Please be aware that the Spirits of St Louis RC Flying Club is ahead of the curve on the many airspace changes taking place nationally and locally. On a national level, any aircraft over 250g (about 8 ounces) must bear, on its exterior, a FAA Registration number. This is the FAA’s rule, it applies to everyone flying anywhere in the US and our Airspace Authorization demands we enforce this at our field.
We have been granted permission to fly our aircraft without Remote ID and without filing a flight plan, within the area of our Airspace Authorization, by the FAA and the Spirit of St Louis ATCT – with conditions.
Full details of the legal instruments, the conditions we have in place for our field and how to comply are found here:
Airspace Authorization, Remote ID, FRIA and AMA – What you need to fly.
The recent Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) that covered our field for a “NO FLY” condition was just another exclamation point on this issue. The US Navy Blue Angeles crossed our field in their classic diamond formation several times, moving at high speed and between 400 and 500ft above ground!! It was an impressive sight, but also made clear, a TRF is serious business.
We typically have awareness of Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR’s) and we will make every effort to place them on this website using the same FAA seal as shown on this post. We remove them as soon as they are no longer in effect.
You can search for relevant TFR’s yourself here:
https://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch/nsapp.html#/
For “Location”, select “Lat/Long” and enter the following:
This is the same system that everyone operating in the airspace system uses. The output can be changed for table and map output for better reading and understanding.
These airspace changes, while being implemented and enforced incrementally, are becoming more strict on a national level and, recently, we have local level stakeholders now involved. I draw attention to these two recently published posts as examples:
St. Charles County is implementing a drone fleet for first responding:
“Drones as First Responders” Will Get Pilot Run in St. Charles County
So, the days of finding a park, athletic field or open lot to fly a drone or RC airplane at are ending. Spirits RC has carefully monitored and addressed this situation over the years. We have sought and obtained specific legal exemptions and authorizations to shelter our field and area of operations. These can be revoked at anytime for non-compliance. That would effectively end our ability to use our field for everyone. That understood; No aircraft without an FAA registration number showing on the exterior is to be flown from our field – ever again for any reason. It selfishly places the benefits of membership in our club at risk for everyone. Use a Sharpie and write it on your plane if you have no other option. If you don’t have a current FAA registration, you need to obtain one and get it on your planes before you bring your stuff to the field.
Going forward, there will be no more leniency in this matter. The gentle reminder phase has passed. Get your FAA registration number on your aircraft or fly it somewhere else so that only you are impacted by non-compliance. As detailed in above post from US Atty, you might want to check your financial status as well before ‘flying without the benefits of registration’, $100,000 fine / 1 year in prison is a lot for being a blockhead.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
