New pilot in Fort Collins looking for legal, safe places to practice

[kanjigirl]

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

 

[db4476]

There are 2 state parks you can fly in...
Cherry Creek State Park
Chatfield State Park, which has designated model airfields

As for Fort Collins city park under 500’, the city has no jurisdiction over airspace. Only the FAA has jurisdiction of airspace. Ordinances like this have been challenged in court and the city lost.
Read about it here: Singer vs City of Newton

Here's a good place to start for drones in Colorado, they seem to be up-to-date, but do your own due diligence: Colorado Drone Laws

HTH.

Cheers!

 

[MavicFlyer2]

Hello from Minnesota and welcome to the Forum...Congratulations on your new Mini 2...There's a lot of good quality teaching/feedback going on in here. Just ask, and the experts are great on providing good sound advice for you to apply and use... Remember to always Fly safe and always Fly smart...VLOS always.

 

[IsItFlyDayYet]

As far as I've read/heard, if you have approval to fly in the airspace (LAANC), you're fine to have your drone FLYING in that airspace. Follow all the usual part 107 rules, obviously.

LAUNCHING and LANDING are things that can be prohibited in certain areas. The wording of these kinds of restrictions is changing because of some legal things that happened (recently?). This on it's own will limit a lot of the things that they're trying to keep under control, like recreational drone pilots buzzing protected birds and other animals who are a vital part of our ecosystems. Not to mention lowering the risk of crashed drones causing fires in our natural/open spaces.

As far as that goes:
Federal parks are a nope. (Pawnee and Roosevelt might be in this category?)
State parks are a nope.
County parks are generally a nope.
City parks are generally a nope.

UNLESS they have an exception, like some Loveland city parks.
OR you get special approval to launch/land there. There will probably be an application and a fee.
OR they don't have any rules about flying drones.

As far as school grounds go, CSU doesn't want anyone launching or landing drones on their grounds without getting approval. Other colleges/universities probably have the same policy. Not sure about Hughes Stadium, but as long as you aren't in airspace that is restricted due to a game, and you aren't launching/landing from CSU property, I don't know what they can really do about you flying if you have LAANC authorization.

That said, be careful flying around or above these areas, staff/security/police/rangers may not know that they don't control the airspace. Sometimes it's a matter of being friendly and explaining the rules in a way that they can understand, and other times it's worth just packing up and moving to a new spot.

Just because they don't have the legal grounds to issue you a fine doesn't mean they won't do it, and contesting one is a whole other process that takes time and can be stressful.
Also, crashing probably counts as a "landing".

Use your best judgement.

Those Loveland city parks are a good place to practice. You should be good to fly all year. I've seen the new Drone Policy signs at my local park, and there aren't any date restrictions on them.

Hope that's helpful!

 

[kanjigirl]

As far as I've read/heard, if you have approval to fly in the airspace (LAANC), you're fine to have your drone FLYING in that airspace. Follow all the usual part 107 rules, obviously.

LAUNCHING and LANDING are things that can be prohibited in certain areas. The wording of these kinds of restrictions is changing because of some legal things that happened (recently?). This on it's own will limit a lot of the things that they're trying to keep under control, like recreational drone pilots buzzing protected birds and other animals who are a vital part of our ecosystems. Not to mention lowering the risk of crashed drones causing fires in our natural/open spaces.

As far as that goes:
Federal parks are a nope. (Pawnee and Roosevelt might be in this category?)
State parks are a nope.
County parks are generally a nope.
City parks are generally a nope.

UNLESS they have an exception, like some Loveland city parks.
OR you get special approval to launch/land there. There will probably be an application and a fee.
OR they don't have any rules about flying drones.

As far as school grounds go, CSU doesn't want anyone launching or landing drones on their grounds without getting approval. Other colleges/universities probably have the same policy. Not sure about Hughes Stadium, but as long as you aren't in airspace that is restricted due to a game, and you aren't launching/landing from CSU property, I don't know what they can really do about you flying if you have LAANC authorization.

That said, be careful flying around or above these areas, staff/security/police/rangers may not know that they don't control the airspace. Sometimes it's a matter of being friendly and explaining the rules in a way that they can understand, and other times it's worth just packing up and moving to a new spot.

Just because they don't have the legal grounds to issue you a fine doesn't mean they won't do it, and contesting one is a whole other process that takes time and can be stressful.
Also, crashing probably counts as a "landing".

Use your best judgement.

Those Loveland city parks are a good place to practice. You should be good to fly all year. I've seen the new Drone Policy signs at my local park, and there aren't any date restrictions on them.

Hope that's helpful!

Thank you this is helpful! I'll visit the Loveland parks after this next storm plays out. Checking out the Hughes Stadium site now. There are plenty of people out here hiking, walking dogs, etc. as they always have despite the No Trespassing signs that have always been here. No one flying right now though.

 

[W3bexec]

Hi @kanjigirl. I am over in Greeley and struggle with the same thing. Just curious if you've come across anything new.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

Good morning/afternoon/evening, whatever the case may be.

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

Hello from Estes Park! I truly didn't know that there were that many restrictions down in that neck of the woods. Normally we only have two restrictions up here. One is obviously RMNP. I'm right next to one of the entrances and the DJI app doesn't like that so I have to zoom into my position so it'll tell me it's okay to fly. The other restriction I experience a lot up here is mostly during the warmer weather when we have firefighting TFR's. I guess I've taken my flying freedom for granted. Sorry to hear you have all of those headaches to deal with down there. Good luck and happy flying!

 

[FOCODrone]

This is a challenge. I've just been flying around my neighborhood. Are there any prohibitions from taking off and landing in public roads or from the roof of a vehicle that can provide access to the air space but not technically take off or land in these parks to avoid conflict with these ordinances?

 

[DigitalF8]

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

The document you provided for the City of Loveland is up to date as of this posting according to their website. Rules & Regulations | City of Loveland
There does not appear to be seasonal variations. Loveland sports park is inside E2 airspace of FNL, so I would assume that LAANC Authorization is necessary.

 

[tornadotim]

As far as I've read/heard, if you have approval to fly in the airspace (LAANC), you're fine to have your drone FLYING in that airspace. Follow all the usual part 107 rules, obviously.

LAUNCHING and LANDING are things that can be prohibited in certain areas. The wording of these kinds of restrictions is changing because of some legal things that happened (recently?). This on it's own will limit a lot of the things that they're trying to keep under control, like recreational drone pilots buzzing protected birds and other animals who are a vital part of our ecosystems. Not to mention lowering the risk of crashed drones causing fires in our natural/open spaces.

As far as that goes:
Federal parks are a nope. (Pawnee and Roosevelt might be in this category?)
State parks are a nope.
County parks are generally a nope.
City parks are generally a nope.

UNLESS they have an exception, like some Loveland city parks.
OR you get special approval to launch/land there. There will probably be an application and a fee.
OR they don't have any rules about flying drones.

As far as school grounds go, CSU doesn't want anyone launching or landing drones on their grounds without getting approval. Other colleges/universities probably have the same policy. Not sure about Hughes Stadium, but as long as you aren't in airspace that is restricted due to a game, and you aren't launching/landing from CSU property, I don't know what they can really do about you flying if you have LAANC authorization.

That said, be careful flying around or above these areas, staff/security/police/rangers may not know that they don't control the airspace. Sometimes it's a matter of being friendly and explaining the rules in a way that they can understand, and other times it's worth just packing up and moving to a new spot.

Just because they don't have the legal grounds to issue you a fine doesn't mean they won't do it, and contesting one is a whole other process that takes time and can be stressful.
Also, crashing probably counts as a "landing".

Use your best judgement.

Those Loveland city parks are a good place to practice. You should be good to fly all year. I've seen the new Drone Policy signs at my local park, and there aren't any date restrictions on them.

Hope that's helpful!

I talked with the Pawnee Grasslands office and it's a no fly zone, but, if you have a farmer or rancher friend whose property is along the Grasslands area, that is legal.

 

[Leadfoot]

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

Keep in mind that local governments have absolutely no authority to control airspace, although I'm certain there may be some exceptions regarding wildlife or other determining criteria.

FAA press release clarifies Federal vs Local Drone Authority

FAA releases statement giving clarity to the issue of Federal vs. Local Drone laws and authority. FAA remains the only authority that controls the national airspace. State and local authorities can regulate local land use, zoning, privacy, and law enforcement operations.

www.airsight.com

 

[Talon360]

I’m trying to figure out where in the Fort Collins/Loveland area I can practice flying my new Mini 2 legally and safely. I will be flying for now for recreation only, personal photography, and the drone will always be in visual line-of-sight. I do have a Part 107 license for possible future commercial flights, but that’s not my intent right now...

In the Fort Collins/Loveland area SE of me there's a regional airport, I know to use LAANC to get authorization to fly in this airspace.

There's a stadium in town that sometimes has TFRs during events.

There's a small uncontrolled airport that's in class G airspace over 5 miles NW of my location.

I know in the Fort Collins area you can't fly:

• In any Larimer County Natural Area including Horsetooth Reservoir
• In any Fort Collins city park under 500’ (how that works with the 400’ ceiling per the FAA is a mystery to me)
• In any Loveland city park or open land area (other than the ones listed below, maybe)?
• In any State Park
• In any State Wildlife Area (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any Wilderness Areas (no takeoffs/landings)
• In any National Park

Is it legal to fly:

• Near the old Hughes Stadium grounds?
• On school grounds after hours?
• In big parking lots for abandoned places or closed businesses?
• Is it still legal to fly recreationally in these Loveland parks? Barnes, Centennial, Fairgrounds, Loveland Sports Park, Mehaffey, North Lake? https://www.lovgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55701/637661710167600000 ? Or is City of Loveland Ordinance - FoCo FPV now the case and you can only fly at Mehaffey Park or Loveland Sports Park recreationally between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28?
• Out east on Pawnee National Grasslands, or in Roosevelt National Forest (though that’s quite a haul for practicing with 3 batteries)?

In short – is there any place that’s safe and legal to practice flying anywhere within an hour of Fort Collins? It seems like everything is off limits. I want to take the Mini 2 with me for photography trips, but also need to practice. Hoping you can help!

As the owner and all to infrequent pilot of a DJI Mavic Air 2 and now a DJI Mini 4 Pro as well, I suggest that you visit Best Places to Fly Your Drone in Denver - Pilot Institute I know it says "Denver", but it this site maintains reliable information for locations and flying info for almost anywhere in the USA including the Ft. Collins/Loveland area.