Question about class D airspace over Los Alamitos Army Airfield

[Theoriginalgregtoo]

Hey all,

Hoping that the more experienced amongst you might be able to help me clarify an issue. I live in Southern California, near Los Alamitos Army Airfield (KSLI). Where I live is class G (uncontrolled) airspace, but according to Aloft a large portion of the airspace surrounding where I live falls within Los Alamitos Army Airfield's class D airspace. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem as I do have my part 107 and can generally get LAANC approval. Unfortunately this is an army airfield and they don't participate in LAANC. Additionally my understanding is that military bases either outright reject any attempt at receiving clearance through Drone Zone, or just don't respond, effectively rejecting them. I've looked at the sectional charts of the area, and to me it appears that the inner circle of class D has a floor of 6000ft and a ceiling of 10000ft. Typically the inner circle airspace I've seen around airports extends to the surface, which is what is throwing me in this case. Am I reading this wrong? DJI Fly has a much less restrictive geofence of controlled airspace (as it often does), so actually launching the drone wouldn't be an issue, but I'd like to make sure I'm doing things legally. If in fact this class D does extend to the surface, and they reject any attempts at obtaining clearance, is this in effect just a permanent no fly zone? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vic Moss]

KSLI is a bit of an outlier. They do not have UASFM (the grid maps), so applying will be tricky.

Go through the Drone Zone and see what they say. DOD in general do not automatically deny airspace approvals. But they usually have a UASFM to reference for altitudes.

Since KSLI doesn't have a grid, I'm not sure how they'll handle approvals outside their Restricted Zone.

 

[Theoriginalgregtoo]

KSLI is a bit of an outlier. They do not have UASFM (the grid maps), so applying will be tricky.

Go through the Drone Zone and see what they say. DOD in general do not automatically deny airspace approvals. But they usually have a UASFM to reference for altitudes.

Since KSLI doesn't have a grid, I'm not sure how they'll handle approvals outside their Restricted Zone.

Thank you Vic, always appreciate your expertise and experience. What about the floor/ceiling numbers I have highlighted, am I reading those correctly or am I missing something?

 

[Vic Moss]

Thank you Vic, always appreciate your expertise and experience. What about the floor/ceiling numbers I have highlighted, am I reading those correctly or am I missing something?

Sorry, I didn't look at that. Those are the correct ceiling and floor for their airspace.

I would say go straight to the horse's mouth and ask them how they handle drone flights.

You can find their info here: AirNav: KSLI - Los Alamitos Army Airfield

 

[MS Coast]

Thank you Vic, always appreciate your expertise and experience. What about the floor/ceiling numbers I have highlighted, am I reading those correctly or am I missing something?

I think the 100/60 is for the area outlined in solid blue to the north and east with a southwest corner at Los Alamitos AAF, part of the LAX miasma. It looks like Los Alamitos Class D runs from the surface to 2500'.

 

[Vic Moss]

I think the 100/60 is for the area outlined in solid blue to the north and east with a southwest corner at Los Alamitos AAF, part of the LAX miasma. It looks like Los Alamitos Class D runs from the surface to 2500'.

That's why I hate sectionals...

 

[FlyinBrian92]

Yes, the KSLI Class D goes from the surface to 2500 MSL. There is Class B airspace above it. I’ve posted a screenshot from ForeFlight with the sectional chart and airspace highlighted. Class D airspace always goes from the surface to an MSL altitude. Otherwise you’re looking at a Class B or Class C airspace. Class D used to be known as a “Control Zone”.