Thinking of flying in Seattle

[brantdw]

I am going to take a trip up to Seattle. I have a DJI 450 with FPV and a go pro. I have had some rather good flights and can handle my quad quite well. Does anyone know the legality of flying around something like the space needle.?

-B

 

[FlyGirl]

I am going to take a trip up to Seattle. I have a DJI 450 with FPV and a go pro. I have had some rather good flights and can handle my quad quite well. Does anyone know the legality of flying around something like the space needle.? -B

I don't know about the legalities but that looks like a pretty dense area on Google maps so that if anything goes wrong it could be disastrous. I don't think I'd attempt it myself but that's just me.

 

[tombrown1]

FPV flying and flying above 400 feet are strictly illegal according to the FAA. (circular from 1981)

Flying over people or traffic is frowned upon (sometimes quite vigorously) by people on these forums who don't want bad publicity for crashing quads hurting people.

 

[trec-r]

FPV flying and flying above 400 feet are strictly illegal according to the FAA. (circular from 1981)

Flying over people or traffic is frowned upon (sometimes quite vigorously) by people on these forums who don't want bad publicity for crashing quads hurting people.

I completely agree that flying over people and traffic is a bad idea. Having some rather good flights is not sufficient experience for the difficult flight conditions around the space needle. Don't try it. It is a small area, lots of people, and rapidly varying wind conditions

That said I have recently been doing a lot of research regrading laws impacting what we do and would like to add my current understanding of the laws to this thread. AC91-57 June 1981, is not a law. Item 1 states that it is voluntary. FPV is not included in the AC. In 1981 FPV was almost if not entirely unheard of. The only laws the FAA can enforce are in CFR 14. At this point CFR 14 does not include anything regarding model aircraft.
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...56862569e70077c9cc/$FILE/ATTBJMAC/ac91-57.pdf

Not a lawyer, just doing a lot of research. Please correct me if I am wrong.