© Scott White

A notebook of notably noteworthy and sometimes notorious notes, thoughts and pontifications.

Richmond County/Augusta, Georgia – A Turd World County

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So as most of you know, I have become addicted to, I mean I have started a new hobby of flying quadcopters (drones). Because I want to make sure I am operating my aircraft within the law at all times, I have been researching laws and various ordinances regarding the operation of these aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration has policies and guidelines in place for the operation of the craft. And surprisingly they are rather broad and allow for a lot of freedom to operate your machine. Obvious restrictions around airports and large sporting events where people could be hurt are mentioned. Those policies and guidelines are here.

All Federally managed parks, wildlife management areas and national forests are off limits to any unmanned aircraft.  You can see their rules and reasoning here.  And while I think they could be a little more flexible, I of course will honor their rules and understand some of them without question.

And then we have Richmond County/Augusta Georgia

This locality is the absolute mockery of local government and should fall under President Trump’s definition of a “Shithole Country”.   Basically, according to their code, it is illegal to fly any unmanned aircraft system (quadcopter or otherwise) anywhere with in the county (one notable exception).  Period.

(b) Restrictions.  No person shall launch or operate any Unmanned Aircraft System including those classified by the FAA as model aircraft, in a populated area within the limits of Richmond County, Georgia , without prior written FAA authroization, and written permission from the Augusta, Georgia Commission.  Exempted from the classification as a populated area is:

  1. the existing model aircraft field located at the intersection of Mike Padgett Highway and Horseshoe Road, and the airspace immediately above that field; and
  2. other model aircrat fields (and the airspace immediately above such fields) approved for such purposes by the Augusta, Georgia Commission.

I am pretty sure it is not possible to get any more broad, or vague in a codified piece of legislation than they have here.

So it’s really simple.  If you have a quad, or any other unmanned aircraft system, you are simply not allowed to fly it in Richmond County, Georgia.  GOOD!  I have nothing I want to see there, nothing I want to do there and less I want to spend money on there.  What a bunch of buffoons.