Howard’s Tech Blog. I was flying my DJI Phantom 4 Drone at Drake Sports Park in West Bloomfield Township, MI on a soccer field and a park official told me that drones and aircrafts were not allowed because they could injure people. He said in May 2016 they passed an ordinance to stop people from flying drones on public property in West Bloomfield Township. However, I had called West Bloomfield Township offices and talked to code enforcement before I flew the drone and they said it was okay and not prohibited. I first called in July, and then again in September and I was told by both the police and the township that it was allowed. Mike, the park official said that apparently the police and the township were not aware of the wishes of Parks and Rec and they were not correct.
After landing the Phantom 4 and going back home, I called the township code enforcement and was told there was no ordinance against flying drones in West Bloomfield. I then searched the ordinances database at the township site, and nothing was listed. You'd think there would be a specific ordinance against flying drones but there wasn't. Then I talked to a Park official and the woman said that they used an ordinance that covered "shooting projectiles" in the township. I protested and said that the drone is not a projectile; and I was licensed by the FAA. Though I am not a lawyer, I couldn't see comparing controlled aircraft to shooting stuff in the air. That would mean anyone flying a Frisbee could be ticketed, violating the ordinance.
I will be looking further into the legality of their ordinance, since the DJI Phantom 4 is not a projectile, but totally under my control, software and GPS driven, and has many safety features including collision avoidance sensors on the front and bottom. It will stop and however if an object is in its path. If your loose radio signal it will flying to the GPS coordinates stored before take off. It will climb to 100 feet and then flying back "home." This is a very sophisticated device and not a toy.
Stay tuned!
Cameras Used
Sports Action Camera 12 MP from eBay
DJI Phantom 4 Camera: at 1080P
Triumphant Return by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
