Tricky Airspace Questions...

[emed2020]

A friend posed a question to me today to which I did not have an immediate answer. I know my airspace pretty well and I'm very familiar with the rules pertaining to airspace for UAS pilots. Here's the question I had not been confronted with before:
"If I am operating in Class C Airspace (within the 5 mile radius of the airstrip, and the airstrip itself is at 900 msl...the Class C is SFC to 4700 but the airstrip is at the top of a small mountain placing it at 900 msl, and I'm flying from a standing location in the valley putting me at 300 msl, do I need tower clearance to fly since I'm below the msl of the sfc of the actual strip?"
My guess is "no, you do not need atc permission," but I didn't feel comfortable telling my friend to go fly there since I wasn't certain. He's traveling to do the flight at the location and he is afraid he might be in controlled airspace and even get geofenced and have wasted a trip. He's flying a M2P Zoom.
Anyone faced that situation before?
Thanks.

 

[sar104]

Unfortunately you got the answer wrong. SFC – 4700 means just that - from the ground to 4700 AMSL. Additionally, you cannot get clearance from the tower to fly in controlled airspace - that has to be done via the LAANC system or, if there is no LAANC coverage, via the FAA DroneZone website.

 

[DanMan32]

And your maximum altitude is based on the FAA facilities map, which also appears in Airmap and Kittyhawk.

 

[emed2020]

Unfortunately you got the answer wrong. SFC – 4700 means just that - from the ground to 4700 AMSL. Additionally, you cannot get clearance from the tower to fly in controlled airspace - that has to be done via the LAANC system or, if there is no LAANC coverage, via the FAA DroneZone website.

So I just looked it up on kittyhawk and according to them you can fly at the lower msl beneath the agl level of the sfc class c airspace and then as you approach nearer to the runway where the agl altitude decreases, it goes to 0ft permissable according to the facility map. essentially, it's legal according to the facility map to fly beneath the sfc level of the class c space up to 400ft. i suppose the idea is that aircraft will not likely approach from beneath the sfc line to land and obviously would not lose altitude after take off...hopefully!

 

[sar104]

So I just looked it up on kittyhawk and according to them you can fly at the lower msl beneath the agl level of the sfc class c airspace and then as you approach nearer to the runway where the agl altitude decreases, it goes to 0ft permissable according to the facility map. essentially, it's legal according to the facility map to fly beneath the sfc level of the class c space up to 400ft. i suppose the idea is that aircraft will not likely approach from beneath the sfc line to land and obviously would not lose altitude after take off...hopefully!

If what you wrote means that you think that the airspace is not controlled below the elevation of the field, then that is still incorrect. And the facility maps indicate the maximum altitudes that you can get authorization for, not the unrestricted flight altitudes.

 

[BigAl07]

SFC is SFC is SFC.... doesn't matter if you go UP hill or down hill.... it's controlled from the dirt up... this usually isn't an issue/question but SFC is pretty much cut & dry. No loop holes there.

 

[hiflyer201]

Terrain is always uneven.."Surface" does away with guess work. But please..Class C airports are major airports...not airstrips ..Aerodromes will work..

 

[DanMan32]

Much of the time facilities map will show 0 (zero) all the way out to about 5 miles from the runway, along the runway line. Even here in class D airport it is that way.