Tell It To the Judge...

[Spike151]

During the hearing, he did tell me "this is a park issue, not an FAA issue." He pointed out that there are FAA exemptions to jurisdictional authority. At that point, I said that I believed I had done my due diligence by checking sectional charts and pre-planning my trip on AirMap. But I believe this only adds to the confusion about what local/regional agencies are able to do with regard to restricting airspace.

I remember reading your FAA case law quotes that the FAA jurisdiction over rules any local bylaw in regards of any airspace within the USA borders, and several Supreme Court Rulings were quoted that established this. The Judge in your case ignored the Supreme Court Rulings, I suspected this might happen, which is why I said to you that appeal would be a good option. If this went to Supreme Court, they would probably over rule the conviction as they are not concerned with upsetting any other agencies including park rangers. You did not take off or land from their jurisdiction and the air is governed by the FAA, those should be the only facts of the case.

 

[evolution 3d]

anytime I fly somewhere like that I stay in my truck.. I put the mavic 2 down real quick when no one is really paying attention.. get back in the truck.. launch the thing up and out of there.. then fly.. when I land I make sure the coast is clear too.. you may be doing nothing wrong but standing around holding a rc controller draws attention to you.. if I get signal issues I'll get out, but generally the signal is great even in my truck.. I also get out if I need los, but less attention to yourself the better sometimes.. another great benefit is when it's -10 degrees out.. your fingers are nice and toasty,,

 

[Lapeer20m]

Ok. Well here it is...

No clarification of control of airspace or any other explanation. Just that I violated the ordinance (No self-propelled model aircraft...) and pay the fine by next week.

I didn't mention earlier that the judge is also a P107 holder, but during the hearing, he did tell me that "this is not an FAA issue, this is a park issue."

I provided him with copies of statement sent to me by the FAA along with the press release from July of last year and the photos of my location outside park property.

I disagree with his statement because I believe it is an issue of regulation of airspace. I expressed that I did due diligence planning the flight using the sectional charts and AirMap, and that the area is not clearly marked...though the officer said otherwise.

Lots of work needs to be done with regard to the education and communication of the rules. It doesn't matter if you're a hobbyist or P107 pilot. I don't claim any special exemption for the rules and will pay the fine as directed by the court. But as more and more people take to the air, it would help if the rules were clearly defined and easy to find.

So guess where I won't be flying my drone? [emoji848]

View attachment 62366

This is super frustrating especially since you are right and the park is in the wrong.

I was really rooting for you.

This is the reason I hired an attorney when I recieved a similar citation. I’ve seen too many judges simply ignore the law. The appeals system seems too overwhelming for a regular person to take on.

Not everyone is in a position to hire council. I am fortunate enough that I know an attorney who specializes in aviation law and has a soft spot for defending innocent people. He took my case essentially for the price of a case of ammo. It’s much more difficult and expensive to defend people who didn’t break the law. The system is set up to be efficient by getting guilty people to plead to a lesser charge.

 

[Norb_DAIS]

anytime I fly somewhere like that I stay in my truck.. I put the mavic 2 down real quick when no one is really paying attention.. get back in the truck.. launch the thing up and out of there.. then fly.. when I land I make sure the coast is clear too.. you may be doing nothing wrong but standing around holding a rc controller draws attention to you.. if I get signal issues I'll get out, but generally the signal is great even in my truck.. I also get out if I need los, but less attention to yourself the better sometimes.. another great benefit is when it's -10 degrees out.. your fingers are nice and toasty,,

Yea, in hindsight if I stayed in the car...