My First COA approved!

[MavicMapper]

I’m excited to announce that my first airspace authorization was approved! I must give kudos to the FAA because they processed my request in 3 business days. I may have “nudged” then by calling a couple times, but they came through for me in a short timeframe.

It was just a simple Class D authorization with the lowest grid altitude being 50ft. No LAANC available at this facility. They also gave me authorization for the entire Class D and not just my AOI.

Not sure what your experience has been, but I am pleased with the expediency of the process, at least for this simple authorization.

 

[Hawaii Drone Imaging]

Congrats!! The first couple I did for Class D took about 1 week or so. They gave me 2 year time frames. After that, it only took a few days also. I guess the more they see your name pop up and you have no incidents reported, they feel you are conducting safe ops and expedite things for you maybe.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Congrats! That's a big step and now that you've got one "under your belt" so to speak, the next ones should be cake.

I've got one in now that went to "Under Review" today. It's a tricky one for Surface Class E in Killeen, Texas, with a couple AAF's and Fort Hood's Restricted space adjacent to it. <Fingers Crossed!>

 

[DronePhD]

I’m excited to announce that my first airspace authorization was approved! I must give kudos to the FAA because they processed my request in 3 business days. I may have “nudged” then by calling a couple times, but they came through for me in a short timeframe.

It was just a simple Class D authorization with the lowest grid altitude being 50ft. No LAANC available at this facility. They also gave me authorization for the entire Class D and not just my AOI.

Not sure what your experience has been, but I am pleased with the expediency of the process, at least for this simple authorization.

Bucket List complete?? Lol.
Did they give a long term time frame too? I still remember the day I received my first Wide Area for two years without even asking... ahhhh, memories!

-Dr.Drone

 

[Fred Garvin]

Mine got approved....they changed the max altitude to 400’ and made it good for 2 years. They also included a sharp reminder that flights or photography of Fort Hood will not be tolerated.

 

[Mavic Mac]

Just curious if when you received your authorization if being in radio contact, if requested, with the ATC tower was a requirement ?

 

[Fred Garvin]

No, there is no requirement to contact anyone. I can fly at will within the airspace abiding published altitude limits on the grid. Only under Emergency/Contingency Procedures am I required to contact Gray AAF ARAC in the event of lost link or fly away.

 

[MavicMapper]

Yes, they granted my COA for 24 months. Which I won’t need for this particular project, but maybe I’ll have additional projects there in the future.

And no, they did not specify the need to contact ATC or anyone at the airport. Although I typically notify airport operations when I am in close proximity to an airfield anyway.

 

[R Martin]

Yes, they granted my COA for 24 months. Which I won’t need for this particular project, but maybe I’ll have additional projects there in the future.

And no, they did not specify the need to contact ATC or anyone at the airport. Although I typically notify airport operations when I am in close proximity to an airfield anyway.

We set up a letter of agreement with my local airpatch. We agreed to a contact routine and they waived the agreement after two years. We file NOTAMs for every flight so they get the notification anyway.