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stehsegler said..
Only got about 15 minutes of footage from the drone. When I switched batteries I got informed by a friendly council worker (not a ranger) that you are not allowed to operate drones from public council land within the City of Stirling council area. This means legally you are not allowed to operate from public land between Scarborough and Watermans Beach. I did ask who I have to call to get a permit but he didn't know.Did a little digging and found some references of people being refused permits to fly commercially even with CASA certification. Now the interesting bit. CASA controls airspace not the council. So legally if you launch from private land and follow to CASA regulations (line of sight, don't fly above people, don't fly within 30 meters of structures) it's no longer an issues as CASA controls airspace not the city of Stirling.I will call them tomorrow to see if I can talk to someone with common sense is to see what the situation with permits is. Otherwise does anyone know someone that owns a property overlooking Metts?
Even as a CASA qualified flyer I am finding it harder and harder to do my work. (mostly real estate and commercial/ industrial buidling fly overs / site visualisations. Clients call and want a job done that arvo (might be a critical crane lift or time sensitive process on site) - and councils work at the speed of sloth so you cant even get them to turn around approvals in time.
Its very frustrating. I end up flying by stealth, or launching from private property (which I did off the top of a 20 storey building in the city - the shots were epic)
Take into account wind, light, bloody kitesurfers, public concerns about privacy (you are public enemy number one when people see you with that controller) client requirements and red tape and its certainly a very complicated space. It was easier back in the day when we just threw a big noisy helicopter in the air! (even then Kitesurfers managed to shut down more than 1 shoot chasing down and trying to get shot by the Helicopter - once in Hawaii and twice in WA -Margs and woodies)
Interesting to hear about the transition between air space control between CASA and local authorities.