Noob Questions, Please Help

Vol4Life · Jul 11, 2020

So I first posted this in the general discussion before finding the “rules and regulations” section here. Mods can delete the original post if needed.

Total noob here lol, so any advice is welcome and appreciated. I purchased my first drone, a Mavic Air 2. Planning on trying it out next week sometime at a relative’s who has about 10 acres and a nice open area to fly. My only concern is there is a local airport within 5 miles. This airport does not have a control tower so is is the area within 5 miles considered non controlled class G airspace? Still doing a lot of research on all of this stuff and it can be quiet confusing. I have also downloaded AirMap and the airport is circled in orange and shows an advisory but if I plan a flight it shows that I am following all rules. From my understanding this is not controlled airspace as there is no control tower. I have registered with faa for recreational use and will be putting my registration number on the drone before flying. Just want to make sure I’m doing everything legit. Like I said any help or advice is welcome. Thanks

dawgpilot · Jul 11, 2020

As long as that airport isn't in controlled airspace (many smaller airports are not), then it's legal to fly there without any sort of additional authorization.

The shaded area in AirMap is just to let you know to be careful in the area, since you are still required to see and avoid any manned aircraft that might be flying there.

brett8883 · Jul 11, 2020

CBRida145 said:
So I first posted this in the general discussion before finding the “rules and regulations” section here. Mods can delete the original post if needed.

Total noob here lol, so any advice is welcome and appreciated. I purchased my first drone, a Mavic Air 2. Planning on trying it out next week sometime at a relative’s who has about 10 acres and a nice open area to fly. My only concern is there is a local airport within 5 miles. This airport does not have a control tower so is is the area within 5 miles considered non controlled class G airspace? Still doing a lot of research on all of this stuff and it can be quiet confusing. I have also downloaded AirMap and the airport is circled in orange and shows an advisory but if I plan a flight it shows that I am following all rules. From my understanding this is not controlled airspace as there is no control tower. I have registered with faa for recreational use and will be putting my registration number on the drone before flying. Just want to make sure I’m doing everything legit. Like I said any help or advice is welcome. Thanks

Which airport?

I’d like to know what the advisory is. There are times maybe that legally you may not be barred from flying but maybe you shouldn’t anyway.

Vol4Life · Jul 11, 2020

dawgpilot said:
As long as that airport isn't in controlled airspace (many smaller airports are not), then it's legal to fly there without any sort of additional authorization.

The shaded area in AirMap is just to let you know to be careful in the area, since you are still required to see and avoid any manned aircraft that might be flying there.

Ok thank you much, exactly what I needed to know.

Vol4Life · Jul 11, 2020

brett8883 said:
Which airport?

I’d like to know what the advisory is. There are times maybe that legally you may not be barred from flying but maybe you shouldn’t anyway.

M02, Dickson Municipal. And yes definitely. I’m gonna be flying low. Maybe 50 foot or so.

brett8883 · Jul 11, 2020

CBRida145 said:
M02, Dickson Municipal. And yes definitely. I’m gonna be flying low. Maybe 50 foot or so.

That particular airport is in class G airspace, yes. I don’t see an advisory so what ever it was must have ended. Green light to fly.

An airport without a tower is just a non-towered airport. While it won’t have its own controlled airspace that doesn’t mean it’s not in another airport’s controlled airspace. Particularly with large towered airports, the controlled airspace boundary may extend well beyond 5 miles and encircle non-towered airports. Saying all non-towered airports are in class G airspace is not correct. Many are not. Every location has to be considered individually. Even if there are zero airports around for hundreds of miles there could be military zones or special use airspace. Always check first.

Vol4Life · Jul 11, 2020

brett8883 said:
That particular airport is in class G airspace, yes. I don’t see an advisory so what ever it was must have ended. Green light to fly.

An airport without a tower is just a non-towered airport. While it won’t have its own controlled airspace that doesn’t mean it’s not in another airport’s controlled airspace. Particularly with large towered airports, the controlled airspace boundary may extend well beyond 5 miles and encircle non-towered airports. Saying all non-towered airports are in class G airspace is not correct. Many are not. Every location has to be considered individually. Even if there are zero airports around for hundreds of miles there could be military zones or special use airspace. Always check first.

Makes complete sense. Thanks a lot man this is the kind of info I’m looking for. Like the idea of an app to help check everything out but don’t wanna put 100% trust into just an app without a little knowledge as well lol. Thanks again!

dawgpilot · Jul 11, 2020

You might want to also download the KittyHawk app as well. It functions much like AirMap, but it's good to cross-check airspace across a few apps to be positive you are legal to fly.