Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Rotorcraft; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150; Flight Crew Total 1250; Flight Crew Type 2
Situational Awareness; Confusion; Communication Breakdown
Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure; Airport
I was flying a drone over my house and realized I was technically flying in Class D with no permission to fly there.  Drones create a new and unknown area of operations as this case demonstrates.  I was well far from the airport (almost at the lateral Class D limits); and I was flying very low; so I was not endangering any traffic.  However; it has been bugging me that I did fly in Class D without permission.  I have been thinking about what I would do differently.  For example; perhaps I would try to contact the tower with my hand-held radio.  This would be difficult because I am not high enough to get a good signal to the airport.  Should I have given them a call to let them know?  Would they think I was nuts if I called them about a little drone that would not have an effect on their operations?  These questions do need to be answered; and it is not clear to me where the line is drawn.  For example; it would be too conservative to suggest that I could not fly the drone 4 feet above the ground; or even up to roof top level.  I felt compelled to write this not only to admit I may have done something I should not have; but also to spur the conversation of what should and should not be done with drones in technically controlled airspace.Note: this was the third or so occurrence of this operation in the past couple weeks; and the reported date only reflects the most recent occurrence.
A UAS pilot flying his aircraft low near his home realized it was in PDK Class D airspace. He was uncertain what action he should take to notify ATC about his intended flight.