The drone craze had not yet hit when I was first working in aviation, and by the time it did hit I was too busy figuring out how to be a good teacher to bother messing around with drones at that point. However, now that I am an aviation educator, that is right in my wheel house and I have now fully embraced drones! I started with Codrones at the museum where I work and then I tried out a few other types, including an FPV – wow! Eventually I bought my own beginner to mid-level drone with a camera.
I have to admit, it’s a lot more difficult to do than I expected, plus there’s a lot more safety and legality involved than I had previously realized. That aside, once I got everything figured out with the logistics, safety, and permits/licenses etc. I had a blast and now I’m planning to add some drone classes to my programming and possibly a drone day in the summer camp and afterschool programs. The first thing I had to do was register my drone with the FAA. If you Google “FAA Drone Zone” it will take you to a page that looks like this:
Then, you just click where it says, “Register Your Drone” and it will walk you through the steps. There is a recreational pilot safety test you must take first and your drone will also need a Remote ID (RID) as per FAA guidelines. This part is important, and confusing, because since the requirement is new, not all drones come with one built in. You must email your drones manufacturer and ask if it has one. My drone is a Holy Stone and they got right back to me, told me that it was not equipped with an RID and promptly sent me an external RID to attach. After that, it was simple to set up and register.
Then, I was up and in the air! First, I just practiced taking off, landing and some basic maneuvering in my backyard, but it’s so tiny that I knew I needed more space. That was my next hill to climb, finding a place to legally fly my drone. Luckily, since I work at an aviation museum, I have several people I can ask about local flying spots. I found out that the AMA club (for remote control airplane flying) has some chapters that also include drone flying. So, I joined, but wait… it doesn’t end there! Then, I have to go to the park where they meet and buy a permit that says I’m allowed to fly there (first you need to be an AMA member). I actually have not completed the last step because, as you might expect, the park office has some pretty limited hours.
So, all in all it’s been a multi-week process just to get to the point where I am legal, have safety gear, and am reasonably ready to fly in public with others watching! Hopefully, this weekend I will finally get to really try it out, with my drone at Hecksher Park. I guess the jury is still out as to whether it’s worth it – you decide if you want to do all of that just to fly, have fun and take pretty pictures (that was my motivation). I’ll come back and write in the comments after I fly at Hecksher.
Feel free to share about your drone experiences on Long Island in the comments. I’d love to hear your experiences.
Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Danielle