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UAS airspace?


BDPetersen

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These are temporary NOTAMs and are shown on ForeFlight charts with the NOTAM layer active  

“Notice To Airman or NOTAM UOAs are required only of certain commercial flights and only those that are required to submit a NOTAM can submit a NOTAM UOA.  Generally these operators are Police, Fire, EMS and Search and Rescue.  If you are a Part 107 licensed pilot the NOTAM system is not required nor is it allowed to be used for flight notification.  A NOTAM UOA is used fulfill COA requirements and to inform Aircraft Pilots of any UAV operations that are occurring along their flight path in Flight Service flight briefing.”

source ref: uasidekick.com

 

 

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Recreational drones flown under Part 107 must remain below 400' AGL and within sight of the operator.

Commercial drones operating under a Certificate of Authorization issued by the FAA operate under Part 91 and may be permitted to fly above 400' in controlled airspace and out of sight of the operator and perhaps at night. As I understand it, the FAA reviews and sets the rules for each COA individually. The COA will require filing a NOTAM UOA. The reason a NOTAM is required is to alert pilots that a drone may be using the same airspace. Currently there is a NOTAM'd area near me scheduled for a 10nm radius at 5000-6500 feet from 7-12 am. I just treat them as MOAs and stay clear when active.

There is a bunch if info at www.faa.gov/uas

 

 

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The waiver and exemption process needed to fly BVLOS and/or at the altitudes mentioned will require the drone operator to prove how they will detect and avoid other aircraft.   I'd be on alert in those areas, like a MOA, but I wouldn't say it is unsafe..,.the FAA sets a high standard for operators who are following the rules and NOTAMd in those areas.    It's the recreational drone pilots that don't follow the rules that I'm concerned about ...and they could be anywhere.  RemoteID should start cutting down on those activities.

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The model airplane guys are typically very aware and compliant to the rules.   The challenge is the drone hobbyist who is unaware or doesn't care about the rules.  Which has nothing to do with NOTAMs, UAS in the NOTAMS are the people follow the exact letter of the law, mostly commercial or govt's operators, and are typically very safe and stay clear of crewed aircraft.   (FYI, UAS/AAM/UTM is what I do for a living)

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2 hours ago, Boilermonkey said:

The model airplane guys are typically very aware and compliant to the rules.  

We have a model airplane field not far off the end of the runway at our airport.   A very large model of an Extra 300 flew over me once when I was entering the pattern.   I thought it was an actual Extra 300 that was going the wrong way in the pattern until it did a half snap roll and went straight down toward the model airplane field.    I notified the tower about it.

That said, that's the only time I've seen anything be an issue from that field, and it's a pretty active field.   I suspect maybe it was a visitor or something.

 

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There was a UAS corridor along the Texas to Yuma border depicted on Skyvector a few weeks ago that was active for a month AND had an altitude spec of 60,000 to 75,000 feet shown!

It was taken down from publication within 48 hrs!

 

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7 minutes ago, cliffy said:

There was a UAS corridor along the Texas to Yuma border depicted on Skyvector a few weeks ago that was active for a month AND had an altitude spec of 60,000 to 75,000 feet shown!

Sounds like something I saw on FlightAware recently flying around the border between California and Mexico at 65,000 feet.
Just checked it's over AZ at 60,900 and cooking along at 13 knots.

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40 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Sounds like something I saw on FlightAware recently flying around the border between California and Mexico at 65,000 feet.
Just checked it's over AZ at 60,900 and cooking along at 13 knots.

Zulu82 has been flying continuously over western AZ for weeks or months.   I think it is just extending records now.

 

https://www.suasnews.com/2022/07/apnt-space-cft-conducts-high-altitude-experimentation-zulu82/

https://www.suasnews.com/2022/07/congratulations-zulu82/

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On 8/7/2022 at 11:54 AM, EricJ said:

We have a model airplane field not far off the end of the runway at our airport.   A very large model of an Extra 300 flew over me once when I was entering the pattern.   I thought it was an actual Extra 300 that was going the wrong way in the pattern until it did a half snap roll and went straight down toward the model airplane field.    I notified the tower about it.

That said, that's the only time I've seen anything be an issue from that field, and it's a pretty active field.   I suspect maybe it was a visitor or something.

 

I’ve been flying models on and off for 50 years.

Normally model aircraft people are very cognizant of the rules, many are FAA pilots too, every model field I know of requires AMA membership for insurence, and models are “real” aircraft. Often many hours are consumed building one and require quite a bit of skill and practice to learn to fly, which exposes the students to people that teach them the rules, and the guys who are really into the hobby have a tendency to enforce the rules, knowing they could lose their field easily.

A drone on the other hand actually flies itself, you just direct the thing, turn loose of the controls and most will hover, one I have will even return home and land at your feet, follow you around automatically etc. So you buy one today and are flying it today, without all that exposure to the rules that modelers usually get. They seem similar, but in truth it’s a whole different thing, I’ve not heard of drone clubs where experienced drone flyers teach the new guys how to build and fly.

The FAA has never really had to regulate models, but drones pushed them into that role pretty quickly it seems.

Plus not much Commercial use for a model, but I bet every house listed for sale gets a drone flyby to photograph it.

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45 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

Im curious what will become of my “airmen certificate”. 

It will probably change to something many don’t like. 

I always find the reaction to renaming something in a gender-neutral manner interesting. I don’t often hear female pilots complain about it, and I wonder if the male pilots would be complaining as much if the original term had been Notice to Airwomen. 

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39 minutes ago, PT20J said:

It will probably change to something many don’t like. 

I always find the reaction to renaming something in a gender-neutral manner interesting. I don’t often hear female pilots complain about it, and I wonder if the male pilots would be complaining as much if the original term had been Notice to Airwomen. 

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Had that been the historical term to refer to humanity no one would have objected. Of course we can’t now adopt “Airwomen” because it is an indefinable term except among those intellectual rubes that would appeal to xx/xy. In our modern and enlightened world they simply fail to see the emperor’s beautiful clothes.

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