Austin Texas

Hi everyone, travelling to Austin Texas. Any advice appreciated, using Virgin Airlines from Heathrow, seems to be no problems. A bit unclear about flying there, looks to be a drone friendly place, seems to look like many places to fly as long I’m 5 miles from the airport. DJI mini pro. Anyone flown a drone there? I have TRUST certificate, thanks

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Moved your question to the Travel section.

If you are under 250g you don’t need to register your drone or display a number.

Be aware of airports. The USA has many.

I use the following apps in the USA - Air Control, B4UFLY and Opensky.

You can self unlock several areas via Air Control, but you will require a US phone number to register yourself.

Enjoy flying…

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Took my Mini SE to Long Island, New York via Virgin in my hand luggage. No problems. Just packed each battery separately dotted around the rest of the hand luggage case. No queries, no inspections. So long as you have your appropriate US certification — enjoy.

Thanks Leslie, think i just need TRUST certificate that I already have, runs out in June. Paid 5$ to register it, don’t think I really needed to, but belt and braces! Thanks for your reply :white_check_mark:

No need if under 250g.

However you will need to display the number now that it is registered.

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Adding to this post. Rang Virgin a week ago, told as expected all drone equipment in carry on luggage. My wife spotted today it’s changed, rang again today, told changed very recently and now the drone only has to put in check in luggage. Obviously when you get to security you’ll be unable to get it back to check in baggage. Maybe need to check if other airlines to other destinations have/intend to implement this policy.

That seems odd as a drone without a battery inserted has no way of interfering with Air Craft systems. I am ex BA so contacted a friend who is still there with the scenario you have listed. He has just this minute got back to me and confirmed that a drone is not a restricted item but the battery should not be installed and instead carried in accordance to the conditions of carriage. (Hand Luggage Only)

@Duggy my 2 pence worth with VA who i have many many flights with. So long as drone batteries are in carry on luggage there is no issue.
I used to put my batteries in fire proof bags and the drone itself was empty shell, but all were in carry on.
Never questioned flying into or out of the US and that was most of my flights.

First time in USA with drone. As I said VA have recently changed their policy, absolutely agree a drone with no battery is surely no problem wherever stored. Maybe they think someone will put in a battery and attempt to fly when boarding or in the aircraft. Most unlikely but possible!

HI I’m traveling to the USA in 15 days i wish to take my DJI Air 2s i have done the Trust and have FAA UAS certificate of Registration .
Is this all i need to do so i can fly my Air 2s as it 595g ?

Any help with this would be grateful !

I went to Austin, googled local drone club and joined Austin drone pilots. Answered my questions, very helpful and friendly and advice on local laws, plus APD attitude about drones, basically not interested! Maybe do the same wherever you’re going.

As long as you have paid your $5 and displayed your number on the drone, you should be fine.

I use Air Control, B4UFLY and Opensky apps to assist me .

Air control is great as you can self unlock some LAANC areas closer to airports. You will however need to use a US phone number to register etc. In Florida this is very useful as a lot of airports.

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Thank you Ian :+1:t5:, I have payed the $5 and have registered each drone under my name and got ID to put on drone and I used my mobile number , I think that have updated the web page so you dont need a US number , Good advice to download B4UFly app which i have done, very easy to use.

Thank you.

Austin is indeed a pretty drone-friendly city with a lot of great spots to capture. One important thing to remember, though, is the privacy laws. Even though the views might be tempting, avoid flying over private property without explicit permission from the owners. Also, flying over large crowds can pose safety risks and is generally frowned upon.

Why all these precautions, you ask? Well, apart from being the decent thing to do, staying on the right side of the law also means you avoid potential legal trouble. Trust me on this one, I’ve seen in my day job how a small lapse in judgement can lead to charges, and that’s a stain you don’t want on your personal files. We don’t want you having trouble on your future plans as doing character screenings is pretty standard now, be it jobs, rental agreements, etc.

As for staying clear of airports, you’re spot on - keeping at least 5 miles away is a must.

Not aware that this is a requirement in the USA

Maybe a bullet proof vest