Am I OK to fly on the 4th of July?

[dg8882]

Well I own a P3S and I am sort of hoping to bring it with me to my town's 4th of July celebration, but my question is am I going to have any problems with police? Fireworks are launched from a field near a high school and I would be taking off from another field on the other side of the school while most of my flying would take place over the school or nearby forest. At no point do I have intentions to fly over people or close enough to the fireworks that the safety of my drone or anyone else would be concerned.
As long as i am operating in the safest way possible, should I have any fear of drawing any unwanted attention from police or others?

 

[Mike_Flys]

You should contact the local city government/police, and the owners of the property you plan to fly over to get permission. Get it in writing, email works for this.

Some may say if you are legal just do it, however it is very hard to prove your case while actually on site flying. You can't hold court in the street,... er field.

just my $.02
Mike

 

[dg8882]

You should contact the local city government/police

Alright, The fireworks and the field I am planning to take off from is all part of a public high school which is owned by the city, I will see if there is a way i can email the city and see what they say.

 

[Mike_Flys]

Alright, The fireworks and the field I am planning to take off from is all part of a public high school which is owned by the city, I will see if there is a way i can email the city and see what they say.

Might be a bit of a hassle but it is the safe bet. Let them know you will fly with in the FAA regulations and so forth...
Let us know how it turns out.

Mike

 

[N017RW]

Yea and don't forget to mention your registered too, right?

 

[dg8882]

I emailed the city clerk and they said they have never been asked about drone operations and directed me to the police department. Now to see where to email them.


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[Mike_Flys]

I emailed the city clerk and they said they have never been asked about drone operations and directed me to the police department. Now to see where to email them.


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Thanks for the update. I'm anxious to hear how it plays out.
At least they didn't say no.

I went through something similar in 2014 the first time I asked permission to fly at an airport. Called the tower, they had no idea what to do or say. They gave me the Airport managers cell so I called him. He gave me permission making sure I understood where it was ok and where it was not to fly. It worked then... Now I want it in writing to save confusion.

Mike

 

[dg8882]

The police department got back to me and said this: "you will need to contact the Federal Aviation Administration for any drone related issues."
If i am to understand this correctly, as long as FAA has not placed a temporary no fly zone and i am flying by all FAA regulations, I should have no problem with police?

 

[threegs]

Isn't one of the basic quadcopter rules set by the FAA that night flying is not permitted?

 

[dg8882]

Isn't one of the basic quadcopter rules set by the FAA that night flying is not permitted?

It is not listed under the basic rules for flying but I do remember reading about it somewhere and I know night flying is not ideal for seeing obstacles. Is it a real rule or just something that is encouraged like flying under 400 feet?


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[fizzlefish]

The police department got back to me and said this: "you will need to contact the Federal Aviation Administration for any drone related issues."
If i am to understand this correctly, as long as FAA has not placed a temporary no fly zone and i am flying by all FAA regulations, I should have no problem with police?

I would take this as follow FAA guidelines and have fun... But also keep that email showing you asked permission from the local police.

 

[dg8882]

I'm going to keep my FAA registration and the email ready to present should anyone ask.
I have never had anything but positive comments by people while flying but since more than a few people will be around and there is heavy police presence, I don't think I can be too safe.


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[Zuzua]

I'm going to keep my FAA registration and the email ready to present should anyone ask.
I have never had anything but positive comments by people while flying but since more than a few people will be around and there is heavy police presence, I don't think I can be too safe.


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Those documents don't give you carte Blanche to fly where and when you want, legally!!!

 

[dg8882]

Those documents don't give you carte Blanche to fly where and when you want, legally!!!

Well, I was told by a police officer of the town I will be flying in that the FAA regulates operation of drones, not them. You are correct in saying neither of them are legal documents but they both support that I am doing nothing illegal and I am allowed to be there.


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[Zuzua]

Well, I was told by a police officer of the town I will be flying in that the FAA regulates operation of drones, not them. You are correct in saying neither of them are legal documents but they both support that I am doing nothing illegal and I am allowed to be there.


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As long as it is within the guidelines of the faa, and you are right, faa had domain over the air ways but towns, municipalities can make stupid laws that prohibit people to take off and land from public property!!

It is frowned upon flying over people and art night, I am not saying don't do it, I am saying make sure you have your back coveted!! I enjoy flying at night and have flown over people. Most people have flown over people at one time in their experience, unless they live on the moon!

Good luck and take good videos, remember to video fireworks, 500' up as the big mortars go up to about 400'!

 

[dg8882]

I have no intentions of flying over people, I am going to fly mainly over the school I will take off next to or forest. A couple months ago I had an ESC fail in flight and it dropped like a rock, I'd rather not risk that happening over people.
But I am not too worried about running into any problems with people and I am hoping to get the fireworks on YouTube as long as the video comes out good.


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[phantom1972]

I think you're going to be fine and won't even be noticed. The FAA Drone "regulations" are guidelines, which gets into grey areas. The FAA's "Airman's Information Manual" has recommended airport traffic pattern entry procedures, and other recommendations. But a lot aren't regulations per se. But if there was an accident, and you weren't following the FAA recommended procedure (Which are generally sound) there could be issues.

Note I'm talking mostly about the absurd, "no drone flying at night" guideline. I find flying strictly by LOS to be very difficult at anything more than very close. At night the positioning lights make it easy easier! The symmetry of quad's can make orientation a *****. Long live FPV. It adds immeasurable safety.

Like you said, not flying over a crowd of people, formal regulation or not, is just common sense. These things can and do (pretty rarely, but you know) literally fall out of the sky, and if I hurt someone, I'd have trouble living with it.

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[fizzlefish]

I actually plan to capture a fireworks show as well.. My fireworks display is over a large harbor though and my biggest concern is being knocked out of the air and saying bye bye to my phantom. It would push my in progress octocopter camera platform into high gear after the wife rips me a new one though.

 

[threegs]

After looking through the replies I took my P3S to watch the local fireworks display last night. I decided not to fly because I was uncomfortable with the winds. This did not stop two other UAVs from taking off. I would have been much closer than the others had I had enough courage to launch in those winds. Today I flew in winds just as high or higher because a very good opportunity presented itself and I absolutely couldn't pass it up. No problem! These are quite capable aircraft. Now I'm kinda kicking myself for not flying last night. Oh well.


-:-:-:-:-:-
ThreeGs

 

[Amckim2084]

I went to a baseball field two blocks from where a show was. It was still daylight while I was scoping the area out planning my flight. A cop happened drive by and I waved him down and asked him if it would be ok. He said it was cool. He wanted to stick around and watch but he had to patrol the streets near the event. He just said go straight up and it would be fine.