I have had my MP for a week now. I have logged 20k flight distance. I have been flying toy drones for fun for quit some time. Trick flying but nothing with a camera. Now the MP is by far the most advanced. It can go higher and further then any of the others. Now I feel I need to worry about laws and regulations. I do live within 5 miles of a commercial airport. Ex-USAF base Mather in Sacramento CA. Quit frankly the more I read the more confused I get. I understand the basics 400ft hight limit and the line of sight. Got it. But what I keep getting conficting information about is reporting my MP flight to the airport manager/tower. I read some posts and google searches that say I do need to report and others that say its not mandatory but recommended. Should i get and use the Airmap app before every flight??? I would really not like LEO and/or the FAA ti show up if i want to fly around my house or the neighborhood park or the river.

I'm not sure what source(s) you've heard from that suggested otherwise, but yes, in the United States you're required to give prior notification to airports and control towers within 5 miles of your flight. But don't take my word for it: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Frequently Asked Questions

Having said that, it's likely that the people you notify won't really care about your flight and may even be annoyed that you called them. And even if you never contact them it's unlikely you'll ever hear from the FAA (it wouldn't be law enforcement) unless you do something to generate interesting headlines.

Another common piece of misinformation is that when you contact them you have to get the tower / airport manager's permission before flying, but the FAA makes it very clear that's not the case: you just have to notify them.

If you live that close to an airport, just outside of no-fly zone, the common sense thing to do is stay below 100 feet..

By the FAA they don't want you to contact towers, military, parks or airports.  They want you to get waivers from the faa directly.

Even though this is from FAA i don't think they want you to contact other people.
from FAA
Airports

Recreational operators are required to give notice for flights within five miles of an airport to both the airport operator and air traffic control tower, if the airport has a tower. However, recreational operations are not permitted in Class B airspace around most major airports without specific air traffic permission and coordination.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/where_to_fly/airspace_restrictions/

Wes1977 Posted at 2017-9-21 05:42
By the FAA they don't want you to contact towers, military, parks or airports.  They want you to get waivers from the faa directly.

Even though this is from FAA i don't think they want you to contact other people.

By the FAA they don't want you to contact towers, military, parks or airports.

I'm not sure how "military, parks" came into the discussion, but the FAA most certainly does want you to contact towers and airports . . . as indicated in the very text you copied from their web site. What did you think "give notice" means? Post something on Craigslist?

They want you to get waivers from the faa directly.

FAA waivers are issued for 107 flights, not recreational, which is what this discussion is about.

Even though this is from FAA i don't think they want you to contact other people.

Am I to understand that even though it says you have to "give notice" (or "contact" in other places) people that you're claiming they don't want you to contact anyone?

Does the airmap app or aother one do the job to the FAAs liking? Or is there a more recommended process? It would seem calling might not be a reliable or efficient solution.

Tdiggity Posted at 2017-9-21 06:41
Does the airmap app or aother one do the job to the FAAs liking? Or is there a more recommended process? It would seem calling might not be a reliable or efficient solution.

The FAA doesn't specify how to accomplish the notification and it really can't since it covers such a large number and variety of airports and heliports. If it's possible to provide notification to all the relevant airports and control towers through Airmap then I'd guess that would be considered sufficient by the FAA.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-9-21 06:04
By the FAA they don't want you to contact towers, military, parks or airports.

I'm not sure how "military, parks" came into the discussion, but the FAA most certainly does want you to contact towers and airports . . . as indicated in the very text you copied from their web site. What did you think "give notice" means? Post something on Craigslist?

Your right.  didn't know that was diffrent for recreational

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-9-21 06:51
The FAA doesn't specify how to accomplish the notification and it really can't since it covers such a large number and variety of airports and heliports. If it's possible to provide notification to all the relevant airports and control towers through Airmap then I'd guess that would be considered sufficient by the FAA.

I guess my real question is, for a seasoned flier like you with 3mill plus flight distance, how do you inform the appropriate agencies? In Cali it is a needle in a haystack type situation to find a location without some sort of air control. With big cities and buildings and hospitals with helopads to agricultural helo and fixed wing runways all the way to interantional aairport nd USAF bases all around. I just want to comply without spending 10x the time reporting the flight then the actual flight tme.  Ill domwhat i gotta do but im looking for some experienced advice.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-9-21 04:19
If you live that close to an airport, just outside of no-fly zone, the common sense thing to do is stay below 100 feet..

While i tend to agree....my first neighborhood flight was specifically to do a height check. For me its above 120ft. The highest tree around me within 3/4 mile  (my line of sight lmit) is 115ft. There are bunch at that approx hight. So i plan on staying between 120-150 if i fly at home. However i will go higher if i can legally report my flight and there are no apparent dangers. I think a 400ft view of my area would be pretty cool in every direction. From snow capped sierras to the east to the Sacramento skyline to the west.

Tdiggity Posted at 2017-9-21 08:05
I guess my real question is, for a seasoned flier like you with 3mill plus flight distance, how do you inform the appropriate agencies? In Cali it is a needle in a haystack type situation to find a location without some sort of air control. With big cities and buildings and hospitals with helopads to agricultural helo and fixed wing runways all the way to interantional aairport nd USAF bases all around. I just want to comply without spending 10x the time reporting the flight then the actual flight tme.  Ill domwhat i gotta do but im looking for some experienced advice.

I guess my real question is, for a seasoned flier like you with 3mill plus flight distance, how do you inform the appropriate agencies? In Cali it is a needle in a haystack type situation to find a location without some sort of air control.

It's a very good question and one that I think is wrestled with by everybody who takes the regulations seriously, but unfortunately there's not a simple answer and I'm not sure there ever will be. Yes, AirMap has a (somewhat limited) automated notification system, but the chances are slim they'll ever be able to get contact information for every heliport and every dirt strip that somebody calls an "airport".

Assuming that you plan to regularly fly in a given area it's probably worthwhile to try contacting each relevant airport / control tower at least once. My guess is that you'll either be unable to reach anyone at all, or they'll tell you that they don't care as long as you're flying below 400 feet and not near them, say within a mile or two.

In any case, once you've at least tried contacting them I think you'll be in a much better position to decide how you want to handle the FAA's notification requirement going forward. Let's just say that I think there's a lot more flying going on out there than there is notifying, and I've yet to hear of even one person getting in any trouble with the FAA just for failing to perform the appropriate notifications.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-9-21 13:34
I guess my real question is, for a seasoned flier like you with 3mill plus flight distance, how do you inform the appropriate agencies? In Cali it is a needle in a haystack type situation to find a location without some sort of air control.

It's a very good question and one that I think is wrestled with by everybody who takes the regulations seriously, but unfortunately there's not a simple answer and I'm not sure there ever will be. Yes, AirMap has a (somewhat limited) automated notification system, but the chances are slim they'll ever be able to get contact information for every heliport and every dirt strip that somebody calls an "airport".

Thank you Sir