New Rules for Hobby Drone Operators from FAA

[kadras]

Everyone's favorite FAA map shows, as small blue circles, the location of the 193 approved sites for recreational flying within controlled airspace. The map also shows all the Class G airspace in which recreational flyers can operate outside of controlled airspace.

 

[Bobvt]

As a hobbyist who and how or what do we contact to fly in the controlled airspace,I'm missing something!

 

[pftarch]

As a hobbyist who and how or what do we contact to fly in the controlled airspace,I'm missing something!

Right now, as a hobbyist, you CAN'T fly in controlled airspace. And, as I understand it, this INCLUDES flying a toy drone under .55 pounds on your own property at an altitude less than the height of your house. At some point, you will be able to us LAANC to get automated approval for flights as a hobbyist, but, for now, the towers have been told to deny permission to all who ask and there is no other available means to get permission.

 

[Bobvt]

Right now, as a hobbyist, you CAN'T fly in controlled airspace. And, as I understand it, this INCLUDES flying a toy drone under .55 pounds on your own property at an altitude less than the height of your house. At some point, you will be able to us LAANC to get automated approval for flights as a hobbyist, but, for now, the towers have been told to deny permission to all who ask and there is no other available means to get permission.

Well this puts a damper on things,I was getting to know some of the atc's here locally, fortunately I can get further out in the rural country and fly according to b4 ufly

 

[Bobvt]

Well this puts a damper on things,I was getting to know some of the atc's here locally, fortunately I can get further out in the rural country and fly according to b4 ufly

I never even thought toy drones entered into this conversation,the ones below .55lbs

 

[mikemoose55]

every 5 minutes the FAA adds modifies and creates another rule, regulation limitation to save the airspace from us wild and crazy guys and gals.
You get the idea these masters of the air space have nothing better to do than to jump our little bones while they seem to completely trip over themselves trying to explain why all that Boeing lobbyist money kept them from grounding the 777MAX all the while a crap load of pilots were complaining to deaf ears and hundreds of people died in two crashes. It still took a number of days before they actually grounded the planes.
Guess they were all real busy working on these drone issues. You have to admire dedication in whatever form it comes in I guess
mikemoose55

 

[Mrmund]

Are the "fixed flying" sites only AMA fields?

 

[Mrmund]

Where is this reg

If a child lives in a relatively urban OR suburban area of the Northeast, they break the law if they fly their toy drone (under .55 pounds) in their own backyard at a maximum height of 10'. I think you're going to see a lot of reasonable, law abiding drone operators violating this rule.

I'm depressed..........


Peter Tennant

Where is this regulation? I read through the "changes" on the FAA site and must have missed something

 

[Mrmund]

Where is this reg

If a child lives in a relatively urban OR suburban area of the Northeast, they break the law if they fly their toy drone (under .55 pounds) in their own backyard at a maximum height of 10'. I think you're going to see a lot of reasonable, law abiding drone operators violating this rule.

I'm depressed..........


Peter Tennant

Where is this regulation? I read through the "changes" on the FAA site and must have missed something

 

[pftarch]

Where is this reg

Where is this regulation? I read through the "changes" on the FAA site and must have missed something

If you live near most of the population in the Northeast, you are probably within 5 miles of a Class C or higher airport. The Class C area is typically 10 nm in diameter. I am unaware of an exception for flying drones under .55 lbs. in classified airspace. You don't have to register them as a recreational flyer, but, you still have to abide by the other regulations.

I'm trying to illustrate that the new requirements have, in my opinion, gone too far. I used the small drone as an example, nothing more.

Until recreational LAANC rolls out, it makes me uncomfortable that a hobbyist at the fringes of Class C airspace can't fly an 8 oz. drone 10' off the ground in their own backyard, but, a 107 pilot (such as myself) using Airmap and LAANC could legally fly a 54 pound drone through that same hobbyists yard at the same altitude.

I understand (and agree with) the desire, and necessity, to control unmanned flight, especially in classified airspace. However, as is the case with the all inclusive National Park ban, the "blanket ban" approach (which is what I consider this, at least temporarily) is, in my opinion, heavy handed and unnecessary. The FAA should have made LAANC available to recreational flyers BEFORE they required its use, not the other way around. If I felt that this was a required interim step that would ultimately be relaxed once the realistic risk was assessed I would not be as concerned. But, I fear that this is another step on the road to simply eliminating recreational UAS flight altogether, unless you are inside or a member of the AMA at an AMA field.

 

[Slade]

Well, some have been and it is leading to new rules.

Government’s need for power and control leads to this nonsense.

 

[msinger]

Are the "fixed flying" sites only AMA fields?

You can find a current list of fixed flying sites in this document.

 

[tcope]

Government’s need for power and control leads to this nonsense.

However, for the longest time Congress had created Section 336 which told the FAA that they could not create any new rules against drone flight. The rules put into place were very minimal.

There has been some abuse, drones are becoming more popular and the news has blown things _way_ out of proportion. Congress then allowed the FAA to create rules. Up until this point, everything was actually pretty good. However, once you get the FAA involved, you open up a can of worms. These are the people who told us that they always got the drone that was flown illegally and that the registration was needed (never used against an illegal flight on all the years it has existed). Part of the problem is the FAA but also that the FAA took recommendations from people who had agendas (even the AMA). The bigger problem is that the FAA has never been good about implementing anything that makes any difference.

For example, I think we all know that there are only a few bad apples that create problems. Those people won't follow any rules. So making more rules won't solve the problem. The FAA is only creating rules that lawful people will follow. Now the rules and they way the rules need to be followed are so stupid that even lawful people will have a difficult time. What _really_ needed to be done was to create easy to follow rules, the FAA needed (needs) to EDUCATE people and the FAA should push drone manufactures to implement better safeguards. Personally, I think DJI has done a _GREAT_ job at this.

 

[frank candor]

being a REAL American i will put myself above any law MAN's Or GOD's
when my fellow REAL Americans Obey All the Traffic Laws , and Gun laws
I'll Think about complying with the Steer-Crap Laws Of this Totally Corrupted Country

 

[AMann]

Government’s need for power and control leads to this nonsense.

Yes, There is a government need for control over the idiots that endanger other people, and it has led to this nonsense. Think of what it would’ve been like had everyone stayed low-key, not posting their stupid exploits on YouTube, and now threatening and terrorizing people with our hobby?

 

[strdr]

I wouldn't care so much but I've been ready to take the part 107 for the last 2 weeks and can't get scheduled. The scheduling place just leaves you on hold forever. When a certain time elapses you get a recording that asks for your name and number and tells you that they will call you back. They don't call you back. I've sent emails requesting scheduling. Nothing. I drove down to the Scottsdale airport to schedule. They said they can't accept walk ins and to call the number. That was one place at the airport. Granted I have not tried the other two yet. It's on my list.
To be honest, it was fine the way it was. The "idiots" everybody is so fond of lambasting, are such a small blip on the radar. They're more like urban legends anyway. Gatwick? They don't even really know what it was. I understand they want to regulate controlled airspace. But we are really just talking about helicopters (at least unless you are right beside the airport, but still out side of the NFZ). The regulation regarding manned aircraft is clear; give way. No problem. I can hear helicopters coming and have line of sight. So basically you have this fixed wing aircraft don't fly below 500 feet unless landing or taking off. Drone airspace theoretically could be ground to 400 feet. But then there is helicopter traffic. Helicopter traffic is pretty rare. Comparatively. So this just craps all over recreational drone users. Makes it extremely difficult to get part 107 because of logistics failures in the scheduling company. It is upsetting. To say the least.

This really was an effective ban on drones. They just staked the heart of the whole **** thing. Till November and the test becomes available. We'll see.

 

[deleted member 877]

An established flying site is one such that has an MOA in effect with the local FAA ATC. i.e., A local AMA flying field that is located within the classed air space. Unfortunately, those are few and far between for many UAS pilots right now. That does not stop one from going outside the classed area and flying. The FAA web has a listing of all the Fixed Flying sites. Appears FL, TX, CA are among the biggies.

Have you ever flown your drone at a site where fixed wing UAVs are zooming all over the place? It's not much fun because it's more about staying out of their way as opposed to simply flying your drone and/or practicing your piloting skills. But I agree with @theDRONEranger - in most cases all you need to do is travel a bit further to a place where it is safe and legal to fly.

Where I live we have ten designated Drone parks thanks to foresight of the local authority. These spaces are perfect for practicing and testing out your camera settings etc so I'm grateful to be able to use them occasionally. On the other hand when I want to take some pictures of nice landscapes I travel to the coast or back into the rural areas well away from any airports or controlled airspace.

OK I know that it's not easy or even possible for some people to travel but it's important to remember that flying in accordance with all of the regulations is paramount. Don't be one of those guys ......

 

[AMann]

I wouldn't care so much but I've been ready to take the part 107 for the last 2 weeks and can't get scheduled. The scheduling place just leaves you on hold forever. When a certain time elapses you get a recording that asks for your name and number and tells you that they will call you back. They don't call you back. I've sent emails requesting scheduling. Nothing. I drove down to the Scottsdale airport to schedule. They said they can't accept walk ins and to call the number. That was one place at the airport. Granted I have not tried the other two yet. It's on my list.
To be honest, it was fine the way it was. The "idiots" everybody is so fond of lambasting, are such a small blip on the radar. They're more like urban legends anyway. Gatwick? They don't even really know what it was. I understand they want to regulate controlled airspace. But we are really just talking about helicopters (at least unless you are right beside the airport, but still out side of the NFZ). The regulation regarding manned aircraft is clear; give way. No problem. I can hear helicopters coming and have line of sight. So basically you have this fixed wing aircraft don't fly below 500 feet unless landing or taking off. Drone airspace theoretically could be ground to 400 feet. But then there is helicopter traffic. Helicopter traffic is pretty rare. Comparatively. So this just craps all over recreational drone users. Makes it extremely difficult to get part 107 because of logistics failures in the scheduling company. It is upsetting. To say the least.

This really was an effective ban on drones. They just staked the heart of the whole **** thing. Till November and the test becomes available. We'll see.

Go back to that testing service counter, ask for the name of the person who tells you to call back, ask for their supervisors’ name and a business card, and tell them that you are going to call your regional FAA flight standards district office and file a complaint about them (give the actual name of the office by looking it up on this link):

Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO)

www.faa.gov

They are not providing you with a test for an airman's certificate that the FAA has contracted them to provide, and as a result they are delaying your certificate because of their disservice.

 

[deleted member 877]

Yes, There is a government need for control over the idiots that endanger other people, and it has led to this nonsense. Think of what it would’ve been like had everyone stayed low-key, not posting their stupid exploits on YouTube, and now threatening and terrorizing people with our hobby?

OMG @AMann - you have hit the nail dead centre on the head! There is a dedicated Facebook group of Australian FPV Drone pilots who are doing nothing but showcasing their illegal behaviour. In Australia it's illegal to fly FPV except under strict conditions and only at designated locations.

 

[AMann]

OMG @AMann - you have hit the nail dead centre on the head! There is a dedicated Facebook group of Australian FPV Drone pilots who are doing nothing but showcasing their illegal behaviour. In Australia it's illegal to fly FPV except under strict conditions and only at designated locations.

I wouldn’t happen to be the Black Sheep Squadron, would it? We have those in the US as well! There’s a video of one flying around and through the towers and spans of the Golden Gate bridge, and the controller was about 10 miles away. That was just before the FAA enacted the VLOS requirement.