New Rules for Hobby Drone Operators from FAA

MEFfly · May 20, 2019

kadras said:
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.
View attachment 72642

So, as a relative noob, could you interpret this section of the map based on the new rules? I just picked a typically small airport.

Am I legally able to fly below the altitudes given in each box without any authorization, or am I prohibited from any flight in any of the boxes at any altitude until the LAANC system is up and running for recreational flyers like myself?

kadras · May 20, 2019

MEFfly said:
So, as a relative noob, could you interpret this section of the map based on the new rules? I just picked a typically small airport.

Am I legally able to fly below the altitudes given in each box without any authorization, or am I prohibited from any flight in any of the boxes at any altitude until the LAANC system is up and running for recreational flyers like myself?

View attachment 73013

Correct, you are prohibited from flying in those grids, at any altitude, as a recreational pilot until the LAANC system is up. The red grid lines indicate the airport isn't in the current LAANC system for Part 107 pilots, either. A blue circle within the gridded area would be an authorized flying field for recreational pilots (with permission of the flight area owner/operator). An example of that is the airport to the southwest near Altoona.

MEFfly · May 20, 2019

kadras said:
Correct, you are prohibited from flying in those grids, at any altitude, as a recreational pilot until the LAANC system is up. The red grid lines indicate the airport isn't in the current LAANC system for Part 107 pilots, either. A blue circle within the gridded area would be an authorized flying field for recreational pilots (with permission of the flight area owner/operator). An example of that is the airport to the southwest near Altoona.

Thanks for the response. That was the dreaded answer... as my house now falls under a grid in my area. Ugh!

And honestly, who wants to fly in those "fixed" sites? As another poster stated, they are mostly boring open fields... i bought my drone to get interesting photos of interesting places... not into racing or aerobatics.

sar104 · May 20, 2019

MEFfly said:
Thanks for the response. That was the dreaded answer... as my house now falls under a grid in my area. Ugh!

And honestly, who wants to fly in those "fixed" sites? As another poster stated, they are mostly boring open fields... i bought my drone to get interesting photos of interesting places... not into racing or aerobatics.

As did many people. The recreational sites are primarily for the original intent of recreational flying - just flying around. They were never intended for recreational photography. For that the solution, at least for now, is Part 107.

kensteele · May 20, 2019

MEFfly said:
Thanks for the response. That was the dreaded answer... as my house now falls under a grid in my area. Ugh!

And honestly, who wants to fly in those "fixed" sites? As another poster stated, they are mostly boring open fields... i bought my drone to get interesting photos of interesting places... not into racing or aerobatics.

i live underneath a red grid with a 200 on it. based on my the type of airport nearby and i know how they are, i firmly believe i won't be recreational flying at home anytime this year...if ever.

paulatkin73 · May 21, 2019

sar104 said:
I know that they were under a lot of pressure in Washington but agreed - this is unlikely to end well.

All that ATC needs to enjoy life at its fullest is a couple dozens calls a day with a request for a permission for a liftoff to an altitude of 35ft to accomplish a gutter inspection over private property.
Government idiocy at its usual.

sar104 · May 21, 2019

paulatkin73 said:
All that ATC needs to enjoy life at its fullest is a couple dozens calls a day with a request for a permission for a liftoff to an altitude of 35ft to accomplish a gutter inspection over private property.
Government idiocy at its usual.

If that were how it worked I'd agree, but the current regulations specifically avoid such "idiocy".

Deleted member 93449 · May 21, 2019

While some of these regulations are impractical, unenforceable, defy common sense and may not be constitutional one good thing that may come as a result of these new regulations is it will encourage everyone that flies to be more knowledgeable about flying. Even if they never have an occasion to fly in controlled airspace they may end up with a better understanding of the safety concerns that exist and best practices when flying (checking the weather, doing a preflight inspection, etc.).

Texbow · May 22, 2019

2edgesword said:
While some of these regulations are impractical, unenforceable, defy common sense and may not be constitutional one good thing that may come as a result of these new regulations is it will encourage everyone that flies to be more knowledgeable about flying. Even if they never have an occasion to fly in controlled airspace they may end up with a better understanding of the safety concerns that exist and best practices when flying (checking the weather, doing a preflight inspection, etc.).

If that does happen, it's a win.

Former Member07122019a · Jul 4, 2019

I understand that the FAA "says" they're going to let hobbyists be approved in controlled air space through the new LAANC system. HOWEVER, I'll believe it when I actually see / hear of non-107s "actually" being approved to fly in said space. Time will tell but I think the FAA will drag their feet and change their mind when it comes to recreational flyers. Just my opinion. I could be wrong.