I have flown small quads up until now either in my house or maybe 30-40 ft AGL max, so I have ignored the UAS rules for the most part. I plan on buying either a Phantom or a Mavic soon, so I figured brushing up on the rules before hand would be a good idea.
This is when it got frustrating, I had a really hard time finding the right information in the beginning. The legalities of flying UAV's has turned out to be fairly complex, which I believe needs a little work on the part of the FAA. I want to fly my craft legally and safely so I am putting in the time to try to understand this but there are a lot of lazy individuals that will be very put off about the work involved in understanding where you can and can't fly. That is a discussion for another time though.
Today is the first time I have ever looked at a FAA chart so I am sure I am reading it incorrectly, please let me know if that is the case.
Here is a picture of the place I will be flying. (Imgur) I've marked it with a green arrow.
So here is my understanding of the rules and the FAA chart. I obviously cannot fly into Cairns Airfield (OZR) or into Ft. Rucker's airspace. Cairn's and the immediate area are classified as Class D airspace with a Class E extension that goes down to the surface. There is also a Special Use Airspace Alert for the surrounding area warning of military helicopters training at low altitudes. Since I live within 5 miles of Cairn's and Hanchey I should be contacting them to let them know I will be flying while also be very conscious of incoming helicopters. This applies to flying during the week (Mon - Fri.)
Hanchey's tower isn't active on the weekends, so I will just need to contact Cairns and let the know where and when I will be flying. The Special Use Alert is only active on the weekdays as well. The helicopter traffic is also drastically reduced on the weekends (mostly just test flights for maintenance purposes.) I feel like flying on the weekends here will be much simpler and also much safer for the pilots that are training.
Another place I plan on flying is a park in Enterprise (it's a little to the left of Shell Heliport on the chart.) The park is within five miles of the Enterprise Airport but they're closed on Sundays. Since there is no one to there to contact on Sundays can I just go fly at the park? I obviously will still keep a keen eye out for incoming helicopters and I will keep it under 200ft AGL.
I know this post is long but I am trying to get a grip on how to do this. I actually work at one of the military airfields so I am pretty familiar with when test flights are be conducted, what areas each type of helicopter usually flies in, what altitude they usually fly at, etc.
Lastly, is there any reason to go for my part 107 license if I am not doing any commercial flying or should I just stick to the hobby side of things?
Thanks for the help.
This is when it got frustrating, I had a really hard time finding the right information in the beginning. The legalities of flying UAV's has turned out to be fairly complex, which I believe needs a little work on the part of the FAA. I want to fly my craft legally and safely so I am putting in the time to try to understand this but there are a lot of lazy individuals that will be very put off about the work involved in understanding where you can and can't fly. That is a discussion for another time though.
Today is the first time I have ever looked at a FAA chart so I am sure I am reading it incorrectly, please let me know if that is the case.
Here is a picture of the place I will be flying. (Imgur) I've marked it with a green arrow.
So here is my understanding of the rules and the FAA chart. I obviously cannot fly into Cairns Airfield (OZR) or into Ft. Rucker's airspace. Cairn's and the immediate area are classified as Class D airspace with a Class E extension that goes down to the surface. There is also a Special Use Airspace Alert for the surrounding area warning of military helicopters training at low altitudes. Since I live within 5 miles of Cairn's and Hanchey I should be contacting them to let them know I will be flying while also be very conscious of incoming helicopters. This applies to flying during the week (Mon - Fri.)
Hanchey's tower isn't active on the weekends, so I will just need to contact Cairns and let the know where and when I will be flying. The Special Use Alert is only active on the weekdays as well. The helicopter traffic is also drastically reduced on the weekends (mostly just test flights for maintenance purposes.) I feel like flying on the weekends here will be much simpler and also much safer for the pilots that are training.
Another place I plan on flying is a park in Enterprise (it's a little to the left of Shell Heliport on the chart.) The park is within five miles of the Enterprise Airport but they're closed on Sundays. Since there is no one to there to contact on Sundays can I just go fly at the park? I obviously will still keep a keen eye out for incoming helicopters and I will keep it under 200ft AGL.
I know this post is long but I am trying to get a grip on how to do this. I actually work at one of the military airfields so I am pretty familiar with when test flights are be conducted, what areas each type of helicopter usually flies in, what altitude they usually fly at, etc.
Lastly, is there any reason to go for my part 107 license if I am not doing any commercial flying or should I just stick to the hobby side of things?
Thanks for the help.
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