While ending my first flight yesterday at Sebastian Inlet SP, Florida, a park ranger pulls up alongside me and tells me due to a new directive "No drones can takeoff or land within the park." The rules handed out at the Ranger Station made no mention of this but I complied, stopped flying, and, btw, also had my entrance fee refunded.
If the drone industry doesn't lobby harder I'm afraid there aren't going to be many places ( interesting ) to fly.
About 6 months ago the national parks service decided that they would have an "interim no fly policy " in all national parks "until they sort this thing out". Apparently because of 3 separate incidents , 1 in the Grand canyon, 1 at Mt Rushmore and I forget the 3rd. but there were no injuries and all 3 came down to tourists being annoyed by drone operators ( we do need to be considerate when we fly). Just before Christmas the news stations were all over the "drone" story and hyped the living
[EXPLETIVE REMOVED] out it! Shortly after that, here in southern Arizona the Pima county parks service decided there will be no drones flown in any Pima county park. City of Tucson, at least in some parks have signs that say things like "No model airplanes allowed, Tucson code sect. 21-3 (7) (3)" It turns out that this is a blanket rule they can apply to anything the decide they don't want in their park. Many city and state governments are already creating new drone laws as we speak. These laws will be tested, the FAA ultimately has jurisdiction over all airspace. However, it doesnt change the fact the we are quickly running out places to fly.
I have done a lot of research and have found (at least for now) that we cant fly in national parks, and some state and city parks, (check your local laws). We can fly over our property Unless we live within 5 miles of an airport or 2 miles from a heliport ( if it has no tower and/or no published flight plan) ie: a hospital heliport etc. You can fly on private property with owners permission, you must respect peoples right to privacy ( although this is a huge grey area all in itself). You
can fly on National Forest service land but not on wilderness areas which are most often located inside national forest service land. So do you research and carry current maps. Also keep in mind that you can fly over national parks and wilderness areas but you cannot take off, land or control from within those areas, and if you crash inside , hopefully can get your bird out before you get caught.
1 more thing, Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR's) issued by the FAA for special events like Nascar races , MLB games NFL games etc. apply as well any carry jail time and huge fines if caught, so dont even think about it. I believe they cover a 5 mile radius. But i have no doubt that we will see some dumbass who didnt get the memo, fly over this weekends Superbowl ( i hope I am wrong on this , but I just have a bad feeling).
Oh yes, are you allowed to knock a drone out of the air, even if they are looking directly through your windows? The answer is NO, The FAA sees a UAV the same as any other manned aircraft. You can call the police but you cannot shoot, throw rocks or hit it with any object as it becomes a safety issue, we don't know where that drone will end up. That carries a upto a 25 year prison sentence and or 250,000.00 fine! Now, can you grab it, switch it off and remove it safely from the airspace? Not sure, but that is what i will do if i catch a drone spying on me.
Fortunately the drone industry is huge and growing everyday, we are starting to organize and because congress is corrupt, it's just a matter of time before the right pockets are lined and laws are created in our favor. We have the best government money can buy!
It Is Time We All Get Involved!!!!