Will be up in Marthas vineyard next week. Obama decided to come early and now I cant fly at all while up there.

Call the White House an tell them to reschedule. Kidding aside sorry to hear that man, if it was me I would be cursing up a storm and cancel it and go somewhere else, nothing stops me from having my one on one time with my phantom which my wife someday is going to smash it in pieces.

We booked the ferry tickets 2 months ago at $120 each way non-refundable. Plus submitted much needed vacation time with work. Ill call them tomorrow morning and complain

Curious as to specifics? What do you know about flying around other parts of the island. How will they know? Did they warn you?

I believe the no fly zone will be as big as the one on top of Washington, D.C., yeah complain and tell them to find you another time and or a discount or to cancel without penalty.

theres a 30 nautical mile flight restriction which covers the entire island....plus I won't be the idiot who decides to sneak around the rules, get caught, and be on the news monday about how i created a huge security scare.....no thanks

My friend, Gabe R, call the Secret Service Presidential detail either before you go or after you arrive and simply ask them to come to your place and inspect your P3. They WILL comply and may ask you for a demonstration. They will ask you not to fly around the President's location and for you to call before and after flying. They are just working folks pretty similar to you and get really bored on their details, so will probably be happy for the variation.  Your possible outcomes are simply yes or no - my guess is a yes, with a few easy strings. They generally know who they work for (you), and are a friendly but professional lot.

Just be open and honest, and confident (not apologetic or sheepish) - be real. Tell them your name, where you live, and what you plan on doing and when that will be. Tell them you understand the restrictions, but ask them to make an exeption with the limitations you have in mind. Tell them you invite them take a look at your model (emphasize that rather than "drone") and that you would be happy for them to be on hand when you fly line of sight.  I'm pretty sure, they will not put you in jail or tell you to leave the island.  They will probably get a kick out of the whole thing, as will you.

That said, please tell us where to see the videos when you get back home from the vacation. Good luck.

use the term "aerial camera". gets em every time

My thought is that while taking the P3 with you and doing some flying on vacation is  nice,  if not doing so has "ruined" your vacation you need to  plan a better vacation or find more interests so you can enjoy life a little more.

aeriallens@gmai Posted at 2015-8-8 12:05
My friend, Gabe R, call the Secret Service Presidential detail either before you go or after you arr ...

Not going to happen.

If by chance someone does fly a quad other than a little kiddies version somewhere on the other side of the island, get a good lawyer and be prepared to be on national TV as "that crazy drone pilot".

Gabe R Posted at 2015-8-8 10:13
theres a 30 nautical mile flight restriction which covers the entire island....plus I won't be the i ...

Gabe, It's too late now, but in the future purchase travel insurance.

I had a photo project that I planned for close to a year. Shelled out $15k for rentals and materials, filed flight plans with the FAA in months in advance, only to be shut down by the Secret Service 4 hours before start time. I was told numerous times that it was a national security event and there was nothing I could do.

The Secret Service is not your friend.

Hmmmm...well, I have done this twice in the not to distant past with my F550 (good size hexacopter - with DJI's NAZA stabilization - along with a small Nikon camera). First time, I asked and had some hurdles to jump over and hoops to jump through. The second time was a breeze. Worked just as I said above. I recommend you at least give it a try or you will never know for sure.  Sounds like they are very likely these days to say No....but, maybe....?

What the Service likes is knowing things upfront, NOT being blind-sided and finding things out after the fact.
If you have the time and other resources, you can always run over to Nantucket island or up to Provincetown.

aeriallens@gmai Posted at 2015-8-9 00:40
Hmmmm...well, I have done this twice in the not to distant past with my F550 (good size hexacopter - ...

Was this exemption granted before the rash of Drones and the gyrocopter breaching restricted airspace?

I ask, as I used to see people bringing their kids to the National Mall and flying the toy drones on a regular basis. Same for the Tidal Basin and the Lincoln Memorial. Not anymore. Those venues are National Parks Service controlled.

A few months back, the airspace restrictions around Washington DC was enlarged to 16.5 miles of Regan National AIrport.

gregg1r Posted at 2015-8-9 01:09
Was this exemption granted before the rash of Drones and the gyrocopter breaching restricted airsp ...

No, Sir. One in 2011 and the other was 2013, before most of the silliness and irresponsible flying. Apparently plenty has changed. I was bred and raised decades ago in the Langley area of McLean - only about 8 miles away from National Airport (Ronald Reagan), so that sucks. Far different USA then. Better then, I think.

AerialLens Posted at 2015-8-9 01:13
No, Sir. One in 2011 and the other was 2013, before most of the silliness and irresponsible flying. ...

And how exactly would you contact them. Most likely I won't even go thru the hassle unless I think of some awesome video or photos that need to be taken.

I'm so glad i live in a free country with no president (:

Gabe R Posted at 2015-8-9 07:01
And how exactly would you contact them. Most likely I won't even go thru the hassle unless I think ...

My approach would be to go to their website for the field office phone numbers, at http://www.secretservice [DOT] gov/field_offices.shtml , and call whatever is closest in Massachusetts. If they can't help you at the number listed, maybe you could ask them who/what the appropriate contact should be.

Thank you VERY much for this post!  My wife and I will be in Hyannis next week and I had NO IDEA there was a TFR from 8/7-8/23 within a 30 nautical mile radius of Martha's Vineyard!   I had every intention of bringing my drone and catching some great aerial shots of Cape Cod, but cannot be this year.

For those interested, here is the TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) notice:   TFR Notice Matrha's Vineyard

Key section for us:
H. The following operations are not authorized within this TFR: flight training, practice instrument approaches, aerobatic flight, glider operations, seaplane operations, parachute operations, ultralight, hang gliding, balloon operations, agriculture/crop dusting, animal population control flight operations, banner towing operations, sightseeing operations, maintenance test flights, model aircraft operations, model rocketry, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and utility and pipeline survey operations.