- Joined
- Oct 14, 2019
- Messages
- 66
- Reaction score
- 33
- Age
- 48
There's a location I have to go back to frequently to updates on a construction project.
While on location if I have to do maintenance on one of the drones or test something new out I've been going to a large wide open park for test flights. After I found the park on the map I did extensive research on whether or not drones could be flown in the park. The first thing I looked at was the state laws. The state passed a law that counties, cities and towns must specifically state which parks drones are not allowed to be flown in and that it must be prominently posted in the park that drones are prohibited.
The park is a county park so I checked the website for the county parks and didn't find anything saying you couldn't fly in that park or any of the county parks at all. I checked the page for the specific park and there was nothing saying I couldn't fly in that park.
So after flying in that park on multiple occasions over the course of a year a park employee drove his truck across the grass, pulled up as I was landing one of the drones and yelled, "You're going to have to put that away. No drones in the park!"
I complied and after I had put it back in the car I went looking for their "prominent sign." All I found was an 8.5x11 piece of paper posted on a bulletin board that had the park rules on it. About two thirds of the way down there was a sentence that read as follows, "Remote-controlled aircraft/drones are prohibited."
I went back and checked the county web page and they had added a section that now stated that drone flying was prohibited in all parks except those that have designated areas for remote-controlled aircraft and drones." Which there is one park that has an AMA field.
They actually broke state law by posting a blanket statement and failing to prominently post the prohibition against drones.
While the AMA field is a place where I can fly test flights it's a lot further away and there's a lot of air traffic there so it's definitely less convenient.
I've thought about notifying the county that they aren't in compliance with the state laws but I don't feel it's worth the trouble and won't really benefit me since they clearly will just change the way their drone prohibition is worded and will post signs so I get nothing for my trouble. The part that does annoy me is that lots of people walk their dogs in the park and most of them don't keep them on a leash as the 8.5x11 park rules clearly states and the numerous signs around the park clearly illustrate.
The spot I always flew in was on the edge of the park away from the trails and I actually had the drone over a swamp that was just outside of the park. It's actually far more likely that an unleashed dog would harm a human or wildlife than a drone would but the park employees don't seem to think that's an issue at all.
What my point actually is that if you make it difficult for people to find out they can't fly a drone somewhere than people are going to fly their drones in your park. Maybe I should've periodically checked the county website but they clearly should've posted prominent signs as the state law required.
End of rant.
While on location if I have to do maintenance on one of the drones or test something new out I've been going to a large wide open park for test flights. After I found the park on the map I did extensive research on whether or not drones could be flown in the park. The first thing I looked at was the state laws. The state passed a law that counties, cities and towns must specifically state which parks drones are not allowed to be flown in and that it must be prominently posted in the park that drones are prohibited.
The park is a county park so I checked the website for the county parks and didn't find anything saying you couldn't fly in that park or any of the county parks at all. I checked the page for the specific park and there was nothing saying I couldn't fly in that park.
So after flying in that park on multiple occasions over the course of a year a park employee drove his truck across the grass, pulled up as I was landing one of the drones and yelled, "You're going to have to put that away. No drones in the park!"
I complied and after I had put it back in the car I went looking for their "prominent sign." All I found was an 8.5x11 piece of paper posted on a bulletin board that had the park rules on it. About two thirds of the way down there was a sentence that read as follows, "Remote-controlled aircraft/drones are prohibited."
I went back and checked the county web page and they had added a section that now stated that drone flying was prohibited in all parks except those that have designated areas for remote-controlled aircraft and drones." Which there is one park that has an AMA field.
They actually broke state law by posting a blanket statement and failing to prominently post the prohibition against drones.
While the AMA field is a place where I can fly test flights it's a lot further away and there's a lot of air traffic there so it's definitely less convenient.
I've thought about notifying the county that they aren't in compliance with the state laws but I don't feel it's worth the trouble and won't really benefit me since they clearly will just change the way their drone prohibition is worded and will post signs so I get nothing for my trouble. The part that does annoy me is that lots of people walk their dogs in the park and most of them don't keep them on a leash as the 8.5x11 park rules clearly states and the numerous signs around the park clearly illustrate.
The spot I always flew in was on the edge of the park away from the trails and I actually had the drone over a swamp that was just outside of the park. It's actually far more likely that an unleashed dog would harm a human or wildlife than a drone would but the park employees don't seem to think that's an issue at all.
What my point actually is that if you make it difficult for people to find out they can't fly a drone somewhere than people are going to fly their drones in your park. Maybe I should've periodically checked the county website but they clearly should've posted prominent signs as the state law required.
End of rant.