Separately, the FAA said it has developed a smartphone app to show drone operators where it's OK to fly and what areas are off limits. The app, B4UFLY, uses maps that identify the operator's current location and restricted areas in a radius around the operator. It's available now for Apple devices from the App Store and for Android devices from the Google Play Store.
I checked a map and discovered that I was farther from the airport than I thought the other day. I was right on the edge of the 5 mile radius. I'd have to make a more detailed analysis to know whether I was safe.
David, don't take this as criticism of you. I'm simply trying to point out to anyone who wants to fly a drone there are a few more things to check before you fly. As they told us in ground school the pilot must check all available information before flight.
Not sure which airport you are thinking about, but Hinkley Airport's active runway is in your shot, about 2x farther than the farmer's house driveway, on the other side of the highway. It is a grass strip used for sailplane operations. There are several other private airports in the vicinity as well, I expect you were within 5 miles of some of them as well. There are a lot of airports in some areas.
You may wish to consult http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=41.771&lon=-88.703&zoom=10 to map out areas where it is legal to fly along the tracks, which are prominently shown on the Sectional chart. Paper Sectional charts will be available at any flight school at an airport. As a drone operator, you don't need the current one, after all airports don't move that often, so if you explain that you want it to sure you are staying 5 miles from airports, etc., they might give you an outdated one if they have one.
Oh wow. I had no idea there was an airport there. I'm pretty sure there's one a few miles south at Sandwich.
In my defense, I went to the FAA web site, UAS section, looking for information on where airports are, and the link to the map said it's down for an upgrade or somesuch. I also did a web search for airports, but all I got were major city ones. (Sometimes search engines are really stupid/useless.)
What I was thinking of was Aurora Municipal. The spot where I tried the relaunch was at Orchard Rd. and Prairie St. in Aurora.
Does a strip as small as Hinckley even have an office or tower?
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
That's a very busy sectional chart ! Do I see some wind farms there to run into also ? :-))
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) There's the Joliet VOR, much loved from M$ Flight Simulator ... :-)
You do know that Meigs Field is gone, right?
Quote:
( edit ) Check 'mile' = statute or nautical .....
Yes a busy chart, but any showing class B airspace will be. Yes looks like some wind farms.
Yes, there are a lot of windmills west of where I was that day. North too, I think. (It's kind of cool in an eerie way to drive along at night and see the red lights on top of them all blinking in unison.)
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
Separately, the FAA said it has developed a smartphone app to show drone operators where it's OK to fly and what areas are off limits. The app, B4UFLY, uses maps that identify the operator's current location and restricted areas in a radius around the operator. It's available now for Apple devices from the App Store and for Android devices from the Google Play Store.
I will check that out ASAP.
Let me add that I thought the drone's app knew where it's not allowed to fly. It certainly knows it can't fly around Washington, D.C. (This does not, however, stop anyone from using a non-GPS mode to fly anywhere they want, legal or not.)
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
And now that I've posted five times in a row in my own thread, I'm going to extend the target by four.
If I remember in the morning.
[edit]
In the good news department, my left ankle hurts a lot less in the last few hours and my hip may have stopped hurting altogether. All is not well, however. My right side still hurts as much as it has since I fell last week. About in the spot where I feel kidney stones when I have them (a bit farther back than most people).
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
What I was thinking of was Aurora Municipal. The spot where I tried the relaunch was at Orchard Rd. and Prairie St. in Aurora.
I make that 3km due North of the Caterpillar plant. If so, then with not much margin that puts you just outside the 5 nm for Aurora and the 25 nm for O'Hare. I reckon you're OK .... except that you're still within the Mode C ring for O'Hare, which in theory means your craft should be able to report it's altitude to ATC.
Hinckley is not in controlled space, we call it a CTAF meaning that radio procedure under VFR is used to keep separations. You should be good if you keep well under circuit height ( 1000 feet above ground ) and away from the in/out going paths ( it has a single East/West runway ). The simplest would be to just give them a ring ....
Whether any of this suits train viewing activities is of course another question. :-)
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Reminds me of an incident when I was training at Lilydale Airport. A group of five bods turned up without warning, turning and burning in various powered parachute configurations. These are classified as ultra-light craft DownUnda and are hence subject to regulation with regard to flight activities. Now they did adhere to staying under the required altitude, but had not it would seem read any other clauses relevant to the category. So one can't directly overfly any property which as a dwelling within ( whatever the size of the containing block ), you can't be an auditory nor visual nuisance etc. So they not only annoyed all the surrounding land owners, spooked their horses, put golfers of their strokes and what not, but had clearly forgotten about the invention of the photographic camera which provided later proof of their presence. They seemed to be playing some sort of follow the leader in amongst the hazards under 50 feet. Total morons in other words and rather lucky if anything to have not hit a power line.
The rather dangerous bit for the rest of us was them stuffing about on the approach to runway 36. We come down from circuit height, often a long/fast shallow-angle approach if we are doing flap-less landings, and set down on that runway just over the southern verge where a road is quite close ( MacIntyre Lane ). One of the instructors who was up flying a the time - and a quick thinker evidently - simply followed them until they landed ( a paddock ), to be then met by police appropriately guided there by said instructor. They had no shame and even claimed it wasn't them, until the photos turned up, which made 'making a false statement to the police' a nice addition to the charge sheet.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
What I was thinking of was Aurora Municipal. The spot where I tried the relaunch was at Orchard Rd. and Prairie St. in Aurora.
I make that 3km due North of the Caterpillar plant. If so, then with not much margin that puts you just outside the 5 nm for Aurora and the 25 nm for O'Hare. I reckon you're OK .... except that you're still within the Mode C ring for O'Hare, which in theory means your craft should be able to report it's altitude to ATC.
Hinckley is not in controlled space, we call it a CTAF meaning that radio procedure under VFR is used to keep separations. You should be good if you keep well under circuit height ( 1000 feet above ground ) and away from the in/out going paths ( it has a single East/West runway ). The simplest would be to just give them a ring ....
Whether any of this suits train viewing activities is of course another question. :-)
Cheers, Mike.
In GPS mode it restricts itself to 400'. (385', actually.) At Hinckley, optimum train viewing is on the south side of the tracks where I was, and I didn't go any higher than I had to to get above the wires.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
Separately, the FAA said it has developed a smartphone app to show drone operators where it's OK to fly and what areas are off limits. The app, B4UFLY, uses maps that identify the operator's current location and restricted areas in a radius around the operator. It's available now for Apple devices from the App Store and for Android devices from the Google Play Store.
I will check that out ASAP.
Let me add that I thought the drone's app knew where it's not allowed to fly. It certainly knows it can't fly around Washington, D.C. (This does not, however, stop anyone from using a non-GPS mode to fly anywhere they want, legal or not.)
Holy God! Who knew there were so many airports around???
Right here at home, I'm within the circles of Naper Aero Club and two heliports. Orchard and Prairie is outside of Aurora Municipal but within a couple of others. Hinckley is also covered by several others. The museum, depending on where you go on the grounds, is under as many as six (some circles cut right across the property).
I can go out west of Shabbona without needing to call anyone.
I didn't see anything in the rules about heliports, but they show up in the app.
(And since the app is a beta, you have to sign into your Google account to even download it.)
This is very depressing. I'm going to bed now.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator
of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport
air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located
at the airport) with prior notice of the operation (model aircraft
operators flying from a permanent location within 5 miles of
an airport should establish a mutually-agreed upon operating
procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic
control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the
airport)).
Also airport = "outside of 5 statute miles from any airport, heliport, seaplane base, spaceport, or other location with aviation activities."
As you are a ham, perhaps you might want to get a scanner with VHF aircraft band so you can monitor the nearest airport to see if you need to do a quick dive. If you tell them you will monitor while you are flying you are more likely to leave them happy. If you were nuts you could get an aircraft band HT, but you would need a FCC station license for it. (I think they did away with the requirement for a third class radiotelephone restricted operators permit.)
As to those dozens of airports, it looks like from the chart that most of them are farm/ranch strips. They will have next to zero flights and a phone call to the "operator" the farmer, will be all that is needed.
Sorry if this has been a downer. Didn't mean for it to go that way.
Just saw this, David might be
Just saw this, David might be interested:
RE: RE: I checked a map
Oh wow. I had no idea there was an airport there. I'm pretty sure there's one a few miles south at Sandwich.
In my defense, I went to the FAA web site, UAS section, looking for information on where airports are, and the link to the map said it's down for an upgrade or somesuch. I also did a web search for airports, but all I got were major city ones. (Sometimes search engines are really stupid/useless.)
What I was thinking of was Aurora Municipal. The spot where I tried the relaunch was at Orchard Rd. and Prairie St. in Aurora.
Does a strip as small as Hinckley even have an office or tower?
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
RE: @David A. How 'windy'
A: According to the instructions, 22MPH. I think I've seen it drift from less than that.
B: 20-25 minutes. Then as much as 90 to recharge. The manufacturer offers a charger that can do four (or is it six?) batteries at once.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
RE: RE: RE: http://vfrm
Yes, there are a lot of windmills west of where I was that day. North too, I think. (It's kind of cool in an eerie way to drive along at night and see the red lights on top of them all blinking in unison.)
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
RE: Just saw this, David
I will check that out ASAP.
Let me add that I thought the drone's app knew where it's not allowed to fly. It certainly knows it can't fly around Washington, D.C. (This does not, however, stop anyone from using a non-GPS mode to fly anywhere they want, legal or not.)
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
Yaaaawwwnnn... And now
Yaaaawwwnnn...
And now that I've posted five times in a row in my own thread, I'm going to extend the target by four.
If I remember in the morning.
[edit]
In the good news department, my left ankle hurts a lot less in the last few hours and my hip may have stopped hurting altogether. All is not well, however. My right side still hurts as much as it has since I fell last week. About in the spot where I feel kidney stones when I have them (a bit farther back than most people).
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
RE: What I was thinking of
I make that 3km due North of the Caterpillar plant. If so, then with not much margin that puts you just outside the 5 nm for Aurora and the 25 nm for O'Hare. I reckon you're OK .... except that you're still within the Mode C ring for O'Hare, which in theory means your craft should be able to report it's altitude to ATC.
Hinckley is not in controlled space, we call it a CTAF meaning that radio procedure under VFR is used to keep separations. You should be good if you keep well under circuit height ( 1000 feet above ground ) and away from the in/out going paths ( it has a single East/West runway ). The simplest would be to just give them a ring ....
Whether any of this suits train viewing activities is of course another question. :-)
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Reminds me of an incident when I was training at Lilydale Airport. A group of five bods turned up without warning, turning and burning in various powered parachute configurations. These are classified as ultra-light craft DownUnda and are hence subject to regulation with regard to flight activities. Now they did adhere to staying under the required altitude, but had not it would seem read any other clauses relevant to the category. So one can't directly overfly any property which as a dwelling within ( whatever the size of the containing block ), you can't be an auditory nor visual nuisance etc. So they not only annoyed all the surrounding land owners, spooked their horses, put golfers of their strokes and what not, but had clearly forgotten about the invention of the photographic camera which provided later proof of their presence. They seemed to be playing some sort of follow the leader in amongst the hazards under 50 feet. Total morons in other words and rather lucky if anything to have not hit a power line.
The rather dangerous bit for the rest of us was them stuffing about on the approach to runway 36. We come down from circuit height, often a long/fast shallow-angle approach if we are doing flap-less landings, and set down on that runway just over the southern verge where a road is quite close ( MacIntyre Lane ). One of the instructors who was up flying a the time - and a quick thinker evidently - simply followed them until they landed ( a paddock ), to be then met by police appropriately guided there by said instructor. They had no shame and even claimed it wasn't them, until the photos turned up, which made 'making a false statement to the police' a nice addition to the charge sheet.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: RE: What I was
In GPS mode it restricts itself to 400'. (385', actually.) At Hinckley, optimum train viewing is on the south side of the tracks where I was, and I didn't go any higher than I had to to get above the wires.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
RE: RE: Just saw this,
Holy God! Who knew there were so many airports around???
Right here at home, I'm within the circles of Naper Aero Club and two heliports. Orchard and Prairie is outside of Aurora Municipal but within a couple of others. Hinckley is also covered by several others. The museum, depending on where you go on the grounds, is under as many as six (some circles cut right across the property).
I can go out west of Shabbona without needing to call anyone.
I didn't see anything in the rules about heliports, but they show up in the app.
(And since the app is a beta, you have to sign into your Google account to even download it.)
This is very depressing. I'm going to bed now.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
This is a bit outdated as it
This is a bit outdated as it is before the drone regs, but might shed some light
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/pilot_handbook/media/PHAK%20-%20Chapter%2014.pdf
As you are restricted to 400 feet anyway, the vast majority of that airspace is already off limits. It is really only the Class E / Class G and special use that will be important. You know to say away from O'Hare and its Class B!
Ah a loophole ...
https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Sec_331_336_UAS.pdf
Also airport = "outside of 5 statute miles from any airport, heliport, seaplane base, spaceport, or other location with aviation activities."
As you are a ham, perhaps you might want to get a scanner with VHF aircraft band so you can monitor the nearest airport to see if you need to do a quick dive. If you tell them you will monitor while you are flying you are more likely to leave them happy. If you were nuts you could get an aircraft band HT, but you would need a FCC station license for it. (I think they did away with the requirement for a third class radiotelephone restricted operators permit.)
As to those dozens of airports, it looks like from the chart that most of them are farm/ranch strips. They will have next to zero flights and a phone call to the "operator" the farmer, will be all that is needed.
Sorry if this has been a downer. Didn't mean for it to go that way.