Illinois Drone Photography and Mapping

FAA Air Space Classifications

What Airspace can and can’t you fly your drone? How do I go about seeking permission and to operate a drone and have a control station within that specific airspace? What does that airspace look like on a map. How would I even know if I’m in that airspace?

Class B Airspace

One aviation airspace is called “Class B” or “Class Bravo” Airspace. Remember the “B” as in “Big” or “Busy” Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles are among largest largest airports and the airspaces that encompasses them. Just because you might be flying your drone 20 miles outside of Los Angeles, you could still fall within the Class B airspace outside of Los Angeles Airport.

Class B airspace requires approval, however there is no published timeframe to gain approval to fly a drone in “Class B” airspace. Be aware that you are dealing with each controlling agency, and they are all different. You may get approval faster in one location and more delayed in another location. The best course of action would be to give the controlling agencies as much notification as possible.

“Class B” airspace or “Class Bravo” airspace is shown on sectional charts as a solid blue line. “Class B” airspace is often described in volume as an upside down wedding cake. On a sectional chart within a “Class B” airspace you will find bold blue lettering in the form of an improper fraction. For 100/60 the symbol designates that the airspace would begin at 6,000 feet and extend upward to a ceiling of 10,000 feet. The 100/SFC symbol would indicate that the “Class B” airspace starts at the ground surface and extends up to 10,000 feet.

Class C Airspace

“Class C” or “Class Charlie” airspace will still be found around busier airports and still supports major airline traffic, but it is substantially smaller than a Class B airspace. “Class C” also requires approval to fly a drone. There is no published time frame to gain approval to fly a drone in a “Class C” airspace. This airspace is designated by a solid magenta line. “Class C” airspace, like Class B airspace usually has a geometric form of an inverted wedding cake. Heights within the “Class C” airspace are designated by bold magenta improper fractions. The fraction T/SFC means that the airspace extends to the top, which also happens to be the bottom of the overlapping, but higher “Class B” airspace. “Class C” airspaces typically have only one shelf.

Class D Airspace

“Class D” of “Class delta” airspace is even smaller than Classes B and C airspaces, yet it still requires approval to fly a drone and there is no published time frame to gain approval from the controlling agency. “Class D” airspace is designated by a dashed blue line on the Sectional Charts and Terminal Area Charts, and is geometrically shaped by a single cylinder extending up from the surface. There are no shelves as depicted on the Class B and Class C airspaces mentioned above.

Class E Airspace

Surface “Class E” or “Class Echo” airspace cover smaller airports. Surface “Class E” requires approval before flying a drone. Surface “Class E” airspace is shown on VFR sectional charts by a dashed magenta line. Although “Class E” airspace requires approval to fly a drone, most “Class E” airspace starts at 700 feet to 1200 feet. For most drone pilots this will not pose a problem because drone pilots can only operate at 400 feet and below.

Glass G Airspace

“Class G” or “Class Golf” airspace is uncontrolled airspace. “Class G” airspace requires no approval. Actually, the majority of airspace at 400 feet and below is designated as “Class G” airspace.

Aeronautical Charts used by Drone Pilots

This is a “VFR Sectional Chart” This is the aviation road map that pilots use. The sectional chart shows the locations of FAA airspaces, airport control towers, radio frequencies for communication with airport control towers, latitude and longitude, obstacles, land features, populated areas, restricted areas and military operations areas. The map scale of a Sectional Chart is 1:500,000.

There are also Terminal Area Charts (TAC) which are zoomed in and offer greater detail. Information shown on a TAC chart includes much more detail than Sectional Charts due to the larger map scale 1:250,000. Terminal Area Charts do not cover the entire United States. Terminal Area Charts are provided in areas where greater detail is required, such as the busiest airports

Other Airspaces

Other use airspaces include “Restricted Airspace”, “Military Operations Areas”, “Prohibited Area”, “Alert Area”, and “Warning Area”.

Restricted Airspace

Restricted Airspace is identified on Sectional Charts and Terminal Area Charts by a thick hashed blue line. You cannot fly your drone in restricted airspace without seeking permission and finding out whether the restricted airspace is “hot” or “cold” on a given day. If the restricted airspace is being used, there is absolutely no chance that you would be given permission to fly a drone. If the restricted airspace is “cold,” there is a decent chance that drone operations might be permitted. Restricted airspaces are controlled by the military and permission to fly a drone should be sought well in advance.

Military Operations Area (MOA)

Military operations areas are shown as a thick hashed magenta line and generally surround restricted air spaces. Actually, you can fly a drone inside of a Military Operations Area. The FAA asks that you exercise extreme caution when flying inside of a Military Operations Area. You can also call ahead to a flight service station to determine whether a Military Operations Area will be “hot” or “cold” on a given day.

Alert Area

An “Alert Area” is also identified by a thick hashed magenta line. Usually an Alert Area is used to train pilots. They would be practicing flight maneuvers in an Alert Area. A drone pilot may fly within an Alert Area but must exercise extreme caution.

Prohibited Area

A “Prohibited Area” is also a thick hashed blue line. You can tell the difference between a prohibited area and a restricted area by the number identification being proceeded by a “P” or “R”. There is absolutely no chance of getting drone authorization inside of a Prohibited Area. An easy way to lose your FAA Part 107 Drone Certification is to fly your drone within a Prohibited Area.

Warning Area

A “Warning Area” is also a described by a thick blue hashed line. A Warning Area will only be found adjacent to coastal areas. The reason for the warning area is that there is no radar control this far from the shoreline

AGL vs. MSL

AGL stands for height “Above Ground Level”. MSL stands for average height at “Mean Sea Level”. Near the coastline, the AGL and MSL are very similar. However, near the middle of the continent near the Rocky Mountains, the difference between the AGL and MSL are drastic. Almost all airport elevations are given in MSL because pilot instruments and altimeters are calibrated to Mean Sea Level (MSL). There is only one exception to this: Class E airspaces (700 feet or 1200 feet) are given in AGL.

5 Mile Rule

There are those who report that they need to keep drone operations outside of a 5 mile radius of any airport. This rule was established by the FAA to keep recreational done flyers from airport airspaces and does not pertain to commercial drone pilots.