It is the comment about flying anywhere near a tower, regardless of the type airspace. A drone, even a mini, can take out not only a small plane, but a jetliner too. Most towers in the U.S. are either government owned, city owned or private air strips, all of whom have complete authority to deny any type of activity on that property they see fit to deny. I seriously do not see any of them granting permission during active traffic.
And lets talk about 5 miles, or short finale for an average jet. 500 feet an below it is all good. One idiot wanting a better shot with his camera ship and....
A little perspective for you. A bird, with soft hollow bones, feathers and flesh took out a passenger jet forcing a landing in the Hudson River. A quad copter with carbon fiber, bits of metal and whatever is in a battery will cause MORE damage, not less.
I love my drone. When it flies. I would like more freedom in using it too. There are very few parks in south Florida that allow them. I can see the point though. While a skilled pilot will not very likely plow into a crowd of people, a beginner probably would. And that super cool DJI getting those awsome shots up in the sky? what happens when it has a minor malfunction like loosing a prop, esc, fc, bird strike, battery malfunction, short,...you get my point. It will generate enough force to cause serious damage to someone if it hits them.
Flying is inherently dangerous. ANY kind of flying. New pilots will hit stuff before they learn. It is what they do. Idiots will want to see how high they can go, it is what they do. If there were only rational people in the world with common sense, we would not need any laws.
My advice, do not fly anywhere near an airport. Do not even bother to call for permission, you will probably not get it. The person on the line who is responsible for the safety of everyone coming and going from the air field has no idea if you are a skilled pilot, rational sane person with common sense or an idiot. Likely they are leaning towards the later if you thought wanting to fly near an air field was something you might like to do. Five miles and under 40o feet is reasonable. geo fencing and under 100 feet would even further ease their tensions about our sport. Make it easy for them and they will make it easy for us. Push it and they WILL drop the hammer.
Rosco11.. Here is the thing. Everything I have said, is in black and white, and up for all to see and read. You say and I quote, "It is the comment about flying anywhere near a tower".
Can you please show me where I said anything about flying near a tower, because I can't for the life of me find it.
From what I can see, all I said was, "but there is nothing that says an airport tower can refuse to let you fly, only that you have to let them know." Now that is a bit vague I admit, but you say that I said something about flying near a tower. I also believe I said that we must follow section 336. Within it clearly states G airspace only. Are you sure you are an air traffic controller?? Doesn't sound like you are, because if you are piloting a plane and plan to land at an airport in class G airspace, you are not required to radio anyone if you want to land.. And I am not suggesting that a pilot doesn't radio the airport because that is just stupid.
The FAA has no jurisdiction.
And I am trying to make head or tails out of your statement, "And lets talk about 5 miles, or short finale for an average jet. 500 feet an below it is all good." 5 miles... 500 feet.... ???? Let's see... 5 miles is 26,400 feet.... WTF are you talking about here, becase even if I am half that distance away from an airport, I am still 13,200 feet away... I certainly hope a plane is not going to be that low 13,200 feet from a runway....
Also.. I am not going to argue that there are morons out there that have done some really stupid poop with a phantom drone... Yosemite comes to mind. But how many planes have been brought down by a drone?? If you are going to comment on the incident in Canada.. please don't, any suggestion that a drone was involved has officially been ruled out...
Also, there are quite a few video's on youtube where drone pilots call the tower to get permission to fly within 5 miles of an airport, while the illegal law to register drones for recreation was in effect. In those video's the Towers had absolutely no objections. Here is one such example, but youtube is full of them..
Wonder why the tower didn't send the cops.......
What airport do you work at by the way???
Rosco, I think you need to check your self.... You have pretty much already wrecked your self..
EDIT: I don't own anything DJI and don't plan too. I fly a 5" racing quad. Honestly I wouldn't care to be near a major airport. My entire comment had to do with the FAA imposing illegal laws requiring a rec RC pilot to be controlled by FAA and for a Tower to be able to tell you that you cannot fly 4 miles from an airport. And let me be clear.. If I had planed to fly within 5 miles of an airport with a control tower I would call the tower. If the tower told me that if I flew there it would interfere with something, I would refrain, as I would recommend anyone to do. But since you are an air traffic controller, can you give me a valid reason a control tower around an airport would have for someone not flying a drone between 3 to 5 miles away from an airport???
Edit #2: Looking at the sectional for EWR, at 4 miles I am out side of B air space. There for a tower could not deny me. I would still have to call them, and let them know, but I would not get arrested if I flew 4 miles from EWR and let them know. B class airspace is a bit under a 4 mile radius around newark. As long as I am in G, the tower cannot deny me. Now it gets tricky for ERW... There are other airports so I would have to be west or north of ERW or I would be in B air space again. If you use your head an ready 336, and see that I said that we have to follow 336, you can see how poor your remarks are. If anyone flies in B, well than they they are breaking regulations all together, and I would hope the tower tells them, "You are not allowed to fly within B class airspace, regardless of what the tower says. If you do you would be breaking the law."
Edit 3: at this point I can't help my self.. Your just a big target now... If I am flying a "toy drone" and I am 300 feet from the airport. And the toy has a range of 100 feet on it's best day, after that it drops out of the sky... Can you please explain to me how this is a danger? ( I am not suggesting someone do this.. but your remark about the "bird" when we clearly know it was "Bird(s)", how is something the size of a match box going to take down a jet liner?? Explain me that...