FAA list of fines against UAS operators

[SultanGris]

"you know there are no aircraft and can see for miles in all directions in case one comes along" Talk about misleading!!!
Do you carry a Doppler radar in your back pocket? Ever had an EMS chopper come charging out of "nowhere"?
Flying a UAV at 1,200 feet altitude, anywhere, without a transponder/ADS-B and high intensity strobe lights is irresponsible and criminal...

You don't need radar, you have ears and eyeballs don't ya? If not then you shouldn't be flying a uav in the first place. You can easily see and hear small aircraft coming from a few miles away when you're in the middle of nowhere with miles of visibility, choppers you can hear from about ten miles, lol! Like I said, know your area. The majority of small aircraft in my area are agricultural spray planes that fly at 10-20 feet 90% of the time and they almost never even fly above 400 feet actually.

It's not criminal to fly that high in most areas, not yet anyway. Even the faa website lists 400 foot ceiling as a recommendation, there is no federal law limiting the height at which you can fly a uav. Your local city/state ordinances may vary however.

 

[Joola]

Your local city/state ordinances may vary however.

But then aren't state laws preempted by the FAA? I thought that aside from enacting/enforcing privacy laws, the only thing local municipalities can really control is where you can stand while operating and where you can take off and land. For instance, they could pass a law that says you can't operate a UAV from a public sidewalk, all else is FAA jurisdiction. Granted this is a bit of a generalization.

 

[SultanGris]

But then aren't state laws preempted by the FAA? I thought that aside from enacting/enforcing privacy laws, the only thing local municipalities can really control is where you can stand while operating and where you can take off and land. For instance, they could pass a law that says you can't operate a UAV from a public sidewalk, all else is FAA jurisdiction. Granted this is a bit of a generalization.

I don't keep up on local ordinances, I just heard a few places like la and las Vegas passed some local uav ordinances.

 

[Joola]

I don't keep up on local ordinances, I just heard a few places like la and las Vegas passed some local uav ordinances.

Oh yeah, they have. The biggest one in Nevada is regarding operating a UAV under 250ft over private property and how that can be considered a trespass. Regardless of all the ordinances that are being passed around the country, but position the FAA has taken (and most legal experts), is that only the FAA can regulate the operations of UAVs in the airspace aside from issues of privacy.