Drone Airport Notification

So I got a response from the tower manager.

They sent me a form to fill out which consists of the following.

Your Full Name "David ******"
Your Phone Number 480-***-****
UAS Registrtion number FA3**********
The location of operation Ocotillo/Higley Road Gilbert, AZ
The start time and date of operation 6am - 8pm Mon-Sun "Indefinite"
Description of UAS "Quadcopter/Airplane
Maximum altitude 400FT

Maybe I will get a permanent Atis recording from this :)
 
The RC flying club I belong to has been in operation for decades, and is due north of APA. We have a permanent notification in to the airport and have never had a problem. I fly RC airplanes, though, not gyroscopically controlled multirotors. I have a 1/4 scale Cub, a 1/4 scale Super Cub, and a 1/5 scale DHC-2 Beaver. Some guys do fly quadcopter a out there. (The guys that can't fly airplanes.). :)
 
ifly4fun said:
What equipment are you using? Is it natively that stable or did you do post-processing?

Very nice video!
Click to expand...

I'd love to say it's skill, but the phantom has an amazing gimbal that corrects for movement of the drone. It was gusting 20 knots the day the video was taken. The hard part is piloting the drone and turning the camera. Btw we use a phantom 3 professional.
 
denverpilot said:
Might as well just leave that message on there 24/7 until the end of time. LOL.
Click to expand...

Its a local business photographer. He calls the tower to,let them know when he's flying. Don't know about anyone else.
 
rbridges said:
I'd love to say it's skill, but the phantom has an amazing gimbal that corrects for movement of the drone. It was gusting 20 knots the day the video was taken. The hard part is piloting the drone and turning the camera. Btw we use a phantom 3 professional.
Click to expand...

Yea thats it a Gimbal. I couldn't remember what it was called.
 
murphey said:
Its a local business photographer. He calls the tower to,let them know when he's flying. Don't know about anyone else.
Click to expand...


That's what I was saying -- there's bound to be somebody flying something within 5 miles of APA pretty much every day. Just leave the ATIS warning up forever like all the damned "unlighted crane" ones. Hahaha.
 
So the airport manager accepted my Form I submitted.

I wasnt expecting them to give me my own airspace to keep all other aircraft from my Airspace. Its huge. :hairraise:
 
Last edited:
Contacting a control tower with a handheld would be sketchy in some places. Those handhelds are weak even ON the field. Go 5 miles away on the ground and I bet it's garbage. :dunno:
 
evapilotaz said:
Keep in mind your are not registering the drone. You are registering yourself as a drone pilot. I have 10 drones which is a mixer of Quadcopters and airplanes. I can use the same number on each.
Click to expand...

Did the FAA actually issue you a N number???
 
rbridges said:
top speed is 35mph. :(
Click to expand...

KOOL video.....

And my plane is in the air at 35 mph... I need to find a local person who has a similar drone for a great video....

Anyone....Is there a FAA list of operators based on location?
 
evapilotaz,

Based on the intersection you provided you are 5.5 Statute miles to the KCHD tower and 5.3 Statute miles to the KIWA tower. The "airplanes" in that area are required to stay 1,000' AGL because this is a populated area. If you are staying lower than 400' AGL I can't imagine how any of this would be a problem.

NOTE - I see you already got the approval from KCHD, so you are good. Is there a reason you didn't send one to KIWA as well? Or are flying on the West side of Higley Rd over the queen creek canal?
 
Im Barely Outside Of KIWA.

Folks I was kidding about Having my own Airspace.

I Understand the aircraft are flying at 1,000agl. I see those training flight over head from KWIA heading to the practice area.
 
AZPilot I do not want to give to many details of my Exact location online. There may be drone hatters that will shoot me down.

I fly my smaller airplanes and quadcopters at this location. My bigger stuff I fly at an established flying field outside of Bravo airspace.
 
Last edited:
N801BH said:
Did the FAA actually issue you a N number???
Click to expand...

evapilotaz said:
Its a Registration number. Not to be confused with a N Number. My registration number is 10 characters long.
Click to expand...

You can engrave or write it on the drone. They even let you put it in the battery compartment. I think it's just for identification if they find it. I used a label maker and stuck mine in the battery compartment.
 
Just wondering, but what would happen if you want to fly your drone when you are in the 5-mile radius of two or more airports? Do you have to contact all the airports that is within that airspace or just only one of the airports, and they will let other airports know?
 
Don't forget all the helipads. They're airports too and the hospitals just love all of the phone calls from drone-heads being legal. :)
 
Ok I just looked at my exact Location again. I'm actually inside 1/2 mile of KWIA Class D and Just Barely outside of KCHD. I'm going to notify of KWIA Class D tower as well.

The point of posting this thread is to see if anyone has done their due diligence and contacted the tower to advise their drone activities.
 
So Gateway didn't reply to my email but I sent them the information I sent to KCHD tower. KCHD was very grateful I provided them the info.

A short video of my flying location and quadcopter. I was holding my Transmitter in one hand and the Iphone in the other. I didn't have anyone to take video for me. I was doing a walk around video of the quadcopter flying hands off. Actually it was very stable but my camera skills made it like like it was bouncing around.

Well anyway a typical mid 70's blue sky AZ day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdtBIaZby58
 
evapilotaz said:
Thank you for the comments. I'm not asking for permission. I'm notifying them per
FAA Drone Guidelines.

•Fly below 400 feet and remain clear of surrounding obstacles
•Keep the aircraft within visual line of sight at all times
•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
•Don't fly near people or stadiums
•Don't fly an aircraft that weighs more than 55 lbs
•Don't be careless or reckless with your unmanned aircraft – you could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft
Click to expand...

A congressional mandate was made several years ago to require the FAA to come up with a program to integrate UAV's into the national airspace.

All they have is this list of recommendations and pay $5 to register your drone.
 
evapilotaz said:
Off Topic. There was a Hot Air Balloon Im thinking a 1000 ft over my house the other day. We get a lot of those in my Area. I would love to get on Frequency with the Guy and do some aerial photography of his Balloon. I think I would loose sight of my Drone at a 1000ft. I'm not equip with First Person View capabilities on my drone yet.

Yes Yes that would have busted the 400ft rule.
Click to expand...

Go flying in the balloon with him, fly it from the balloon basket, coordinated formation flying between two pilots. Just got to figure out how to handle the 400ft AGL rule.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top