Flying jobs during Balloon Fiesta 1.5 miles from balloon field...FAA or apps???

[Donnie Frank]

Hey doods;

I do construction videos every 2 weeks for a client. One of the sites is 1.5 miles from Balloon Fiesta Park here in Albuquerque, N.M. This week is Balloon Fiesta, so as you can imagine, there are pretty strict TFR's in place during the festivities. Turns out most balloonists hate drones, so I usually just park my drones during Fiesta, but work is work.

For TFR information, I like just going to the source for NOTAM's; tfr.faa.gov ( 9/5929 NOTAM Details ). But my business partner, being a little more contemporary, has an app on his phone (I don't know which one). At any rate, the TFR was lifted @ 11:AM, which gave me plenty of time to fly my mission (I don't usually fly until 11:AM anyway).

Do you guys use apps for NOTAM's? Or do you use the FAA's website?

D

 

[snowghost]

I use SkyVector to look at the charts as they include TFRs and the like. Then cross check it with FAA NOTAMS, and I'll take a look at airmap to see what they have to say as well.

There was a piece on the news about some security company out there at the ballon event flagging drones for the cops to catch.

 

[Donnie Frank]

I use SkyVector to look at the charts as they include TFRs and the like. Then cross check it with FAA NOTAMS, and I'll take a look at airmap to see what they have to say as well.

I've seen apps label Albuquerque as -6 UTC, when we're actually -7 UTC. I'm not sure if this changes for Daylight Savings Time, but that one hour discrepancy can mean the difference between legal flight and illegal flight. So I tend to not trust the apps and just go to the source (FAA) and do the math.

There was a piece on the news about some security company out there at the ballon event flagging drones for the cops to catch.

I heard a rumor about that. I generally just don't fly during Fiesta...but this client is on a strict schedule, so I had to fly that Sunday. Nobody bothered me, so I guess the "drone police" pack up as soon as the TFR is lifted.

D

 

[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

Saw the balloon fest on the news this evening. They said they were actually flying before dawn and landed when it was light which would explain why the TFR was lifted

 

[Donnie Frank]

Saw the balloon fest on the news this evening. They said they were actually flying before dawn and landed when it was light which would explain why the TFR was lifted

While that's generally true, there are always stragglers that stay aloft well into the morning. But most certainly, 99.9% of the balloons have landed by 10:AM. So an 11:AM lift of the TFR is very reasonable. Because they run on hot air, the colder the weather, the longer they are able to stay aloft.


D

 

[GFields]

If your drone is a DJI drone, you may need to do the following:
1. Get waiver from FAA (they are moving very slowly)
2. After receiving wavier go to DJI fly safe website and do a custom unlock

 

[Donnie Frank]

If your drone is a DJI drone, you may need to do the following:
1. Get waiver from FAA (they are moving very slowly)
2. After receiving wavier go to DJI fly safe website and do a custom unlock

I did neither. No reason to do either. My "Alameda" mission was outside controlled air space and not during the TFR.

D

 

[GFields]

I did neither. No reason to do either. My "Alameda" mission was outside controlled air space and not during the TFR.

D

Good! That's why I said "may need to"