I live in suburban Dayton which underlies a lot of serious military, airline and civilian traffic. I know it will be just a matter of time before there is a serious incident with an airplane and a drone. I believe they must remain 5 miles away from an airport and fly no higher that 400 feet AGL. I see this violated all the time. Just curious what is happening in other parts of the nation.

Larry

The 5 mile rule is that you must *contact* the tower or airport authority if you plan on flying within that radius. 400 feet is the altitude limit.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

Chris

Are they talking about any airport? Controlled, uncontrolled, private, etc.

Yes, any airport.

The link says:

"Remain well clear of and do not interfere with manned aircraft operations

Don't fly within 5 miles of an airport unless you contact the airport and control tower before flying"

You still have to see and avoid.

This changes if you fly a drone commercially. Then, you must have FAA authorization.

"The statutory parameters of a model aircraft operation are outlined in Section 336 of Public Law 112-95 (the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012) (PDF). Individuals who fly within the scope of these parameters do not require permission to operate their UAS; any flight outside these parameters (including any non-hobby, non-recreational operation) requires FAA authorization. For example, using a UAS to take photos for your personal use is recreational; using the same device to take photographs or videos for compensation or sale to another individual would be considered a non-recreational operation."

Chris,

If that is the case, that is being violated all the time. I personally live within 5 miles of Moraine Air Park which is an uncontrolled airport. I see drones flying all the time within that radius. I don't know if I've seen any above 400 feet, but lots out there and I can't believe any contacted airport manager (since no control tower, he would probable be the authority) for permission.

Larry

I think the whole "drone" hysteria is overblown by the media. The press is salivating to get the first drone and airplane collision.
Kevin

How familiar are you with R/C modeling and drones Larry?

I need to bookmark this link because I'm using it a lot lately. It's a 46% scale model of a Slick 540 (South African aerobatic monoplane) powered by a 19hp, 11lb, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, two-stroke gas engine swinging a 34-inch propeller getting drilled by an Acroduster Too. See NTSB Docket below.

http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitli ... 15A0C2A61A

No fatalities. This airplane weighed in the neighborhood of 40-45 pounds, depending on the buildout and equipment used. The engine in this model alone weighs over three times what a DJI Phantom weighs. These are one of the most prevalent multicopters on the market today.

See the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znCa-oCfacg

I have been around full-scale airplane my entire life...literally since birth. I am 30, have been flying over 20 years (with my family since birth), I have been flying R/C model airplanes for the last 17 years. I have worked in the R/C hobby industry in various capacities for the last six years. I currently fly drones for BNSF to for asset inspection/change detection/security.

I hope I'm not coming off as a haughty jackass. I'm more than happy to share anything and everything that I know about both worlds and how this isn't as big of a deal as one may be lead to believe, but I am telling you on good authority that this is way sensationalized.

I don't want to die in an airplane, particularly from a mid-air with an unmanned system. I don't want to go to prison for having a mid-air with an airplane flying an R/C airplane or helicopter or drone. I feel comfortable in my knowledge of how both worlds have worked and will continue to work to know that this will never happen.

FWIW - the 400 foot rule has been advised by the AMA since the early 1980s. There are R/C airplanes that fly at airports that fly way higher than that. Among other types of aircraft I fly, I fly airplanes similar to the R/C airplane in the video in precision aerobatic competition; mimicking IAC compulsory and unknown sequences. At the top of the aerobatic box, on a high line, I can be 1600ft AGL easily, and have had to discontinue sequences to avoid full-scale traffic that never saw me.

Common sense goes a long way.

How familiar are you with R/C modeling and drones Larry?

I need to bookmark this link because I'm using it a lot lately. It's a 46% scale model of a Slick 540 (South African aerobatic monoplane) powered by a 19hp, 11lb, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, two-stroke gas engine swinging a 34-inch propeller getting drilled by an Acroduster Too. See NTSB Docket below.

http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitli ... 15A0C2A61A

No fatalities. This airplane weighed in the neighborhood of 40-45 pounds, depending on the buildout and equipment used. The engine in this model alone weighs over three times what a DJI Phantom weighs. These are one of the most prevalent multicopters on the market today.

See the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znCa-oCfacg

I have been around full-scale airplane my entire life...literally since birth. I am 30, have been flying over 20 years (with my family since birth), I have been flying R/C model airplanes for the last 17 years. I have worked in the R/C hobby industry in various capacities for the last six years. I currently fly drones for BNSF to for asset inspection/change detection/security.

I hope I'm not coming off as a haughty jackass. I'm more than happy to share anything and everything that I know about both worlds and how this isn't as big of a deal as one may be lead to believe, but I am telling you on good authority that this is way sensationalized.

I don't want to die in an airplane, particularly from a mid-air with an unmanned system. I don't want to go to prison for having a mid-air with an airplane flying an R/C airplane or helicopter or drone. I feel comfortable in my knowledge of how both worlds have worked and will continue to work to know that this will never happen.

FWIW - the 400 foot rule has been advised by the AMA since the early 1980s. There are R/C airplanes that fly at airports that fly way higher than that. Among other types of aircraft I fly, I fly airplanes similar to the R/C airplane in the video in precision aerobatic competition; mimicking IAC compulsory and unknown sequences. At the top of the aerobatic box, on a high line, I can be 1600ft AGL easily, and have had to discontinue sequences to avoid full-scale traffic that never saw me.

Common sense goes a long way.

Ryan,

I actually know very little about the R/C field other than most of this group appears to be very intelligent about aviation, theory of flight and all seem to have knowledge about where the airspace is.

I'm concerned about the people who can buy a drone from a hobby store for a few hundred bucks and starts flying where ever they please without any regard for others safety. Our daily papers report violations all the time. A medevac helicopter flying from the Miami Valley Hospital had an incident with someone flying a drone around the helipad while it was landing not too long ago.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/new ... ing/ng94n/

Some other incidents in Ohio: http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/n ... s-n/nqtPy/

I don't understand why this doesn't alarm people more.

Thanks for the reply, Larry.

For one, I have become somewhat desensitized to the matter given my involvement with R/C. Remember, a goodly portion of the general population think we as GA pilots have a death wish flying our antique flying contraptions and that they fall out of the sky with great regularity into school yards and neighborhoods.

The other point I'd like to make is - what constitutes an "incident"? Seeing one from the air? Why don't we report every time we see an aircraft that we're not talking to an "incident".

I'll admit, there are a lot of people that are flying these things that shouldn't be, and those that are flying them at accident scenes and interfering with medevac flights should be punished to the full extent of the law as that can mean the difference between life and death for the people involved. It's the bad side of technological development; the ease of access to product. At the end of the day, the people flying these that get them for Christmas and whatnot are not very good and couldn't fly through a particular cube of airspace if they tried...even looking through the camera on their iPad.

I got lasered coming back home at night in my 170 a few weeks ago and I believe that to be much greater risk to flight safety than a quadcopter. I'd be livid if someone hit my airplane with one, but I have no reason to believe that it would compromise my ability to make a normal landing, or injure anyone on board.

Any airport, heliport, seaplane base, etc. In most metro areas, there are few free-fly zones.

FAA has an iPad app, B4UFLY ... Sadly, it does not list the contact info.

I guess I'll just wait and let this play out. I'm sure there will be a meeting of the minds about how best to regulate this, at some point. Seems kind of silly, but according to the letter of the law, someone can not fly one of these drones in their back yard just a few feet off the ground if within 5 miles of any airport without permission, even if it's a private farmers dirt strip.

Larry

Larry,

I have two DJI quadcopters. Both weigh about 4 pounds. My first one is basic and has no FPV camera, so you are limited to a visual range for flying. Once I get that one to 100 feet above me it gets hard to see quickly.

My other quadcopter is a newer DJI 3 that has First Person View capability. Which means I fly without seeing the quadcopter. I watch the screen and can fly at least two miles aways. I can easily see how these could get into trouble. These are not the $150 quads from wal-mart. The level of sophistication and capabilities is amazing, its a shame that there are a few bad apples.

The DJI 3 Professional will not let me fly with 1.5 miles of an airport and if I am in certain zones I have to get a code to fly. Its sends a code to my phone to allow the flight.

Kevin

Yes and when the Congress/DOT/FAA get going it will be akin to doing neurosurgery with a sledgehammer. I give you Colgan 3407 by way of example.

I saw my first drone this year , Don't remember how high I was but at least 1000 feet , I thought it was a bird , I was watching it to watch it dive , (birds seem to dive when the plane gets too close) when it didn't dive I kind of focused on it , couldn't tell what type of drone it was , but I was sure it was not a bird.........It was rock solid stationary ....