Questions About Sacramento

[CageyWhite]

Hello Everyone,

I've had my Mavic Air 2 for a whopping 2 weeks so I am very new to the hobby.

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the basic capabilities of the drone, flying it in my back yard (never flying higher than the height of my fences so I don't annoy the neighbors).

Now I want to take it out to different places to expand my skills and learn more about the software features of the drone. So here's my dilemma: I am totally and utterly confused about the rules regarding where I can fly, and what the general rules are. I've downloaded the B4UFLY app and also read these forums and basically, I'm simply more confused.

Here's my dilemma: I want to fly in a more open area to enhance my skills even more. I have a couple of parks near me, an abandoned school (which would be perfect for practicing) and a mall which is mostly empty (Country Club Plaza) with lots of unused and wide open parking spaces that would be perfect for practice. I want to fly in those spaces, but I can't figure out whether it is permitted or not.

So here are my questions:

- Is it generally permissible to fly in a park or at an abandoned school? How do I know whether it is permitted or not?
- Is there an app like B4UFLY that is easier to understand and which tells me where there are no fly zones or other restrictions?
- Anyone have any specific areas that are good for practicing that you would like to share?

Thanks in advance. All I want to do is follow the rules!

 

[crlmjohnson]

your will how to research for the answer yourself:

check for websites for parks? with info about drones?

find the number for the city or county that own the park, and call and ask for the manager of the park.

you can usually find a website or contact someone on the phone about the property or land that you want to fly over. and lastly check air map "the app" on your phone for air restrictions.

and lastly if you get to an place early enough with no one around, it is usually safe to fly, especially if there is no air restrictions in place.

I have lots of family in the Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, San Frans, L.A., Barkerfield,

I graduate from Franklin High School in Stockton. I went to Sacramento Johnson High school, played on the football team.

 

[kshaw]

I teach a drone safety seminar for our recreational drone program. Many students find the B4UFLY app to be a little confusing because some of the warnings aren't adequately explained. I provide the following links and encourage users to look there in addition to B4UFLY:

https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map?pbc=mF6h4ZTt
and this FAA site https://faa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9c2e4406710048e19806ebf6a06754ad

Be sure to drill down to see the detail.

 

[hiflyer201]

You probably need to buy a Sacramento sectional. Available at the airport or online. As far as the parks go..stay away from people and in fact you can do a nice video from the perimeter. Altitude is your friend. Video the entire flight. Once you get the drone up and out of the way you will soon see how much easier it is and then spend some time looking at the video. You'll soon notice lots of good safe places to fly

 

[CageyWhite]

I teach a drone safety seminar for our recreational drone program. Many students find the B4UFLY app to be a little confusing because some of the warnings aren't adequately explained. I provide the following links and encourage users to look there in addition to B4UFLY:

https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map?pbc=mF6h4ZTt
and this FAA site https://faa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9c2e4406710048e19806ebf6a06754ad

Be sure to drill down to see the detail.

Thanks kshaw. The FAA map (your second link) is much easier to understand than the B4UFLY map, which I found to be so confusing that it was utterly useless to me.

And of course, I found that my house is in a "no fly" zone because of it's proximity to an airport (which used to be a military base). Aargh! There are, however, a couple of parks near me where flying is permitted. Now I just need to figure out if our local government allows me to fly there.

 

[Prop Wash]

Hello Everyone,

I've had my Mavic Air 2 for a whopping 2 weeks so I am very new to the hobby.

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the basic capabilities of the drone, flying it in my back yard (never flying higher than the height of my fences so I don't annoy the neighbors).

Now I want to take it out to different places to expand my skills and learn more about the software features of the drone. So here's my dilemma: I am totally and utterly confused about the rules regarding where I can fly, and what the general rules are. I've downloaded the B4UFLY app and also read these forums and basically, I'm simply more confused.

Here's my dilemma: I want to fly in a more open area to enhance my skills even more. I have a couple of parks near me, an abandoned school (which would be perfect for practicing) and a mall which is mostly empty (Country Club Plaza) with lots of unused and wide open parking spaces that would be perfect for practice. I want to fly in those spaces, but I can't figure out whether it is permitted or not.

So here are my questions:

- Is it generally permissible to fly in a park or at an abandoned school? How do I know whether it is permitted or not?
- Is there an app like B4UFLY that is easier to understand and which tells me where there are no fly zones or other restrictions?
- Anyone have any specific areas that are good for practicing that you would like to share?

Thanks in advance. All I want to do is follow the rules!

I'm out in Orangevale. Parks in Sacramento County drones are prohibited. But you can contact the Park and Rec to see if there are exceptions. Also, there are State Recreational Areas (SRA) where drones can be flown unless otherwise posted.
Look @ this site: Where to fly drones in Sacramento - it's from UAV Coach.

 

[fgphoto]

Hello Everyone,

I've had my Mavic Air 2 for a whopping 2 weeks so I am very new to the hobby.

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the basic capabilities of the drone, flying it in my back yard (never flying higher than the height of my fences so I don't annoy the neighbors).

Now I want to take it out to different places to expand my skills and learn more about the software features of the drone. So here's my dilemma: I am totally and utterly confused about the rules regarding where I can fly, and what the general rules are. I've downloaded the B4UFLY app and also read these forums and basically, I'm simply more confused.

Here's my dilemma: I want to fly in a more open area to enhance my skills even more. I have a couple of parks near me, an abandoned school (which would be perfect for practicing) and a mall which is mostly empty (Country Club Plaza) with lots of unused and wide open parking spaces that would be perfect for practice. I want to fly in those spaces, but I can't figure out whether it is permitted or not.

So here are my questions:

- Is it generally permissible to fly in a park or at an abandoned school? How do I know whether it is permitted or not?
- Is there an app like B4UFLY that is easier to understand and which tells me where there are no fly zones or other restrictions?
- Anyone have any specific areas that are good for practicing that you would like to share?

Thanks in advance. All I want to do is follow the rules!

Hi CageyWhite,

There are a lot of places you can fly when you get out of town just a bit. There is a lot of farmland between Davis and Woodland off the 113 and east of there that is wide open and a great place to hone your skills that is nearly devoid of people. You can also head north a bit to Knights Landing or south along the 5 to Clarksburg or Courtland (or nearly anywhere in between.)
Most of these places have waterways and other things that are also visually appealing as well so that you have something fun to photograph or shoot video of while you are flying around.


Best of Luck!

 

[Grommet]

I'm new to the drone life too. I was bummed to read that Sacramento County Parks are a no fly zone AND that such regional ordinances don't show up on the apps (B4UFly). Thankfully I'm pretty close to West Sacramento (Yolo County) and can launch/land at parks there.

 

[crlmjohnson]

It looks like Sacramento has a lot of control air space.

and also a lot of local laws and rules.....WoW!

 

[Grommet]

Yeah. I think I'll just cross the river to West Sacramento (Yolo County) and visit a park there.

 

[kshaw]

The FAA should duke these conflicts out and advocacy organizations such as AMA and AOPA should be proactive in defending our rights to fly there. If you have a clearance from the FAA to 400 feet, then the FAA should defend your right to fly there or threaten to pull funds to the airports or make the city go through the process to make it a no fly zone. With passage of the Infrasture Bill, the FAA will have a lot of leverage to make this airspace open to drones. AOPA does a great job in keeping airports open and aircraft fuel low but I have not seen any advocacy for drones yet.

 

[thatoneguyfromsacramento]

Hello Everyone,

I've had my Mavic Air 2 for a whopping 2 weeks so I am very new to the hobby.

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the basic capabilities of the drone, flying it in my back yard (never flying higher than the height of my fences so I don't annoy the neighbors).

Now I want to take it out to different places to expand my skills and learn more about the software features of the drone. So here's my dilemma: I am totally and utterly confused about the rules regarding where I can fly, and what the general rules are. I've downloaded the B4UFLY app and also read these forums and basically, I'm simply more confused.

Here's my dilemma: I want to fly in a more open area to enhance my skills even more. I have a couple of parks near me, an abandoned school (which would be perfect for practicing) and a mall which is mostly empty (Country Club Plaza) with lots of unused and wide open parking spaces that would be perfect for practice. I want to fly in those spaces, but I can't figure out whether it is permitted or not.

So here are my questions:

- Is it generally permissible to fly in a park or at an abandoned school? How do I know whether it is permitted or not?
- Is there an app like B4UFLY that is easier to understand and which tells me where there are no fly zones or other restrictions?
- Anyone have any specific areas that are good for practicing that you would like to share?

Thanks in advance. All I want to do is follow the rules!

 

[thatoneguyfromsacramento]

Hello Everyone,

I've had my Mavic Air 2 for a whopping 2 weeks so I am very new to the hobby.

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the basic capabilities of the drone, flying it in my back yard (never flying higher than the height of my fences so I don't annoy the neighbors).

Now I want to take it out to different places to expand my skills and learn more about the software features of the drone. So here's my dilemma: I am totally and utterly confused about the rules regarding where I can fly, and what the general rules are. I've downloaded the B4UFLY app and also read these forums and basically, I'm simply more confused.

Here's my dilemma: I want to fly in a more open area to enhance my skills even more. I have a couple of parks near me, an abandoned school (which would be perfect for practicing) and a mall which is mostly empty (Country Club Plaza) with lots of unused and wide open parking spaces that would be perfect for practice. I want to fly in those spaces, but I can't figure out whether it is permitted or not.

So here are my questions:

- Is it generally permissible to fly in a park or at an abandoned school? How do I know whether it is permitted or not?
- Is there an app like B4UFLY that is easier to understand and which tells me where there are no fly zones or other restrictions?
- Anyone have any specific areas that are good for practicing that you would like to share?

Thanks in advance. All I want to do is follow the rules!not sure if you’re going to get this i live near ol airport in north highlands and my house is no fly zone. I found a soccer field to fly t in my neighborhood. I get a LAANC approval for 100-200 ft for that area. If your arond maybe we can hoik up and fly

 

[fgphoto]

The B4UFLY app is a pretty good resource. Sacramento City does not allow drones to fly in the park without a permit and becasue of different airports you are going to have to get LAANC approval to fly, but if you just get out of town a bit, there are lots of great places to fly. If you head out east on 50 or 80, you can also fly around all the areas where we have had a ton of snow. I have been flying up there for work and it is a great area to make interesting pictures/video with with record snowpack. You can also head north on I5 or 99 (you can also shoot the flooded yolo bypass but need LAANC approval because its very near the Sac airport) and there are lots of areas you can fly around with farmland out that way that are far from any restricted areas and minimal people and/or traffic to get in your way.

 

[thatoneguyfromsacramento]

The B4UFLY app is a pretty good resource. Sacramento City does not allow drones to fly in the park without a permit and becasue of different airports you are going to have to get LAANC approval to fly, but if you just get out of town a bit, there are lots of great places to fly. If you head out east on 50 or 80, you can also fly around all the areas where we have had a ton of snow. I have been flying up there for work and it is a great area to make interesting pictures/video with with record snowpack. You can also head north on I5 or 99 (you can also shoot the flooded yolo bypass but need LAANC approval because its very near the Sac airport) and there are lots of areas you can fly around with farmland out that way that are far from any restricted areas and minimal people and/or traffic to get in your way.

Maybe they sjould update this then. Cause siuthsude oark is a city oark.