, no takeoff allowed”. WHAT?? I just flew on Monday! So I went to the DJI Fly map area and, sure enough, my house was now in a restricted flight zone. I could have chewed nails!!

So I shut things down and came back inside and started researching what was going on. Learned that you can get temporary authorization from the FAA to fly in certain restricted areas for a limited time. Good grief. But OK, I’ll do it. I downloaded the KittyHawk app, created an account, and started the process for temporary, realtime approval from the FAA to fly around my house. While doing that, I noticed something in the description of the new restricted area … "PRESIDENTIAL”. Huh??

Turns out that VP Pence was in town today for a couple of campaign speeches. ARGGG! Guess that will teach me to pay attention to the morning news, eh?! To make this even more interesting, I made a quick dash to the grocery store this morning to get some sweet corn. While out, I noticed a jet flying lower and slower than usual in the area. It struck me as odd, but not too much. My guess is that was Air Force 2 with Pence aboard! And hence the airspace restrictions.

I was finally able to fly at 18:45 local time when the restriction was lifted (and determined that my new props are good).

For those of you who are experienced, hope you got a chuckle from this story. For newbies who happen to read this, hope you learned something like I did.

Best wishes to y'all and fly safe!
81Saluki

I'm retired FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Supervisor and TFR's are very common. Presidential TFR's are strictly adhered to. There have been many times where the fighters, (yes, there are fighters airborne during presidential movements) were scrambled on general aviation aircraft for approaching and getting to close to the TFR. Plus there's a TFR that moves as the presidential motorcade moves from Air Force 1 to wherever he may be going. Same for Air Force 2 but the TFR's aren't as large. I know it is a long shot, but if someone was spotted flying a drone inside a VIP TFR that person may be visited by some folks driving black SUV's. Working with the Secret Service several times they are a great bunch of guys with a good sense of humor, but when duty calls they are strictly business. Happy and safe flying!