told by the tower today don't call us - get a waiver

[3d pilot]

Tower today said if this is a commercial flight we no longer do any authorization - you have to get an faa waiver???? 4 miles from airport at under 200 ft..... but commercial

did something change? or is this a tower problem?

 

[N017RW]

Nothing changed.
So many seem confused about this.
You took training and test, did you miss this?
Call for hobby notification.
Web portal for waiver application/ request.

 

[Helihover]

Exactly. You should know this. Are you 107 certified?

 

[3d pilot]

Exactly. You should know this. Are you 107 certified?

yep - but haven't run into controlled space before

 

[3d pilot]

sadly this is kind of a killer for real estate video as the window to do it is short and faa approval times aren't
will be nice when they get an automated system in place

 

[3d pilot]

spoke to another firm in town and took them 2 months for the approval

 

[3d pilot]

sadly.....two requests for work today ..... first within 5 miles of one airport..... 2nd with a circle that's within 5 miles of two airports.....
looks like in Atlanta not a lot of space to work in without waivers

 

[BigAl07]

Atlanta is going to be VERY tight work for sure. To make matters worse you have some competition in your area that are willing to break the regs and hope to get away with it. For now you just need to educate your clients on the proper procedures and operate your business within them.

 

[Helihover]

sadly.....two requests for work today ..... first within 5 miles of one airport..... 2nd with a circle that's within 5 miles of two airports.....
looks like in Atlanta not a lot of space to work in without waivers

The 5 mile rule has nothing to do with commercial operations. Check your sectional chart to determine what airspace your flying in.

 

[3d pilot]

After I spoke to the tower I spoke to the client I told them we're applying for faa approvals and they can wait or find an alternative but to stay safe and see they didn't end up liable for any issues caused by unapproved access.

 

[N017RW]

That was smooth.
You can even be more to the point by mentioning 107 etc so they know what to ask or look for.

 

[3d pilot]

these aren't just airports....try military base

 

[brphoto]

What airport tower told you they weren't doing any commercial approvals? Just curious.


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[Richard R]

A

What airport tower told you they weren't doing any commercial approvals? Just curious.


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actually, you should get that response from any tower in controlled airspace. The FAA has been very clear that approval for a commercial sUAS to enter controlled space, the pilot has to get authorization/waiver through the web page. As a hobby flier, calling is still the way to go.

 

[Nickster]

sadly this is kind of a killer for real estate video as the window to do it is short and faa approval times aren't
will be nice when they get an automated system in place

It definitely can be. It took 2 months to get mine for a golf course. I missed the fall foliage. I decided to be proactive for the real estate. I put my waiver in a month ago for that. I will hopefully have it in a couple weeks.


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[brphoto]

Wow, kind of hard to work commercially if you can't get a waiver faster than that.

 

[Richard R]

I'm about 10 days into waiting for my waiver. Put in a long range (2 years) request that covers most of the city that is under Class E (sfc) for our local airport. Same general area that was covered by my 60 day authorization. Plan is to have flying in that area pre approved so that when jobs come up, I only need to deal with the short term (same or 1 day ) notice to approach control.

 

[brphoto]

That would be great if approved. Has anyone here got an approval for a large area for a 1 or 2 year period?


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[Richard R]

I might add, that I had tried to do the above as an authorization request which was denied. the feedback that I got from the FAA was that I should submit it as a waiver request. Implication was that that would be approved. Stand by for updates.

 

[brphoto]

Thanks Richard