The radio is line of sight just like the command link to your aircraft. If you can see it, you can talk to it. You use your registration number which IS your tail number.
FAA DroneZone - first experience - some questions
- Thread starter Mavic Mac
- Start date
COAs are the way to go unless you don't mind a grueling vetting process by the FAA. Unless the waiver is professionally prepared, chances are it will be kicked back one or more times until you get it right. For a class delta COA you need to request a minimum of one year if not two years if possible. The FAA is more inclined to offer longer extensions the longer you maintain it (or so it appears from my experience).
It will be so much easier when a
Two of the major cities around CEF make things even more difficult. Chicopee, MA where CEF is located will only let you land or take off from a property you own, have permission from or from a city park. Holyoke, MA is the same but won't let you take off or land from any city owned property. I don't know how those ordinances are even legal.
At least the FAA seems to be making a lot of progress with LAANC, they added a ton of additional airports on Sept 24th. So much more convenient than having to e-mail ATC the day prior.
Mike
Two of the major cities around CEF make things even more difficult. Chicopee, MA where CEF is located will only let you land or take off from a property you own, have permission from or from a city park. Holyoke, MA is the same but won't let you take off or land from any city owned property. I don't know how those ordinances are even legal.
At least the FAA seems to be making a lot of progress with LAANC, they added a ton of additional airports on Sept 24th. So much more convenient than having to e-mail ATC the day prior.
Mike
The FAA controls airspace. The city, county and state control the ground. It is well within their right to dictate how that land is used. They can (and do) restrict where you can take off or land. They can not prevent you from taking off from private property (that you own or have the legal right to use) and overflying their holdings. That falls under the FAA's jurisdiction.
Certainly you cannot trespass on someones private property to take off and land. I get that, however there are a lot of issues that still need to be resolved in courts. Originally navigable airspace was at or above 500 feet, there is some precedent that the land owner owns air above his land which would mean that the FAA may not have the authority to allow use below that or at least at some below some level such as 200'. That would certainly put an end to all drone use though. I also think that by all together prohibiting take off and landing from all public areas may be looked at as constitutional violations of free speech, for example if you wanted to take photos or videos to safely document a public event. They also go so far as to say you are not allowed to take pictures or videos of people at all without their consent and documentation that you keep for 7 years.
All you need to be concerned about is where you take off and land from and that is governed by local ordinance. Once you leave the ground you fall into the National Airspace and that is governed by the FAA. That holds for all UAS flights which is what we are talking about here. FAA regulations span the National Airspace throughout CONUS. Local, county and state ordinances are a localized issue and vary widely.
Confusing the issue with free speech (which has absolutely nothing to do with the issue raised) and how you operate your aircraft in the National Airspace is just disjointed thinking. I think we need to get back to the topic the OP originally wanted information on instead of allowing this to go down a completely unrelated rabbit hole....
Aerial Edge
Well-Known Member
I was on Drone Zone last night, It mentioned you can only request a COA for 6 months, anything over 6 months would require a waiver. I have not attempted to submit one yet until I get my daytime waiver back. They already tried to tell me I already had one. Apparently there is another company with the same name as mine on the west coast. It not me nor my company, I had to submit comments to them and its now under review. If that is the case and a COA can only be submitted for 6 month I may just do a COA and keep renewing it.
The biggest concern in my area is Military Helicopter that like to fly low. When I fly on the edge of the class D in the back yard or my field I use the beacon on the M2E, even in daylight.
If you are filing via FAA Drone Zone I don't see anything that indicates you need to file for a waiver for controlled airspace authorization if the period is longer than 6 months. That doesn't make sense. A COA is just a request to operate within controlled airspace. A waiver is for deviating from the regulations. If you sole intent is operating within controlled airspace under the given regulatory structure then a COA is all you need and that can certainly be obtained for a period longer than 6 months. My previous two filings for DTO and RBD (both Class D airspace) were both issued for two years each.
Aerial Edge
Well-Known Member
I went back in to look and I am not sure where I saw that, since I am not seeing that now. I do remember that phrase at the bottom of the Airspace Waiver that said not to file for a waiver unless instructed to by the emerging technologies branch. I was mistaken, I even went into the page to file for an authorization and it indeed will let you go for 24 months. Thank you for clarifying that!
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