Hi folks,

Background

I'm in the middle of shooting a documentary of my home town, Hickory, NC, and areas that are indigneous to my city. This is not a commercial effort, just artistic.

One of the shots coming soon is going to be at a Minor League baseball stadium (holds several thousand) during a practice. This has already been cleared by the Administrative office of the team.

The stadium is located about 1000 ft away from the start of one of the runways for a regional airport. The stadium also sits downhill from the airport. with the stadium lights' height reaching 50ft or more below the level of the runway.

If I were to fly no higher than the stadium lights for my footage then technically, no aircraft would be put in jeaopardy.

But, I don't want to be made an example. And since there are no legal standards fully in place as of yet, I decided to reach out to any and everyone I could think of, and at least make sure we were all communicating.

FAA, Air Tower, Flight Standards District Office


I first called the airport who put me in touch with the Air Tower manager. While he said they had no issue with me getting footage close by, he suggested calling the FAA. He was also very appreciative of the call to let them know of nearby operation of a drone.

So I called the FAA, and after a maze of prompts, got put in touch with FAA Security. I want to say the fellow I spoke with, Chris, was also extremely friendly and helpful. It was not the witch hunt against drone operators as I was expecting. He also saw no issue with what I was wanting to do- but he suggested (as did the Air Tower) that I get in touch with the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO).

So I called the FSDO this morning. While I haven't got my response from them yet (in all fairness, the President is visiting Charlotte today, so they had their hands full), it is seeming that as long as everyone is talking and using common sense, that the FAA and FSDO will work with you as long as you're working with them.

I will keep everyone posted within this thread as to the final outcome.

Commercial use

While speaking with the FAA, I asked the agent about folks who have drones and who are using them commercially anyway. He stated that he hasn't seen that much commotion about it except for other 'drone operator whistle blowers' who are reporting their competitors, mainly in Real Estate.

Anyway- food for thought.
Chad

Thank you for posting this and if I may add, an AWESOME display of how responsible pilots operate.

So glad to hear the positives!!!

This is a good post and topic.

Good to hear. I am doing a similar deal for for the league that I am on the board of directors for in my area with shoots scheduled every Friday for the next 6 weeks for a league impact video. There is a very small airport that actually was only added to a no fly zone about 2.5 miles from the stadium and I contacted them last week, however they have no control tower so there was an association I needed to contact so I went to their office and there was a handful of guys in there and I wanted to let them know that I was going to be in the area on the certain dates as well.

I notified them of the times and gave them details ( maximum flight area, maximum altitude etc). Most of them were really responsive and appreciative of the respect level to let them know as they are all private pilots and some of these planes don't have advanced radar etc on them. However there was 2 guys in the office that were not very happy about it. However they understood the laws and also realized that I didnt need to be there as I am outside of the listed nofly zone and simply asked me to fly smart and safe.

The other guys in the office also, realizing that I am local and most likely going to be doing a lot more flights on our small town brought out their maps and gave me all the details of their flight patterns in and out of the airport as well as key altitude markers that they focus on for take off and approach out of that facility.

Simply enough, take the time to talk with local flight authority as it is recommended by the FAA. These guys mostly will appreciate it and respect it as well as it will most certainly help give a better image to the drone community as not being a bunch of boneheads that we get to see the reports on the news about.

Chad,
I am in Lake Wylie and work just north of Gastonia.  We need to get together and fly sometime!
Thad

OK- FSDO just called. Super, super nice. But very matter-of-fact about what is "supposed" to followed.

But in a nutshell, I got the 'nod' for doing the shoot, provided that I keep in contact with the Tower whenever I'm shooting.

Thad- awesome! My drone is in the shop at the DJI repair center.. hope to see it very soon, though. I'm all up for a dual flight! Let's coordinate soon and make it happen- infoshow@chadaustin.com

Chad,

Thank you for this detailed report of what you had to go through to fly.  Are you a licensed pilot by chance, or strictly a drone pilot?  I know that there are some Drone Pilot classes in the works (non publicly that I'm aware) but wondering if you being a pilot (if you were) was why they allowed you verses or non-licensed pilots.  I haven't contacted the tower yet in my area, but trying to research before I do to know what is happening to other areas of the USA.  I also am very upset that DJI took it into their hands to lock down the drones especially once you can have approval from the FAA/Tower to fly in the no-fly zones.

The problem will be getting firmware that will actually let you fly there.

I believe once you have a gps lock, the inspire will not let you take off or even start the motors in gps or atti.

KGarrison and Rschutte3, you are both exactly right on these facts.  Luckily, I'm on an older version of the firmware so I'm still able to take off (not tried much higher) in the no fly zones in my area.  I wish that the FAA (or someone) and DJI would come up with something like this company has done in the UK, http://www.heliguy.com/blog/2015/08/19/dji-go-no-fly-zones/.

@ChadAustin thanks for the post. I really appreciate the thread and it was interested. Most smaller airports are super nice. I have a buddy that fly's for the BIG guys. A lot of times you just call and advise them and you should be fine. But I always say flying far above can take down a jet in a matter of seconds.

So, are most people having good results from their local regional towers?  Anyone in Alabama have any results from their towers?  I've not called yet, but I've been told by people with the airport administration (not the FAA or tower) that the tower is just going to tell me not to fly it.  If I'm getting good feelings from all of you, I'll give the FSDO and the tower a call.  What can they do, tell me no?

ChadAustin Posted at 2015-4-15 14:41
OK- FSDO just called. Super, super nice. But very matter-of-fact about what is "supposed" to followe ...

Sorry for going off topic, but you need some footage of John Reep if you're doing a documentary of Hickory!  One of my favorite standup comedians.  The original "Metro Jethro."

wingingit Posted at 2015-9-29 10:14
Sorry for going off topic, but you need some footage of John Reep if you're doing a documentary of ...

Yes, he's great isn't he? John is a friend of mine.

Keep us updated.