USA 90 Days notice is insane for Part 107

[William Gaddy]

Even IF you're within altitude limits of the UAS facility maps, examples of proper proposed comms procedures for a *Long Term* waiver include "flight crew including PIC will maintain and operate an FAA approved 2-way radio, and announce launch intent on CTAF 30 minutes before flight or call tower at XXX-XXX-XXXX at ATC preference" and also, you would have to probably include a promise to file a full NOTAM 24 hours before each flight. Good luck, and yes it is annoying AF.

 

[Skydrone]

But 6 months to approve!!! For the exact same area flight COA that had been approved??? And yes, it was 150 AGL, contact tower at XXX-XXX-XXXX 15 minutes prior to and 15 minutes after flight... VHF radio tuned to 121.5 to monitor emergency traffic (not required, but do anyway), carry cell phone so tower can contact me should any reason arise for me to terminate flight..... At one of the busiest airports in the US (Atlanta, class B airspace), and to be honest, the people at Atlanta could not have been nicer, ATC manager was a pleasure dealing with, it is the FAA that has put a serious damper on this industry. An original opponent to 'drones for photography' was the helicopter pilots association, I am wondering if they hired better lobbyists. Something is seriously wrong with the process now.....

 

[William Gaddy]

But 6 months to approve!!! For the exact same area flight COA that had been approved??? And yes, it was 150 AGL, contact tower at XXX-XXX-XXXX 15 minutes prior to and 15 minutes after flight... VHF radio tuned to 121.5 to monitor emergency traffic (not required, but do anyway), carry cell phone so tower can contact me should any reason arise for me to terminate flight..... At one of the busiest airports in the US (Atlanta, class B airspace), and to be honest, the people at Atlanta could not have been nicer, ATC manager was a pleasure dealing with, it is the FAA that has put a serious damper on this industry. An original opponent to 'drones for photography' was the helicopter pilots association, I am wondering if they hired better lobbyists. Something is seriously wrong with the process now.....

AOPA used to be hostile, but is not anymore, as 107 is not a direct threat to General Aviation. PHPA I think still is hostile, but sotto voce, behind-the-scenes, because... duh. Now the FAA has been pretty open about their rulemaking process. What I'm not too happy with is the glacial pace of *implementation* of what they've said they would do. Of course as a federal agency they'll cry the usual sob poverty story of "Congress hasn't funded us enough money for enough lackeys to manually rubber-stamp each application and generate a ticket that generates a ticket". And AFL-CIO says we can't automate it, because, the Children!, yada yada. All I can say is that Class Bravo is a complete fustercluck right now until they finalize the UAS facility grids. KATL is not THAT complicated though (unlike the NYC region). My HOPE (and it's just a HOPE) is that once they have the facility grids for EVERYTHING (every Echo through Bravo facility), it will reduce the workload enough on DC that they can more efficiently work the more challenging backlog (e.g. all the folks submitting waiver requests for challenging areas like on IFR approaches). Until then I think we're jolly-well-f****d.

 

[William Gaddy]

Until then, if a film director has a burr up his a** to film NYC with an aerial, he's just going to say f it and hire a helo pilot (if at altitude) or a super technocrane (if not). Things that make you go hmmmm. I'm not completely ready to "call shenanigans", but it does seem convenient, doesn't it

 

[SanCap]

AOPA used to be hostile, but is not anymore, as 107 is not a direct threat to General Aviation. PHPA I think still is hostile, but sotto voce, behind-the-scenes, because... duh. Now the FAA has been pretty open about their rulemaking process. What I'm not too happy with is the glacial pace of *implementation* of what they've said they would do. Of course as a federal agency they'll cry the usual sob poverty story of "Congress hasn't funded us enough money for enough lackeys to manually rubber-stamp each application and generate a ticket that generates a ticket". And AFL-CIO says we can't automate it, because, the Children!, yada yada. All I can say is that Class Bravo is a complete fustercluck right now until they finalize the UAS facility grids. KATL is not THAT complicated though (unlike the NYC region). My HOPE (and it's just a HOPE) is that once they have the facility grids for EVERYTHING (every Echo through Bravo facility), it will reduce the workload enough on DC that they can more efficiently work the more challenging backlog (e.g. all the folks submitting waiver requests for challenging areas like on IFR approaches). Until then I think we're jolly-well-f****d.

I think AOPA changed its mind when they realized the potential profits they can make from memberships and advertising. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

 

[William Gaddy]

I think AOPA changed its mind when they realized the potential profits they can make from memberships and advertising. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

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Thats is EAXCTLY what happened when the AOPA realized they weren't "s***ing in their own kitchen". Can't say the same about PHPA, I don't think -- drone pilots are a direct threat to the livlihood of their membership. AMA had a similar "come-to-Jesus" moment about the new quadrotors, but they eventually embraced it. BTW, I'm an AOPA member, and AMA member, not a PHPA member though, so I may be biased/uninformed about PHPA.

 

[Skydrone]

Thats is EAXCTLY what happened when the AOPA realized they weren't "s***ing in their own kitchen". Can't say the same about PHPA, I don't think -- drone pilots are a direct threat to the livlihood of their membership. AMA had a similar "come-to-Jesus" moment about the new quadrotors, but they eventually embraced it. BTW, I'm an AOPA member, and AMA member, not a PHPA member though, so I may be biased/uninformed about PHPA.

Do not think you are biased, I truly believe PHPA would like nothing better than to outlaw all drones used for photography/ videography. Sad thing is there will always be a demand for helicopters in filmmaking, they can do things I cannot (and I can do things they cannot with my Inspire), but bottom line is the UAS will always be a safer alternative (and cheaper).
And I do vividly remember being a grip on a shoot in South Florida in the mid 80's. The gimbal we had to mount for the Arriflex in the Jet Ranger weighed 250 pounds, and the shot required the pilot to hover and fly sideways (which he did very well!). The pilot let us know often how difficult and dangerous his flight was because of our equipment onboard and the flight path..... Had we crashed there would have been a high probability of 4 corpses on the ground in flames,,,,, If I crash the Inspire, the only causality is the little toy Stitch figure I attached as a mascot and my checking account because I need to buy another one (Inspire AND Stitch). Yes, I know there will be those who insist if my drone crashes it could hit someone on the ground, causing serious injury or even death..... But to put it into perspective, if an aircraft is going to crash into you, would you rather it be a 2500lb aircraft or a 6lb 'toy'????

 

[websiteauthor]

I just got a call from FAA with a couple of questions about my 6/14/2017 request for airspace authorization. Just wanted to confirm flight radius basically. But he said I'd probably have my authorization by the end of the day. So that means mine was completed in under 60 days, which at least is better than 90 days. LOL He also told me he was granting the authorization thru 6/30/2018 even tho I asked only for a 6 month authorization - this jives with what droneu said on their video from today about how to fill out the authorization request. FAA is granting these authorizations until 6/30/18 even though the instructions say you can only ask for 6 months or less.

 

[William Gaddy]

Well, they SEEM to be getting faster about it. I got my tracking number within 2 weeks of submittal for a KSFO Class Bravo, and that usually means someone is actually reviewing it. Your mileage may vary, and I may be waiting 60 more days for an actual response/question though...

 

[websiteauthor]

Well, they SEEM to be getting faster about it. I got my tracking number within 2 weeks of submittal for a KSFO Class Bravo, and that usually means someone is actually reviewing it. Your mileage may vary, and I may be waiting 60 more days for an actual response/question though...

It seems to me that my tracking number took about 2 weeks to show up as well. The guy told me I would probably get the authorization later today and I got an email right after our conversation that basically just says FAA Part 107 Authorization Notification and my request number, so hopefully this saga is near an end. LOL

My request was for Class Delta space though.

 

[William Gaddy]

It seems to me that my tracking number took about 2 weeks to show up as well. The guy told me I would probably get the authorization later today and I got an email right after our conversation that basically just says FAA Part 107 Authorization Notification and my request number, so hopefully this saga is near an end. LOL

My request was for Class Delta space though.

S***, I guess I should charge the mobile phone listed as my contact number, eh?

 

[websiteauthor]

S***, I guess I should charge the mobile phone listed as my contact number, eh?

LOL probably a good idea.

 

[BigAl07]

Well, they SEEM to be getting faster about it. I got my tracking number within 2 weeks of submittal for a KSFO Class Bravo, and that usually means someone is actually reviewing it. Your mileage may vary, and I may be waiting 60 more days for an actual response/question though...

Well sort of... I'll preface by saying I don't understand why/how they do this process like they do but . . .

When you "Submit" you are sending it to one "department" within the agency. It's reviewed for "completeness" and it meets that level of approval it is logged into another system (tracking # now applied) and entered into the queue for the actual Review Dept. They work through them in basic order of FiFo (there are exceptions and expedited cases) so when you get the tracking # the first hurdle has been cleared.

 

[Skydrone]

Just got this email for a COA in class Brovo, took em 30 days to acknowledge the application, and historically it has been 60 days after this notice that I get approval or denial, so perhaps they are still on the same timeline as before:


Thank you for submitting an Airspace Authorization request to the Federal Aviation Administration. This email is in reference to the application submitted on 7/7/2017 in the vicinity of KMCO.


Request Number: 2017-P107-ESA-******


Please do not reply to this email address, it is a distribution mailbox only.


Perhaps the notice that the COW now will take 6 months was just a scare tactic?

 

[websiteauthor]

That is the email I received this morning after my call from the FAA rep . . . just a couple minutes ago I got the COA.

 

[William Gaddy]

Just got this email for a COA in class Brovo, took em 30 days to acknowledge the application, and historically it has been 60 days after this notice that I get approval or denial, so perhaps they are still on the same timeline as before:


Thank you for submitting an Airspace Authorization request to the Federal Aviation Administration. This email is in reference to the application submitted on 7/7/2017 in the vicinity of KMCO.


Request Number: 2017-P107-ESA-******


Please do not reply to this email address, it is a distribution mailbox only.


Perhaps the notice that the COW now will take 6 months was just a scare tactic?

Typical underpromise and underdeliver bureaucrat-speak from Washington! All jokes aside though, I'm seeing incremental improvements. They got back to be in about a week and a half, so we'll see. I'll keep ya'll updated on my KSFO Bravo...

 

[RMartin]

The sad thing is that all 6 shoots were at same location, a progress video of a construction site. Once a month I would go video tape the progress then return next month and film from same spot. I had a COA approved for the same area, a one week shoot (and yes, took all 90 days to get that one approved). I am getting the impression that the FAA is just going to make it as difficult as possible to operate as a commercial UAS pilot in hopes we will all just give up. I know government is slow, but this is just rude....

So why did you go the waiver route when you already had a CoA approved and in place? Why not just refile for another six months before the current CoA expired? That would have shortened the process considerably.

 

[RMartin]

FAA is granting these authorizations until 6/30/18 even though the instructions say you can only ask for 6 months or less.

My last round was granted for one year. I guess there are perks to being in the frequent filer club.

 

[RMartin]

Just got this email for a COA in class Brovo, took em 30 days to acknowledge the application, and historically it has been 60 days after this notice that I get approval or denial, so perhaps they are still on the same timeline as before:


Perhaps the notice that the COW now will take 6 months was just a scare tactic?

Don't count on it. A waiver is completely different from authorization. With a waiver you are asking to ignore the current regs and deviate from them; hence, the extended filing and approval period. An authorization is just that; authorization to use the airspace within the current regs.

 

[Skydrone]

That's the funny part, at the time I applied I spoke to the head of the southeastern region for implementing drones into the FAA. He insisted I needed both...... The description of a COA verses a COW 'in-house' seems to have changed from late last year to early this year to now.. But it's all ok, someone's got to get the ball rolling, I figure they will just see who gets pissed off the least and go with that rule description. Works for me......