Update: drone flying in The Villages
 

Hi all,
I reviewed an old thread (now closed) about flying drones in The Villages...ref: https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...03/index4.html

Questions:
I do know that Don Wiley is the guru for the drone club here in the villages and I have flown with them at the Soaring Eagles baseball fields.

I was told yesterday that there may be some updates to local policies specific to drones?

A LAANC approval does show us here as open airspace

So, non-commercial recreational flying is still legal?

Pls no snarky comments...just questioning from a FAA 107 licensed pilot...

Would suggest you contact Don for this info he is the resident expert.

Legal or not, it is probably not a good idea to fly over private property (without permission), or the pools. I will leave it to others to say if they think flying over the golf courses should be allowed during play.

It is impossible to fly a drone without ever being over private property.

Without permission?

Google finds an ordinance specific to Lake County but nothing for Sumter County.

There were several pages on drone laws in Florida that all seem to provide the same information.

Flying over people
 

All true. Even licensed FAA 107 pilots have a variety of STIFF rules about flying over people. Unknowing recreation pilots violate this a lot.

Airspace is not subject to Villages ordinances or policies. It is regulated by the FAA.
The federal rules under 107 are the legal restrictions. Beyond that, there are things one might not want to do in order to remain a "good neighbor" and not attract law enforcement.
The State and Local laws focus on where a drone can land or lift off from. There are legal arguments that laws restricting where flying can happen are invalid because they are overruled by federal law.
The rules about cameras looking where someone has a reasonable expectation of privacy are quite valid.

I fly my drone from my house over to the square all the time. Is it your suggestion that I get permission from the hundreds of homes that I fly over on any given day?
Tell me you know nothing about drones without telling me...

People who "fly" drones, call themselves "Pilots"?

Well that certainly cheapen's my FAA Airmen's Certificate.

This is interesting, I think I saw one this evening (3/7) at dusk, and I would think it was over Brownwood square, but this is a guess. The maneuvers gave it away, as no plane (red and green lights) could do what this device did. It stopped midair, and then did a controlled vertical decent until it was out of my view.

And free tuition to obtain! Kidding
You would think ‘operator’ would be more fitting

I have an FAA Private & Instrument Rating.

People ask, "oh, are you a pilot"? I respond, "not really. I'm legal to fly an airplane and fly it in bad weather, but I don't consider myself a 'pilot'. Guys who fly jets in the military and guys sitting up front on your JetBlue flight ... those guys are 'pilots'".

Now I hear that guys who filled out the card that came in the box of their $79.95 drone and mailed it to the FAA, are now calling themselves "pilots" ?

It reminds of reading posts on FaceBook, where someone is talking about their daughter Suzy, "who's is going to Medical School". Well, Suzy isn't exactly going to "Med School", she's taking a 4 day course to be a CNA.

The FAA has an Unmanned Pilot license (part 107) that pertains to Drones and unmanned aircraft. It is not an easy test and requires many hours of study to pass. It is administered by an FAA representative and is costly for the recreational flyer. There are a lot of regulations with unmanned aircraft (it would be wise to understand what they are before flying) and there are more passed, it seems, everyday. The latest one that effects recreational flyers is the Remote ID requirements, without RMID you will be severely limited as to where you can fly your drone. Most drones 2 years of age or less probably have the capability to comply with the requirements of Remote ID but will need to be registered with the FAA to get RMID compliance certification. Older drones will need to have a RMID module added. RMID gives the FAA real time access to the drones location, just like manned aircraft. This is suppose to go into effect this month!

Yes, without permission, you do not own the airspace above any property, that is controlled by the FAA.