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Flying in a National Park

philsmith76

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So I know the standard that we have always known is that flying in National Parks is not allowed. We all learned before our 107 test that flight under 2000’ was not allowed and take off and landings in a National Park is undisputed. However specifics of flight under 2000’ in a National Park is what I would like know about. When I look at 7-4-6 b of http://tfmlearning.faa.gov/publications/atpubs/AIM/Chap7/aim0704.html it seems a suggestion to be above 2000’AGL. These faa suggestions were marked in the past on the sectionals for instance around Yosemite but are not currently there(as far as I can see)

Now if you happen to look at AirMap app you will see very specific borders around National Parks and now all kinds of other “National” sites like wildlife refuges or cementaries. Many places you zoom in on show red polygons around them. Many of these small areas are not listed on sectionals. If you visit them in person you might be hard pressed to actually see them clearly marked with signage stating they are national park type property. So are we to rely on a third party non faa app to give us direction? If we were to mistakenly over fly such an area the up to $10k fine would be a real bummer.
 
Now if you happen to look at AirMap app you will see very specific borders around National Parks and now all kinds of other “National” sites like wildlife refuges or cementaries.

AirMap is not the source for official airspace information in the US, though they love it when you think so.

Stick to sectionals, NOTAMs and the FAA's arcgis page.
 
Wow thanks for pointing me to Home | Federal Aviation Administration - Unmanned Aircraft System it’s a terrific alternative to airmap. Clearly Military installations are marked but national parks are not marked on it. Thus only the recommendation it seems. There are some stories of people getting fined for 1k for flying in yellow stone. However i beleive that’s more for takeoff/landing. I’m not looking to go make a park ranger angry but just wanted to know the specifics regarding the law and if it truly is an area that you cannot flyover.
 
AirMap is not the source for official airspace information in the US, though they love it when you think so.

Stick to sectionals, NOTAMs and the FAA's arcgis page.

Airmap wants to become the authority on airspace. They may succeed with non 107 hobby types but we know better. As Dave said, Sectionals are the official airspace reference source in US aviation.
 
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As stated earlier current sectional charts are the authority not airmap, hover or any others
 
It doesn't really matter what the official sectionals say though because as long as DJI uses the Airmap, maps, in their control apps, then they are restricting us to those maps and not the official sectionals. Personally I think someone should file a class action against them for trying to prohibit or inhibit us from flying in areas that we as 107 pilots are authorized to fly. With their latest update of maps I am now locked down in my own back yard, a place I have flow for the past two years without needing any authorization that is in Class G airspace (according to the official sectional charts) and were I am not required by anyone other than DJI to get authorization to fly. Now I have seen a survey out that they appear to be trying to get us to pay for them to unlock aircraft whenever we need to fly in somewhere we are legally authorized to fly, but DJI and Airmap think we should not.
 
It doesn't really matter what the official sectionals say though because as long as DJI uses the Airmap, maps, in their control apps, then they are restricting us to those maps and not the official sectionals. Personally I think someone should file a class action against them for trying to prohibit or inhibit us from flying in areas that we as 107 pilots are authorized to fly. With their latest update of maps I am now locked down in my own back yard, a place I have flow for the past two years without needing any authorization that is in Class G airspace (according to the official sectional charts) and were I am not required by anyone other than DJI to get authorization to fly. Now I have seen a survey out that they appear to be trying to get us to pay for them to unlock aircraft whenever we need to fly in somewhere we are legally authorized to fly, but DJI and Airmap think we should not.

And the only organization with the horsepower to take on DJI is DOJ, when not busy chasing Russians.
 
Why can’t Dji find a way to exempt 107 pilots after seeing your certification and drone commercial registration
 
Why can’t Dji find a way to exempt 107 pilots after seeing your certification and drone commercial registration

DJI manufactures UASs. They need to stick to that. If the FAA needs their help, I'm sure they will ask. Until then, they need to concentrate on something they actual know something about; manufacturing UASs, and leave the regulating to the agency responsible for it.
 
The more I fly my Yuneec H520 (with no airspace restrictions) the more I like it. It's nice making $$ and not having to worry about a new NFZ popping up out of clear air suddenly :)
I was going to say... YUNEEC lets you remove the NFZ if you have your part 107 number. I had mine removed without even talking to a person. I thought I wanted a DJI drone, but I'm not sure now. To mary cons for me. Maybe in the future.
 
I was going to say... YUNEEC lets you remove the NFZ if you have your part 107 number. I had mine removed without even talking to a person. I thought I wanted a DJI drone, but I'm not sure now. To mary cons for me. Maybe in the future.

We went to with the H520 that doesn’t have them to begin with which was a plus.

I agree, we have approximately 9 DJI units and right now the H520 is the work horse getting about 75% of my flight time. For Real Estate work I’m still using a Mavic Pro Platinum for portability reasons only.
 
We went to with the H520 that doesn’t have them to begin with which was a plus.

I agree, we have approximately 9 DJI units and right now the H520 is the work horse getting about 75% of my flight time. For Real Estate work I’m still using a Mavic Pro Platinum for portability reasons only.
Oh, I didn't know that it didn't have the NFZ on it. I agree on the Mavic pro, very portable. I'd like to get one.
 
Oh, I didn't know that it didn't have the NFZ on it......

I've only flown this unit at KAVL but it gave no warnings or anything flying within Class CHARLIE around KAVL (with an authorization already in hand). It's nice to just fire it up and go without even worrying about DJI's heavy handed app.

The H520 is built for Commercial Ops so it doesn't have a lot of the "fun/fancy" features but it's also not there to keep us from getting the job done. The responsibility of flying when/where it's safe falls squarely on the operator's shoulders which is how it should be for a professional operation.
 
I've only flown this unit at KAVL but it gave no warnings or anything flying within Class CHARLIE around KAVL (with an authorization already in hand). It's nice to just fire it up and go without even worrying about DJI's heavy handed app.

The H520 is built for Commercial Ops so it doesn't have a lot of the "fun/fancy" features but it's also not there to keep us from getting the job done. The responsibility of flying when/where it's safe falls squarely on the operator's shoulders which is how it should be for a professional operation.

The entire point of being certified is using the same tools at hand available to all pilots....sectional charts and an in-depth knowledge of the regs. Armed with that, you don't need an app to determine where it is legal and safe to fly....apps are just tools to reinforce what you already should know, and they aren't that great a tool to rely on.
 
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