Drones..not more talk about Drones......

[1600vw]

I was told by the airpark owner that he was contacted and asked if the people using these drones can come onto his property and show my area what these drones are all about. If you would like info on this I will post it. I am going to take video of this and post that for those whom can not attained. My question was under what rules do these drones fly....AMA or FAA....? No one could answer this.

[WLIU]

Above 400' AGL the FAA has something to say about it. Suggest that you look at a sectional chart and see whether you are under any Class E, D, C, etc airspace.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[1600vw]

Above 400' AGL the FAA has something to say about it. Suggest that you look at a sectional chart and see whether you are under any Class E, D, C, etc airspace.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

Wes, do these things fly over 400'? I know nothing about these drones. We boarder the 10 mile mark to a class c airspace. Capital Airport. So as long as these drones fly under 400' the AMA covers them? The AMA does not allow FPV flying not without a spotter and must never leave line of site. From my understanding these drones go outside line of site so I would think the AMA has nothing to do with these things.

[Joe LaMantia]

1600vw,

Yes, post the video and whatever information you can obtain along with the source of that information. Perhaps we can prevent yet another "rant" on this thread based on speculation. At this point it isn't clear if your dealing with a serious drone like a armed Predator/Hawk or just the basic RC type of airplane or helio. There is a big business opportunity in the small/short range observation drones that are coming soon to much of the country. This will be something like the internet, with cool benefits and some serious downsides.


Joe

[1600vw]

1600vw,

Yes, post the video and whatever information you can obtain along with the source of that information. Perhaps we can prevent yet another "rant" on this thread based on speculation. At this point it isn't clear if your dealing with a serious drone like a armed Predator/Hawk or just the basic RC type of airplane or helio. There is a big business opportunity in the small/short range observation drones that are coming soon to much of the country. This will be something like the internet, with cool benefits and some serious downsides.


Joe

Joe I am on it. I asked about the size of these things and no one knows anything. I guess we will see just what shows up. They asked for a 2 1/2 hour time slot. I believe this is next month, I will keep everyone posted.

[WLIU]

First, the FAA is a regulatory agency. If by "AMA" you mean Academy of Model Aeronautics, they have no regulatory weight or force of law. I will hazard a guess that the model's folks operating guidelines are intended to keep the RC flyers from running into one another, losing their ships due to radio interference, and doing something that gets the FAA excited about their use of the airspace.

Now that said, "drones" is a pejorative term these days. The few folks that I know in the UAV/UAS business call them exactly that - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. There is an official restricted area near me that recently had its operating hours expanded by Notice To Airmen for the purpose of testing some autonomous (pre-programmed navigation) UAV operations.

Now based on the little info in the first post, we can only guess that someone with an RC aircraft outfitted with a camera or something wants to show it off. I understand that some folks are using these commercially for various purposes. If that guess, and it is only a guess, is correct, then they have to stay under an altitude that will get the attention of the FAA and they need to avoid making your neighbors unhappy.

Now if you are just under the edge of a Class C airspace, I will suggest that you look at the sectional chart and see what the floor of the Class C airspace above you is. And the folks who fly out of your field should have an idea as to whether any of the arrival or departure routes pass overhead. But the FAA position appears to be that you get 400' AGL although the R/C folks have been arguing this for a while.

If you really want to go out on a limb and poke the bear, a telephone call to your local FSDO might result in an interesting conversation.

Best of luck,

Wes