Yesterday I was out shooting a highrise hotel and it just so happen to be next to a federal building. There was zero foot traffic around this building so after scoping the area, I decided to park my car and launch in front of this building. So I did.
Standing on the sidewalk with my bird about 8 foot in the air (I had just lifted off), an armed officer came running towards me waving his arms over his head shouting at me to immediately land. I reached over and grabbed my P4 out of the air. He started going on about how I couldn't fly here, but he couldn't find the paper, (typical senario), and then proceeded to harass. This guy really pissed me off when he tried to tell me I had a fake ID badge and that he knew the FAA rules because he owned a Solo. He went on to tell me I could not fly over the building or take pictures of it! He clearly had no idea what he was saying, but what was I to do? By this time there was two of them and I was starting to get upset which was doing no good. Together, they started accusing me of changing my story. I finally sat my controller down (after he accused me of having a fake ID badge), pulled out my wallet and handed over my DL, FAA 107 card, and a business card. He asked to keep the business card and handed back my licenses. Then I picked up my stuff and walked across the street to get the shots I needed. I found a grass area next to the sidewalk and launched from there. During my 15 min flight, I had about 5 people walk by. I was over a building so I wasn't over anyone, but no body walked in front of this fed building during that 15 minutes, except the officer coming back out to watch me and write down my license plate.
I got my shots, but left feeling bad about the whole thing.
Does anyone know of any laws regarding federal property. I read somewhere (so it's gotta be true
) that technically the Feds don't own state land. Do they have control of a public sidewalk in front of their building? I'm well aware of the regulations about flying around the building, I'm just concerned about a federal building law I'm unaware of.
Standing on the sidewalk with my bird about 8 foot in the air (I had just lifted off), an armed officer came running towards me waving his arms over his head shouting at me to immediately land. I reached over and grabbed my P4 out of the air. He started going on about how I couldn't fly here, but he couldn't find the paper, (typical senario), and then proceeded to harass. This guy really pissed me off when he tried to tell me I had a fake ID badge and that he knew the FAA rules because he owned a Solo. He went on to tell me I could not fly over the building or take pictures of it! He clearly had no idea what he was saying, but what was I to do? By this time there was two of them and I was starting to get upset which was doing no good. Together, they started accusing me of changing my story. I finally sat my controller down (after he accused me of having a fake ID badge), pulled out my wallet and handed over my DL, FAA 107 card, and a business card. He asked to keep the business card and handed back my licenses. Then I picked up my stuff and walked across the street to get the shots I needed. I found a grass area next to the sidewalk and launched from there. During my 15 min flight, I had about 5 people walk by. I was over a building so I wasn't over anyone, but no body walked in front of this fed building during that 15 minutes, except the officer coming back out to watch me and write down my license plate.
I got my shots, but left feeling bad about the whole thing.
Does anyone know of any laws regarding federal property. I read somewhere (so it's gotta be true
) that technically the Feds don't own state land. Do they have control of a public sidewalk in front of their building? I'm well aware of the regulations about flying around the building, I'm just concerned about a federal building law I'm unaware of.
