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Airspace Authorization

WildDoktor

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I got this email last night, 5-8-17:

"Thank you for submitting an Airspace Authorization request to the Federal Aviation Administration. This email is in reference to the application submitted on 3/15/2017 in the vicinity of KRDD. Your application is being processed."

That's 7.5 weeks; so much for it "only" taking 3-4 weeks to obtain an Authorization! I suppose that also means it will take longer than the 90 days for a waiver.

Ho hum; at least they're looking at it...
 
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Ouch :( I'm waiting for one now about 29 days and counting... should be a no-brainer, outer edge of class D no higher than 125' but...

My previous one took about 40 days and that included time to process an additional form due to the airport being an Air Force base.
 
Not sure if any of you commercial guys keep up with these podcasts as most are 95% nonsense and 5% meat but you might get something out of the 5% meat :)

 
Interestingly, I *also* got a reply from the FAA about the auth request I submitted 2 weeks ago. ??? Who knows what's *really* going on "over there". :)

Agustine, I've listened to those guys and agree with your assessments. :) I've not heard this one; will check it out after work tonight.
 
Done! Two Class D authorizations (not waivers) now approved. Sweet!

I actually have 3 requests in; I submitted 2 of them on 3-15 and 3-16 and one on 4-25. Was approved for the first two yesterday.

Because I didn't understand fully what was happening, I submitted the first 2 for the same spot: my work. Reason? To hone my skills at lunchtime.

For the first one, I got a guy who simply gave me a 1NM radius around a single point. Because that happened to get super close to a flight path of the local controlled airport, he only approved me for At or below 100' AGL for the entire area.

For the second one, the guy called me up, said I can have 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile, or he can give me more; whatever I want. !! So I called him back and he really worked with me! I ended up approved for a rectangular area completely surrounding my work place; 1.3 miles on 2 sides, .75 miles on the other two sides. Because we tightened up the area, it's not encroaching on the flight path, and he approved me for At or below 200' AGL.

Both auths refer to the pdf that I posted earlier, with a grid filling up the class D space and altitudes in each grid area. The approvals have use the lowest AGL number in the grids that overly the authorization area, which accounts for why one of my auths is 100' and the other is 200'. It stinks, because on the second auth there is only 1 tiny corner of the approved area (maybe 50 square yards) that's in a 200' grid. The majority is in a 300' grid, and the rest is in a 400' grid.

Ah, well...so now I know. If I'd known that I would have just lopped off that 200' grid section. Guess I know now! And so do you...if any of this actually made any sense. :)

Both auths are good for 6 months, and now I'm waiting for the 3rd, which I'll hopefully be able to turn so that I can be the first guy in my area to get approval to take aerial footage of the local drag races. :) At least, when I'm not racing my bike on the Street Legal Drags nights. :)
 
Awesome, thanks so much for sharing this! I didn't realize they would/could tighten down the area like that.

Just filed for my third yesterday and have hit the same number of days on my second one that it took to get approved for the first :/ Made a spreadsheet to automatically keep track of the number of days it's been.
 

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Made a spreadsheet to automatically keep track of the number of days it's been.

That's a really good idea that I'm going to implement. Although I'm going to add a field called "Description of your proposed operation" and will copy/paste what I wrote in the request so I'm not confused about what exactly I requested. :)

And any time an faa guy calls or emails me about a request, the first thing I'm going to ask is "Which request are we talking about?".

Agustine, I'm dealing with that right now. Had to explain to my realtor why I couldn't do a job for him (airspace) and a conversation about the guys who might go ahead and fly. The realtor may be even more liable; so thanks for the screenshot!
 
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I'm going to add a field called "Description of your proposed operation" and will copy/paste what I wrote in the request so I'm not confused about what exactly I requested. :)

What I've done is save the complete authorization web page as .HTML file on my computer before hitting submit. That way all the information is there for reference and can also copy/paste into a new authorization request if it's basically the same.
 
What I've done is save the complete authorization web page as .HTML file on my computer before hitting submit. That way all the information is there for reference and can also copy/paste into a new authorization request if it's basically the same.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This! Will do!
 
Still waiting, 51 days and nothing from them :/ and the client is wondering when I'm coming out to the site, frustrating! Emailed the UAS help desk and received this reply:
Thank you for your inquiry. I cannot provide a status update or confirmation of your authorization request, but please note that the system does not automatically issue a confirmation receipt, although we are working toward the system providing that. You should receive notification from the appropriate office when they enter the request into their system.
Please note that airspace authorizations typically take 4-6 weeks to process, depending on the complexity and completeness of the request. Airspace waivers take at least 90 days to process.
Regards,
FAA UAS Integration Office
[email protected]
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Posting here so maybe like WildDoktor's it will magically be approved this afternoon, haha.
 
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Still waiting, 51 days and nothing from them :/ and the client is wondering when I'm coming out to the site, frustrating! Emailed the UAS help desk and received this reply:

Posting here so maybe like WildDoktor's it will magically be approved this afternoon, haha.

I'm pulling for you!!
 
I'm at 4 weeks wait time with not a peep:) Loosing out on lots of work so I hope the don't make me wait 90 days....can't wait for the automated system to go live next year.
 
In the FAA instructions for applying for a waiver/authorization, it reads this in the first few lines:

"Name: The responsible person is the official holder of the waiver and/or airspace authorization. The responsible person: • Must ensure the operation is conducted safely and with strict observance of the terms and provisions contained in the waiver and/or airspaceauthorization. • Should be a person that has ongoing knowledge of the operations of the sUAS under the waiver/airspace authorization. • Is not required to hold a remote pilot certification. • May be the representative of an organization. If so, then the name of that organization should be entered in the appropriate space. • Is responsible for maintaining a list of pilots, as well as the make/model of aircraft operating under the terms of the waiver and/or airspaceauthorization. • Is responsible for maintaining records or other information required to demonstrate compliance with the special provisions in the waiver and/or airspace authorization."

So that would lead me to want to ask the question based on the highlighted print in blue above, the prospect of which I had never really considered before...I had until now believed that as the PIC of the flight, I alone was responsible for applying for the waiver/authorization, but if I understand the instructions correctly, any person involved in the mission, such as the person requesting the drone job such as a real estate agent, TV news station rep., etc., could be the one appeal to the FAA. The form then lists the applier separately from the drone operator. I suppose I missed this during my studies or it never really registered with me if I had read it before. If this is the case, the PIC could let the buyer of services do the applying?...
 
Just got a disappointing email from the FAA. What a cluster you-know-what this whole thing is. As if we didn't already know that. :mad:

I submitted a request for authorization. I put a date-range of operations on the request. Because the FAA didn't even *see* my request until *after* the start date, they denied the entire request. And then they have the gall to tell me to resubmit and "enough time for proper processing". As if that were *my* issue.

"Thank you for submitting your airspace authorization request to operate under Part 107.41. The FAA is making every effort to process airspace authorization requests as quickly as possible. Air Traffic Control facilities are currently identifying those areas where authorizations can be approved without adversely impacting the safety of manned flight, developing and implementing local procedures to support Part 107 operations, and training the Air Traffic Control workforce.

Unfortunately, the airspace authorization request you submitted was not submitted within enough time to allow proper processing (applications should be submitted to allow 90 days for processing). Therefore, we will not be able to process your request in time to support your planned operation.

If you still require an airspace authorization, please resubmit your request to allow enough time for proper processing. We apologize for this inconvenience as we improve and streamline the Part 107 airspace authorization process.
"

What a joke. I know others have been put in the same situation. It's almost cruel.
 
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I submitted a request for authorization. I put a date-range of operations on the request. Because the FAA didn't even *see* my request until *after* the start date, they denied the entire request. And then they have the gall to tell me to resubmit and "enough time for proper processing". As if that were *my* issue.

Dude, I am so sorry, that sucks so hard.

If this is standard operating procedure I am totally screwed on this job (still waiting, 76 days now) and I will lose some serious face with my client who will have to wait up to ANOTHER 90 days. Or...maybe they'll just hire someone who doesn't care about the law?! :mad:

It's completely and utterly ridiculous. It would mean they're forcing us to wait 90 days to do a job. Because if we set start time 90 days out on a job that could be done at any point the authorization still won't be active until that start time, even if it is approved earlier.
 
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Dude; I can't believe your auth hasn't come thru yet. :-( :-( Somehow, it only took them 35 days to deny mine. :-(

Or...maybe they'll just hire someone who doesn't care about the law?! :mad:

That's *exactly* what's going to happen...and is already happening. It may have just happened to me on a different job (that didn't need authorization). If they post pictures/video, and if I determine that the pilot is who I think it is (a non-107 hobbiest), I'm going to turn in both the pilot and the company that hired the pilot. Nothing will come of it, I'm sure, and money will have already changed hands, but I'll feel better about it.
 
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