Hello,


I got a DJI Mavic Mini this past December and reaching out to the community to see if anybody can provide any helpful information on where to legally fly in the LA area.


Thanks

I am also in the LA area (Glendora).  I can fly around my neighborhood, although if I go very far east I run into the Brackett airport Class D airspace.  As you have noticed, there are a bunch of airports around the basin, so that does restrict it some.  Believe it or not, my first day flying was about a mile south of LAX at two different parks in El Segundo.  Turns out that there is an odd notch to the south of LAX that made it legal.  Took a friend and I a good hour to confirm that that little chuck of airspace was not actively in their class D.  I can give more details on that if desired.
Other than that, I have flown at a couple of radio sites - one in Montebello and one in Whittier and one in the San Gabriel mountains north of San Dimas.  I took a camping trip in October into the way back county of the desert eat of Red Mountain, and did a bunch of flying there.  That was nice because there was zero WiFi interference!
Where are you in the LA basin?

Hello there DroneNoob1975. Good day and thank you for posting these information here at DJI Forum. For additional reference I will post a link where in you can check the said location if it is free to fly your DJI Drone or if the said location is a no fly zone. Thank you and fly safe always.

https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map

Have you used kitty hawk to check or I know the faa has a app they recommend...most parks won’t let you fly in them , government places etc

K6CCC Posted at 3-2 18:38
I am also in the LA area (Glendora).  I can fly around my neighborhood, although if I go very far east I run into the Brackett airport Class D airspace.  As you have noticed, there are a bunch of airports around the basin, so that does restrict it some.  Believe it or not, my first day flying was about a mile south of LAX at two different parks in El Segundo.  Turns out that there is an odd notch to the south of LAX that made it legal.  Took a friend and I a good hour to confirm that that little chuck of airspace was not actively in their class D.  I can give more details on that if desired.
Other than that, I have flown at a couple of radio sites - one in Montebello and one in Whittier and one in the San Gabriel mountains north of San Dimas.  I took a camping trip in October into the way back county of the desert eat of Red Mountain, and did a bunch of flying there.  That was nice because there was zero WiFi interference!
Where are you in the LA basin?

Thanks for reaching out!  I live in Studio City about 5 minutes from Universal Studios.  I've made a quick outing to a park and a outing to a spot in Burbank to take some photos of an aircraft on static display, but since then I've been very hesitant to go out again, because it just seems too easy to make a very expensive (rule breaking) mistake.  It seems to me that rules are being drafted to basically make it impossible to fly, and it's really frustrating.

There's an RC field in Van Nuys that has a drone area, but it is what is called an FAA 0 Altitude area and apparently I need written authorization from someone at the Van Nuys airport to submit to DJI just to fly at this field.  

When you mention "radio sites" do you mean RC flying fields?

Thanks Again,

CP

RenegadeCowboyAZ Posted at 3-3 16:41
Have you used kitty hawk to check or I know the faa has a app they recommend...most parks won’t let you fly in them , government places etc

I recently downloaded AirMap and KittyHawk and I'm planning on scouting out a few potential areas in the next couple of weeks...really hoping to get my Mavic in the air.

DroneNoob1975 Posted at 3-3 18:17
I recently downloaded AirMap and KittyHawk and I'm planning on scouting out a few potential areas in the next couple of weeks...really hoping to get my Mavic in the air.

That will be really cool...I hope it works out for you ...Keep us updated if you can

DroneNoob1975 Posted at 3-3 18:15
Thanks for reaching out!  I live in Studio City about 5 minutes from Universal Studios.  I've made a quick outing to a park and a outing to a spot in Burbank to take some photos of an aircraft on static display, but since then I've been very hesitant to go out again, because it just seems too easy to make a very expensive (rule breaking) mistake.  It seems to me that rules are being drafted to basically make it impossible to fly, and it's really frustrating.

There's an RC field in Van Nuys that has a drone area, but it is what is called an FAA 0 Altitude area and apparently I need written authorization from someone at the Van Nuys airport to submit to DJI just to fly at this field.  

Yes, I know where Studio City is.  I work for the city of Glendale, although due to COVID, I have been working from home most of the time the past year.  The San Fernando Valley is tough because between Burbank and Van Nuys airports, almost all of the valley is in Class D airspace.

I am familiar with the RC field in Sepulveda basin.  I have been there years ago to watch RC jets fly a couple times.  Never flown there myself.  Someone else pointed you to the KittyHawk app.  That is what you use to get permission to fly.  Do a little research on local ordinances for the cities around you to see what might or might not be allowed./  Then use KittyHawk to see if you can get permission to fly.

When I refer to a radio site, I am talking about a two way radio site up on a mountain.  Look up at the Verdugo hills and you will see radio towers all along the ridgeline.  That kind of radio site.  I am a glorified radio technician.  All of the radio sites I was flying at, were sort of hobby related.  

obviously do what you want but the community no longer supports airmap (i deleted the app from all of my devices):  https://www.suasnews.com/2021/01 ... r-pay-gateway-here/

K6CCC Posted at 3-3 20:49
Yes, I know where Studio City is.  I work for the city of Glendale, although due to COVID, I have been working from home most of the time the past year.  The San Fernando Valley is tough because between Burbank and Van Nuys airports, almost all of the valley is in Class D airspace.

I am familiar with the RC field in Sepulveda basin.  I have been there years ago to watch RC jets fly a couple times.  Never flown there myself.  Someone else pointed you to the KittyHawk app.  That is what you use to get permission to fly.  Do a little research on local ordinances for the cities around you to see what might or might not be allowed./  Then use KittyHawk to see if you can get permission to fly.

Thank You for explaining about the radio sites.  I'm still kinda new to this general area, the only reason I know about the flying site in Van Nuys is my manager flys RC planes there.  He has a Mavic Air I believe and he was able to get permission through email and it took him only a few hours...which leads me to believe the airspace has gotten locked down in the past year.

The Saint Posted at 3-3 21:28
obviously do what you want but the community no longer supports airmap (i deleted the app from all of my devices):  https://www.suasnews.com/2021/01/sky-for-sale-get-your-pay-gateway-here/

Hmmm...good to know, Thank You.  I honestly like the KittyHawk UI better anyway.

DroneNoob1975 Posted at 3-3 18:15
Thanks for reaching out!  I live in Studio City about 5 minutes from Universal Studios.  I've made a quick outing to a park and a outing to a spot in Burbank to take some photos of an aircraft on static display, but since then I've been very hesitant to go out again, because it just seems too easy to make a very expensive (rule breaking) mistake.  It seems to me that rules are being drafted to basically make it impossible to fly, and it's really frustrating.

There's an RC field in Van Nuys that has a drone area, but it is what is called an FAA 0 Altitude area and apparently I need written authorization from someone at the Van Nuys airport to submit to DJI just to fly at this field.  

Yeah, Studio City and the Valley are tough areas to fly in.  In fact, LA County in general is difficult to find good legal spots.   You may want to look at parts of Griffith Park with your apps.  I live in La Crescenta which is north east of your location and now mostly fly in the San Gabriel mountains when I go mountain biking or hiking.   Here's a panorama looking south of the Verdugo Mountain range that I took a few weeks ago.  Your area would be behind the mountains to the right.

Enjoy and fly safe.

Occams Razor, you were up near Mt. Lukens for that one - likely not that far up the mountain however.

Nice picture!

K6CCC Posted at 3-4 16:24
Occams Razor, you were up near Mt. Lukens for that one - likely not that far up the mountain however.

Nice picture!

K6CCC,

Your description is impressively accurate.  I live in the foothills just southeast of Mt. Lukens  and the panorama was shot about 300 ft above my house.   I do frequent the Mt Lukens trail on my bike but have not taken my drone on that fire road.

Occams Razor Posted at 3-4 17:52
K6CCC,

Your description is impressively accurate.  I live in the foothills just southeast of Mt. Lukens  and the panorama was shot about 300 ft above my house.   I do frequent the Mt Lukens trail on my bike but have not taken my drone on that fire road.

I have been to Mt. Lukens many dozens of time - including several times during the Station fire.  We have a radio site up there.  I have never taken the drone to that site - yet.

K6CCC Posted at 3-4 17:57
I have been to Mt. Lukens many dozens of time - including several times during the Station fire.  We have a radio site up there.  I have never taken the drone to that site - yet.

Nice to see some local folks on the forum.  I worked in Glendora for 12 years.  We were on S Lone Hill Avenue just south of the Walmart and and north of the Costco.  Great location for running errands during lunch with those store and the shopping mall.   I didn't have a drone back then but did take a couple of bike rides off of Glendora Mountain Road which seems like a good place to fly.

Occams Razor Posted at 3-4 18:37
Nice to see some local folks on the forum.  I worked in Glendora for 12 years.  We were on S Lone Hill Avenue just south of the Walmart and and north of the Costco.  Great location for running errands during lunch with those store and the shopping mall.   I didn't have a drone back then but did take a couple of bike rides off of Glendora Mountain Road which seems like a good place to fly.

That's about a mile or so from my house.  I have been here for just under 30 years.  So I remember when they build the Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, etc.

K6CCC Posted at 3-2 18:38
I am also in the LA area (Glendora).  I can fly around my neighborhood, although if I go very far east I run into the Brackett airport Class D airspace.  As you have noticed, there are a bunch of airports around the basin, so that does restrict it some.  Believe it or not, my first day flying was about a mile south of LAX at two different parks in El Segundo.  Turns out that there is an odd notch to the south of LAX that made it legal.  Took a friend and I a good hour to confirm that that little chuck of airspace was not actively in their class D.  I can give more details on that if desired.
Other than that, I have flown at a couple of radio sites - one in Montebello and one in Whittier and one in the San Gabriel mountains north of San Dimas.  I took a camping trip in October into the way back county of the desert eat of Red Mountain, and did a bunch of flying there.  That was nice because there was zero WiFi interference!
Where are you in the LA basin?

Hello,

Just wanted to say Thank You for giving me info on the drone scene here in LA.  DJI made a mistake and they finally granted me a custom unlock for the Apollo 11 flying field.

RenegadeCowboyAZ Posted at 3-3 16:41
Have you used kitty hawk to check or I know the faa has a app they recommend...most parks won’t let you fly in them , government places etc

Hello,

After much hoop jumping, DJI realizing their mistake and granted me a custom unlock for the flying field I was actually trying to get into.  Thanks for the information about KittyHawk vs Airmap.

Occams Razor Posted at 3-4 13:05
Yeah, Studio City and the Valley are tough areas to fly in.  In fact, LA County in general is difficult to find good legal spots.   You may want to look at parts of Griffith Park with your apps.  I live in La Crescenta which is north east of your location and now mostly fly in the San Gabriel mountains when I go mountain biking or hiking.   Here's a panorama looking south of the Verdugo Mountain range that I took a few weeks ago.  Your area would be behind the mountains to the right.

Enjoy and fly safe.

I neglected to mention what an awesome shot this is.  DJI finally figured out what was what and granted me a custom unlock for the Apollo 11 flying field I was trying to get access to when I originally posted.

Thank You for providing the information you did.

DroneNoob1975 Posted at 3-7 18:05
Hello,

After much hoop jumping, DJI realizing their mistake and granted me a custom unlock for the flying field I was actually trying to get into.  Thanks for the information about KittyHawk vs Airmap.

That’s awesome news friend