Updated place to fly in SF Bay Area/East Bay/South Bay

[pelagic_one]

Nice meeting up with you guys today.
Put together a quick video of some shots from the USS hornet. Having the drone over the water is scary for sure.

Great flying with you, too...glad you made it up to Berkeley!

It’s always good to see the Hornet. Glad to see your MA2 had some thrills over the water.

 

[pelagic_one]

Can anyone recommend places in Sonoma County?

A few of us have flown along the coast north of Bodega Bay. We’ve also flown along a winery dirt road anywhere north of Windsor, or along the Russian River from Guerneville to Jenner.

We always consult an app like Kittyhawk, and obtain LAANC approval as needed. The Sonoma County Airport has Santa Rosa airspace pretty locked down, but you can fly the Russian River west of the airport with up to 300 feet approval.

 

[ComptonTC]

Nice meeting up with you guys today.
Put together a quick video of some shots from the USS hornet. Having the drone over the water is scary for sure.

Great video, I've always wondered if it was possible to fly the drone in that area. New member here.

 

[pelagic_one]

Great video, I've always wondered if it was possible to fly the drone in that area.

Welcome to the forum!

The best spot to launch to get views of the Hornet and San Francisco in the distance is Monarch Street on Alameda Point. LAANC permissible to 200 feet.

 

[pelagic_one]

Crockett to Hercules: I took some some Webex work meetings from the road yesterday; met up with a fellow forum member. We flew between meetings along the waterfront from Crockett to the evolving town of Hercules. Views included the C&H Sugar Mill, Carquinez Bridge, the oil refineries and the Lake Las Vegas-like buildings that are popping up in Hercules.

[pics to be edited-in later]

 

[shooting4life]

Going to do some sim down shots Saturday evening, where between point Richmond and the carquinez bridge do you think would be best?

 

[pelagic_one]

Going to do some sim down shots Saturday evening, where between point Richmond and the carquinez bridge do you think would be best?

You can try Point Molate north of the Richmond Bridge and the Point Molate Beach Park.

 

[JonJonPiperson]

You can try Point Molate north of the Richmond Bridge and the Point Molate Beach Park.

Tried this today for the first time. The actual park was 150% full today, but I drove about a mile north past the castle (?!) and there were plenty of pulloffs for fishing there that were fine for flying.

I knew nothing about this place - curious if the big redevelopment plan will happen. Fly it while you can, I guess. (See also: Treasure Island, Alameda Point.)

 

[pelagic_one]

Good move. I always steer away from the beach park and head past the castle, because you get a better vantage point of The Brothers island, and its bed-n-breakfast.

The redevelopment plans have been slow with no sign of moving forward yet, so it should be a great flying spot for us for years. Once the development takes place, it’ll be entirely new scenery for us.

 

[Ranger#1]

Great video, I've always wondered if it was possible to fly the drone in that area. New member here.

Love your video on the ship! Did you need authorization from ATC thru LAANC?

 

[Aviatrix]

Can anyone recommend places in Sonoma County? seems a lot of places are no-fly.

Did you find any good places? I'm new to Santa Rosa and the drone world.

 

[bhartwell]

I have another question. I know that it’s not legal to fly in East Bay regional parks, but is it legal to fly over the park if the point of origin is outside of the park? The way I’m thinking about it is that the airspace is FAA rules based, so as long as we comply to this rules, it’s ok.

Anyone?

The EBRP does not have jurisdiction over the airspace above the park lands they manage, as such they cannot regulate flying over park lands, they can only regulate operating from park lands. That being said, there are a few risks to consider.

1. Enforcement: who can regulate what isn't always well understood and you may well get hassled by bystanders or even cited by a ranger. Fighting the citation in court, etc. may not be worth the effort.
2. Crash / Loss of Control: if you fly over park lands and crash, hit a tree, or otherwise end up with your drone on park lands, you could be cited, hassled, face your drone being confiscated and so on. Technically you weren't "operating from park lands", but then do you have the time and inclination to hire a lawyer to argue the details?
3. Running afoul of FAA Rules: while not technically specific to flying over park lands, if the park has people and you happen to fly over them there could be issues. Here are the FAA rules around this [https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/operations_over_people/], the real risk here would be your liability if you happen to inadvertently hit someone with your drone.

Anyway, short answer is yes you can legally. Long answer is it might not be worth it.

 

[wco81]

What about nature reserve areas where there are protected birds?

that ar space has to be prohibited or drastically restricted?

 

[CalOldBlue]

I have another question. I know that it’s not legal to fly in East Bay regional parks, but is it legal to fly over the park if the point of origin is outside of the park? The way I’m thinking about it is that the airspace is FAA rules based, so as long as we comply to this rules, it’s ok.

Anyone?

I believe so. Untested. I have flown from the Martinez Marina area adjacent to EBRPD land, and from the UP right of way (not sure if that is kosher or not) near EBRPD land along the Carquinez strait and in the Port Costa area.

There appear to be places along the north shore of the strait (Benicia to Vallejo) that are OK. Other than that Concord Parks seem to be OK as long as you're not too close to Buchanan and/or get LAANC clearance.

If the ball fields at Willow Pass Park are not in use (and you get LAANC clearance) they're good for practice; just don't schedule practice for when there's a drug-related shooting scheduled for the parking lot (still getting the grass stains out of my clothes from THAT event).

 

[JWhoFlies]

Just wanted to bump this thread. I am a new flyer and with all of this talk of where to fly and where not, is the B4YFLY app, not a good indication of where you can and cannot fly? I mean sure if there are signs posted, I get that would be a no-fly zone but generally speaking?

I am looking to fly with other people to get my bearings down. If anyone is available to meet near a BART station and go from there, I am happy to travel.

 

[Jeffy1c]

Hey Yall, I just joined the forum.

I recently bought a DJI drone and want to improve on it. Any idea the regulation on Coyote Hills and Don Edwards? I live really close by and want to capture some scenery.

 

[CalOldBlue]

Hey Yall, I just joined the forum.

I recently bought a DJI drone and want to improve on it. Any idea the regulation on Coyote Hills and Don Edwards? I live really close by and want to capture some scenery.

Coyote hills is administered by EBRPD, so nope.

Don Edwards is a wildlife refuge, so nope.

See section chart below... everything within the blue line that has a straight line on the outside and a dotted line on the inside is no-fly. The rest is within various and sundry airport airspaces and may need LAANC approval.

 

[Jeffy1c]

Coyote hills is administered by EBRPD, so nope.

Don Edwards is a wildlife refuge, so nope.

See section chart below... everything within the blue line that has a straight line on the outside and a dotted line on the inside is no-fly. The rest is within various and sundry airport airspaces and may need LAANC approval.

View attachment 139942

Really appreciate the quick reply! Any recommendation where I can fly in the area of Fremont to Sunnyvale with some amazing scenery? Thanks!

 

[wco81]

What is that screenshot from, some app?

Yellow areas are okay?

 

[CalOldBlue]

What is that screenshot from, some app?

Yellow areas are okay?

That is from an FAA sectional chart, which one gets painfully familiar with as part of trying to pass a Part 107 test. You can download these for free here:

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/vfr/

The yellow is urban areas, I believe. Not actually shown in the legend but that what it appears to be.