While we are allowed to fly within a few miles of airports, the FAA now requires that pilots contact control towers if flying within 5 miles of an airport. I have already adopted this practice/requirement, and I even created a flight log sheet so I can track when I called the control tower and with whom I have spoken. In addition, I tend to call the control tower back upon completion of flight time just as a courtesy. As I look at upcoming locations to fly and film, I see that there will be a need to contact more control towers / airports. As a result, I have started to create a list of airports with a list of each airport's main contact person and control tower phone number. However, when calling to do this leg work early on, I am finding difficulty finding the best numbers to call for some airports. In fact, I am finding it even more difficult to track down the best phone numbers to control towers at the MAJOR airports out there. When calling some of these airports, I have come across some dumbfounded people, and this becomes a bit perplexing. So, do you have any tips? Does the FAA have some master phone number that you can call? Have you found that most control towers just prefer your address? Your GPS coordinates? I know that most ask me how high I plan to fly, and I usually always keep it below 300 feet just as a buffer.

What are your thoughts on this new[ish] matter?

Hi Coasteraddict... I agree that some of the tower folks were taken by surprise when i followed the procedure of the FAA's Advisory Circular (AC No. 91-57A).  My experience with the same FAA Tower has been spotty... ranging from a casual response from the FAA person "OK" to actual resistance.  I'm confused... but I too suggest noting the contact information whenever contacting the towers.  

I also urge pilots/operators to spend lots of time on the FAA uav site because they are the authority.. and I've seen DJI have poor interpretive abitliy when it comes to representing FAA FARs.   Point in question was that the 5 mile restriction was not and still think it is not properly reflected on the DJI site.

FAA should provide the contact list. You may need to try raise the question in FAA site.

DJI_Pope Posted at 2015-11-30 17:13
Hi Coasteraddict... I agree that some of the tower folks were taken by surprise when i followed the  ...

Hi, Pope, Pls revise your user nickname, it shouldn't contain 'DJI' since you may confusing other members. Thanks.

DJI.Terry Posted at 2015-12-2 02:17
Hi, Pope, Pls revise your user nickname, it shouldn't contain 'DJI' since you may confusing other m ...

Mr DJI.Terry... pleased be advised that I will not change my name.  My name was allowed when I signed up and My name DJI_Pope is different than your DJI.(dot) Terry.  To disprove your hypothesis that I am confusing other members... NOT... I've never had any comments, questions or indications from ANYONE that they thought I was a DJI representative.  Petty issue by the way... Don't know what your authority or title or pay status is in DJI but... seems to me your resources would have been better focused on helping me with my issue of not being able to fly my DJI product due to a defective update (2.4.1).  The latest update to 2.4.2 go app fixed it!  No thanks to you!!

One final comment... had DJI been on the ball with the software updates many members would not have suffered the loss of use of their birds due to the 2.4.1 debacle.  Same holds true for my nickname... had dji forum rules stated and not allowed the DJI prefix it would have not allowed it!!!

As it pertains to the 6 mile rule, my understanding is that the rule is that we just have to notify the control tower. I am sure there is a rule for flight as well, and I know those are embedded into the DJI Go App for pilots to see.

I left a voice message for somebody at the local FSDO, so we shall see what happens!

1) I was directed to a 'security' officer for a park heliport.
2) Just used my address. - or a cross street since I'm flying on an empty lot. I did give my distance to the heliport (2.8miles) and my expected altitude 200' AGL.
3) Reaction was, the camp parks district in Dublin, California were in the process of implementing a type of suppressor which prevents 2.4 and 5.8 signals from going through once over their property - so I guess RTH procedures would initiate if this were to happen.
4) otherwise, he did say it was ok to fly within my parameters.

Greater awareness is great for both sides in this debate. The more the airport people are aware of responsible drone pilots, the better it is for everyone. Overall it was a good experience.