H-E-L-P Please!!!

[DrD]

Being relatively new to the hobby, I bought a Phantom 2V+ after seeing many YouTube vid's, thinking it was a very cool technology. I had NO idea how much UAV's are hated by the uninitiated.

1. At first I thought I would fly around my neighborhood. Then I learned I am just under 4 miles away from a major airport, and thus am in restricted airspace. So don't fly at home!
2. Then I thought I would find a large, vacant field and use that, perfectly willing to abide by any and all rules, including leaving, if asked. I found "No Trespassing" signs in places, where no one would ever want to in the first place!
3. So I asked park attendants at two local parks in my general area, if there were any rules restricting my intention to learn to, and fly the phantom at the park, given no one was around, and all logical precautions were taken into account (powerlines, towers, animals, you-name-its). At both sites, I was given a nod of approval. That was a few weeks ago, and I made several flights, usually with park attendents nearby. Yesterday, there was a small park sign put in place, near the entrance to the parking lot stating, "Remote Controlled Aircraft Not permitted," which was clearly placed there with me in mind, and it listed the local county ordinance (Clark County, Wa. Ord 9.05.180). In reading the complete ordinance, a park is defined as any county owned property (examples listed).

So, HELP, PLEASE!, I haven't been able to find any place to legally fly these things, except at "THE'"AMA sanctioned flying field. Which is already busier than an interstate freeway at rush hour. Would anyone reading this know of any place(s) where quads CAN be flown, legally?

Thank you, for constructive ideas...

-Dale-

 

[knuckles]

Maybe someone living near Clark County, Wa has suggestions?

I'm lucky I live both near the desert and a short drive to national forest land

I also live within 5 miles of a major airport so I can't fly around my house but i just drive about 30 minutes to fly where I go

 

[Buckaye]

Being relatively new to the hobby, I bought a Phantom 2V+ after seeing many YouTube vid's, thinking it was a very cool technology. I had NO idea how much UAV's are hated by the uninitiated.

1. At first I thought I would fly around my neighborhood. Then I learned I am just under 4 miles away from a major airport, and thus am in restricted airspace. So don't fly at home!
2. Then I thought I would find a large, vacant field and use that, perfectly willing to abide by any and all rules, including leaving, if asked. I found "No Trespassing" signs in places, where no one would ever want to in the first place!
3. So I asked park attendants at two local parks in my general area, if there were any rules restricting my intention to learn to, and fly the phantom at the park, given no one was around, and all logical precautions were taken into account (powerlines, towers, animals, you-name-its). At both sites, I was given a nod of approval. That was a few weeks ago, and I made several flights, usually with park attendents nearby. Yesterday, there was a small park sign put in place, near the entrance to the parking lot stating, "Remote Controlled Aircraft Not permitted," which was clearly placed there with me in mind, and it listed the local county ordinance (Clark County, Wa. Ord 9.05.180). In reading the complete ordinance, a park is defined as any county owned property (examples listed).

So, HELP, PLEASE!, I haven't been able to find any place to legally fly these things, except at "THE'"AMA sanctioned flying field. Which is already busier than an interstate freeway at rush hour. Would anyone reading this know of any place(s) where quads CAN be flown, legally?

Thank you, for constructive ideas...

-Dale-

another poster mentioned this - but adding where you live might help.

It sucks that you can't fly at home... I am sure hovering practice wouldn't get too much attention though. Generally what I do is look around as I drive and make note of places where I think I might be able to fly. I kind of go with the same "if someone challenges me - I'll just pack up and go" mentality.

Granted, where I live has a lot of fields around. But what I would certainly do is pic a few places and rotate to those places rather than flying all the time at a park or something, because (as you seem to have discovered) if people see you all the time, they may decide it's a nuisance.

I find that (in Florida anyway) there are lots of construction areas for subdivisions that haven't been started yet (or - there's one I found that went under and has been abandoned for a few years). - even those - you might get a visit by a policeman doing a patrol - just be nice - they tend to let you continue what you're doing.

I fear this is going to become a larger issue as more and more of these get purchased. AMA fields are fine when they aren't crowded - and really - the point of these things is to take pictures of cool places - so aside from flight practice - AMA fields don't offer a lot of "coolness"

 

[N017RW]

Generally here in the US you have two types of property Private and Government (at all levels, of which some is called 'public').

So to use either types you need permission from the 'owner(s)'.

This may be implied or explicit but either way unless you own the land you take-off/land on your uses may be restricted or prohibited.

Fortunately our (FL) City Counsel recently struck down an attempt to prohibit UAS 'operations' from city parks, land, etc. with a few exceptions (police, fire, utility locations, etc.).
In fact UAV development is now being encouraged here with the recent addition of a "Hacker Space" opening up in the city.

 

[HarryT]

Do you have a car? I just drive out into the open countryside, where there's nobody around to get annoyed. Easy (around where I live at least) to just find a quiet side road, pull off the road, and fly.

I wouldn't dream of flying in a town or city. Far too many people around.

 

[MadMitch88]

But what I would certainly do is pick a few places and rotate to those places rather than flying all the time at a park or something, because (as you seem to have discovered) if people see you all the time, they may decide it's a nuisance.

That's been my general strategy in trying to find places to fly in Eastern Ohio and Western PA. I usually only fly one "session" (which may involve several battery changes) per public park and then I move on to another park for my next session. That way, I don't raise the attention and ire of local officials or cops who patrol a particular park. It has worked well so far since I havent been hassled by any officials at these parks. Once I burn through my local selection of parks, then I will go back and start flying at the first one I went to, then the second, etc.

I have done the riskier practice of flying over private property without permission but it does creep me out somewhat and I try to avoid it. I always try to place myself in the landowners' shoes and wonder how I would feel if a strange multicopter came buzzing over my property. I must admit I wouldn't be 100% comfortable with it all the time, and especially if it was flying low and doing dangerous maneuvers to endanger people or animals. There is a farm close to me that is about 1.5 miles long of open fields and it's a great place to test long-range flights, but if my bird goes down then I will probably just walk up to the house and ask if I can retrieve it. Some people don't take kindly to trespassers out here and liable to fire warning shots first!

 

[ExtraKim]

Wow people are really different in the U.S compared to Sweden, I have been flying on a lot of places in my town and NEVER had anyone being negative about it. Here it´s the opposite, people are very positive and curious about it. I have had several people asking me to fly, just for them to see how it works. I even had a old lady with rollator approach me and asking questions about my Phantom 2. I always show respect when I fly and try not to film anyone without them being aware about me filming, I have had a "problems" with people deliberately walking into the frame when I just want to film the nature or a building.
I live near the center of our city but have the fortune to have an big open field a 2 min walk from my home.

 

[The Editor]

GOOGLE EARTH/MAPS are your friend !

Start from your home location and then have a look around using google. You will be amazed how many open spaces are around you (that maybe you just didn't know where there before because you were not looking for them!)

Make a note of some promising places, then use 'Street view' to have a look how access is etc etc. Finally take a drive out to likely places you have short listed.


Good luck.

 

[slothead]

I also live within a few miles of an airport and on occasion I get e software limitation that pops up on the screen (I don't remember the exact words, but it happens at about 400'), so I still fly at home, I just don't fly above the limit (I couldn't if I wanted to without backing down the firmware). But in my more general experience the folks that see my drone don't hate it, on the contrary it gets positive attention - more than I like to have, but still not negative.

What would concern me more in your situation is a dictatorial government that enacts laws without informing the general public. I suppose it is more the case of your not being aware of the local politics (I too don't pay a lot of attention to local politics). There is just so much of it going on these days, I can't imagine anyone being able to keep up with it unless it is their full-time job.

 

[DrD]

Thanks for all the responses. The Portland, Oregon / Vancouver, Washington metro area is pretty densely populated. As such there are few open spaces within 30 miles radius of the I-5 interstate bridge that would be suitable for regular flying. Not to say that some don't exist, rather that they are difficult to find. I've noticed that dog walker's pay NO attention to similar laws (leash / scoop) and no one seems to enforce that in public parks.

In my case, life experiences have convinced me that laws only apply to ME, everyone else gets away with murder! So I've become overtly courteous, cautious, and law abiding. I recently discovered some industrial-zoned "for sale" vacant land space, actually quite close to my home, but well outside of the airport's restricted airspace. There are a lot of trails visible from its google earth imagery, and 'citizens' use it for doggie exercising all the time. I will try flying there, expecting it won't be long before someone insists I'm a bad guy, at which point I'll make a hasty exit. There aren't any no-trespassing signs, usually no one is around, nothing but vegetation in the large vacant fields, few trees which are not very tall; that's about as good as it gets around here.

Somewhat farther away, river beaches, open range land, or forest service areas are full of hunters, and the phantom is just a flying target, so this time of year, not such a great idea!

-Dale-

 

[queue]

Somewhat farther away, river beaches, open range land, or forest service areas are full of hunters, and the phantom is just a flying target, so this time of year, not such a great idea!

They made national forests officially a no-drone zone. http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/05/d ... nal-forest

Also, FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 is relevant to Phantom flights near airports: http://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/medi ... /91-57.pdf

GOOGLE EARTH/MAPS are your friend !

Start from your home location and then have a look around using google. You will be amazed how many open spaces are around you (that maybe you just didn't know where there before because you were not looking for them!)

Make a note of some promising places, then use 'Street view' to have a look how access is etc etc. Finally take a drive out to likely places you have short listed.


Good luck.

My vote goes to Google Earth too, in combination with the local county governments' land parcel and restricted open space maps. I get as many KML overlays of restricted space as I can, then go looking for open fields. When I find them, I go to the land parcel maps to find who owns the field. Sometimes you'll have an out-of-state development company that owns a group of empty lots, or undeveloped land with no trails owned by a city, or empty property that belongs to a university - all of these seem like appropriate locations to fly.

 

[Wedeliver]

It looks like an incorrect statement that UAV's are not allowed in National Forests as to my knowledge there has been no attempt at this time for any rules in the National Forests. National Parks and Forests are two different entities. I will call our local office (Modoc National Forest) on Tuesday and see if they have any info about this. I will also call the Head Ranger at The Lava Beds National Monument and see if I can do a demonstration for him as we have talked about. I will post the results next week.

Somewhat farther away, river beaches, open range land, or forest service areas are full of hunters, and the phantom is just a flying target, so this time of year, not such a great idea!

They made national forests officially a no-drone zone. http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/05/d ... nal-forest

Also, FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 is relevant to Phantom flights near airports: http://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/medi ... /91-57.pdf

GOOGLE EARTH/MAPS are your friend !

Start from your home location and then have a look around using google. You will be amazed how many open spaces are around you (that maybe you just didn't know where there before because you were not looking for them!)

Make a note of some promising places, then use 'Street view' to have a look how access is etc etc. Finally take a drive out to likely places you have short listed.


Good luck.

My vote goes to Google Earth too, in combination with the local county governments' land parcel and restricted open space maps. I get as many KML overlays of restricted space as I can, then go looking for open fields. When I find them, I go to the land parcel maps to find who owns the field. Sometimes you'll have an out-of-state development company that owns a group of empty lots, or undeveloped land with no trails owned by a city, or empty property that belongs to a university - all of these seem like appropriate locations to fly.

 

[queue]

It looks like an incorrect statement that UAV's are not allowed in National Forests as to my knowledge there has been no attempt at this time for any rules in the National Forests. National Parks and Forests are two different entities. I will call our local office (Modoc National Forest) on Tuesday and see if they have any info about this. I will also call the Head Ranger at The Lava Beds National Monument and see if I can do a demonstration for him as we have talked about. I will post the results next week.

Awesome!