I’ve been reading up on the US FAA “no fly rules” (hobbyist, not 107), and quite honestly, find them confusing, and possibly contradictory. To be honest, I haven't run down the 80-100 other regs I keep running across (and many seem to mix hobbyist/commercial regs in the same breath). I will, but right now, am just trying to clear some fog...
The general HOBBYIST rule is “no flying within 5 miles of an airport”. Fine - but what constitutes an “airport”. Within the 5 mile zone, I’ve got at least 4 private “airports” (so named, and nothing more than mowed grass strips for ultralights, J3s, and Cessna 150s, etc.). I KNOW that 2 of them haven’t been used in years, and of that, the owner of one has been deceased for at least 12-15 years, and doubt it's still used, or has been in that time. Even alive, he didn't use it very much the last several years of his life.
All of these would normally be in what would be considered Class G airspace, yet the hard rule remains “no flying within 5 miles of an airport”. And if you want to fly, you are supposed to call (that’s not clear if that is hobbyist, or commercial…) the manager, owner and/or tower. As if you were going to file a pseudo-VFR flight plan. (I know a lot of the lingo, but have been out of touch with most specifics for a very long time).
So - NO flying within 5 miles of ANY airport, or anything named an “airport”? If that’s so, then that knocks out 70-80% of the US airspace, since there are LOTS of private airports all over, and you can’t take off/land in a National Park, and the BLM has restricted use of much of the western US as well (no motorized vehicles - the Phantom has a motor, so…) I can’t believe that’s the real case, but…
NO flying within 5 miles of any Class A,B,C,D,E airport? Is that what they really mean? And class E is the shaded magenta line, or the dashed magenta line?
Does “airport” in this sense mean “airspace” (so that the rules for a drone, stay less than 400 feet AGL, mean that it’s ok to fly within E/G airspace, except for the “dashed magenta lines” on a sectional?)
My son-in-law got his commercial drone cert a month or so ago (I intend to get mine in the next couple months), and the study site he used keeps sending email updates on “new” FAA interpretations/policies/etc. He said he's called a couple local towers, and they are confused as well. Seems like no one really knows what is supposed to happen.
So - can anyone clear some of this confusion?
The general HOBBYIST rule is “no flying within 5 miles of an airport”. Fine - but what constitutes an “airport”. Within the 5 mile zone, I’ve got at least 4 private “airports” (so named, and nothing more than mowed grass strips for ultralights, J3s, and Cessna 150s, etc.). I KNOW that 2 of them haven’t been used in years, and of that, the owner of one has been deceased for at least 12-15 years, and doubt it's still used, or has been in that time. Even alive, he didn't use it very much the last several years of his life.
All of these would normally be in what would be considered Class G airspace, yet the hard rule remains “no flying within 5 miles of an airport”. And if you want to fly, you are supposed to call (that’s not clear if that is hobbyist, or commercial…) the manager, owner and/or tower. As if you were going to file a pseudo-VFR flight plan. (I know a lot of the lingo, but have been out of touch with most specifics for a very long time).
So - NO flying within 5 miles of ANY airport, or anything named an “airport”? If that’s so, then that knocks out 70-80% of the US airspace, since there are LOTS of private airports all over, and you can’t take off/land in a National Park, and the BLM has restricted use of much of the western US as well (no motorized vehicles - the Phantom has a motor, so…) I can’t believe that’s the real case, but…
NO flying within 5 miles of any Class A,B,C,D,E airport? Is that what they really mean? And class E is the shaded magenta line, or the dashed magenta line?
Does “airport” in this sense mean “airspace” (so that the rules for a drone, stay less than 400 feet AGL, mean that it’s ok to fly within E/G airspace, except for the “dashed magenta lines” on a sectional?)
My son-in-law got his commercial drone cert a month or so ago (I intend to get mine in the next couple months), and the study site he used keeps sending email updates on “new” FAA interpretations/policies/etc. He said he's called a couple local towers, and they are confused as well. Seems like no one really knows what is supposed to happen.
So - can anyone clear some of this confusion?