Travelling to San Francisco, USA

[Jackie Leung]

Hi all,

I will be travelling to San Francisco from Hong Kong next Easter.
Wondering what are the rules and regulations there in the States.

I heard that even visiting the states with recreational drone user requires FAA registration?
Any tips will be greatly appreciated, as there seem to have a lot of beautiful scenery to drone in SF.

Thanks
Jackie

 

[struijs]

Hi all,

I will be travelling to San Francisco from Hong Kong next Easter.
Wondering what are the rules and regulations there in the States.

I heard that even visiting the states with recreational drone user requires FAA registration?
Any tips will be greatly appreciated, as there seem to have a lot of beautiful scenery to drone in SF.

Thanks
Jackie

Lets try google....

Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Bingo!

 

[msinger]

I heard that even visiting the states with recreational drone user requires FAA registration?

There is currently no requirement to register if flying as a hobbyist.

 

[Ebonicus]

SF has many restricted areas. Use UAV forecast app and enable all airports including class D helipads.

The coast south of san francisco is much easier to find legal flying areas.

 

[finlayson]

This is the 'go to' web site for checking no-fly zones within the US: AirMap Web App

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

 

[MauRon]

This is the 'go to' web site for checking no-fly zones within the US: AirMap Web App

Green circles of course you can fly...Orange circles means good for fly with caution?? And red circles is NFZ right?? Thanks

 

[LarryM]

San Francisco is complicated. I think the airmap.com maps give a better indication of restricted areas. There are three major airports Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose and I would suggest just don't fly within 5 miles of those at all. Up and down the Bay Area there are also numerous local airports which theoretically require airport notification. Then the costal public areas around San Francisco and across the bay in Marin (Golden Gate) are mostly National Park controlled - no drones. The coastal areas in the Bay and outside along the Pacific Coast is almost all marine protected coastline - no flying below 1000 feet over the water - i.e. no drones. Remaining Pacific coast is mostly State Park Beaches (in Santa Clara County) which also have drone restriction policies. East Bay parks, all of the 'Preserve and Open Space' areas have drone restrictions. Santa Clara County parks (which include all of the reservoirs) have drone restrictions. State parks in Santa Clara County have restrictions as far as I can tell.

That leaves pretty much flying in urban populated places, private property and a few permitted locations (Treasure Island, possibly Berkeley, Baylands park in Sunnyvale, a field adjacent to Seacliff Beach, another at Ft Funston.)

Makes it hard to find nice scenic spots to fly that are not full of people or buildings.

 

[rjanumpally]

Who said you cant fly in state parks. You cant fly in national parks

 

[LarryM]

California state parks do not have an overall restriction, as far as I can tell, but they do allow local district restrictions and based on this NBC News report - Here's Where You Can Fly Drones in the Bay Area - Bay Area beaches no longer allow drone flying. Along with all the other marine, wilderness protected areas and the National Park restrictions there is not much open area left near San Francisco.

I verified restrictions at Seacliff - and their drone legal field was sort of boring, as was Fort Funston in San Francisco. I am still keeping my eyes open for stretches of seacoast in between the parks that might make for good, legal photography. There are also arguments that you could take off from the road or adjacent property then still fly over the parks, but I would advise it's best to ask locally. The goal over the next couple years is to not annoy park visitors and park officials too much and to campaign for nice areas where restrictions can eventually be removed. I think many of these open areas could accommodate drone flying in the same way that they do for mountain bikes, dogs, horses, etc. Rules right now seem to be kind of a typical knee jerk reaction to something new.