All I wanted for Christmas this year was an approval from the FAA to fly a job in Key West. After 3 denials this year, my wish finally came true a few days early with a certificate waver for my first flight in Monroe County Florida’s only Class D Airspace. Often referred to by local drone pilots as “The Forbidden Zone south of MM 17."
The Application Process:
The FAA has a detailed online form that we have fill out to request a certificate waiver to fly in Class D Airspace. After researching the area, converting the physical address to latitude and longitude, creating a flight plan, communications plan and safety plan, the form is submitted and we generally hear back from the FAA with an approval or denial within about 2 weeks.
Getting There:
We shoot real estate photos throughout the Florida Keys out of our office in Islamorada. Fortunately, I have become a master of time management and was able to get the approval for a day when I needed to stay the night in Key West anyway due to the new Real Estate Book hitting the streets. Getting there the night before is not only fun, but ensures that no traffic issues could make me miss the short approval time window for the flight.
Settling In:
The prior day’s appointments had all been delayed due to a heavy fog in the Upper Keys that lasted until about 11:30AM, a rare occurrence down here. This put my arrival time to Key West at about 6PM the night before, just in time for a quick sunset shoot near Louie’s Backyard. Special thanks to the sailboat, helicopter and unknown model coming together to remind us that Key West is open for business. After sunset, it was off to The Angelina Guest House in the heart of Old town, once a 1920’s bordello and gambling spot, now a friendly and quaint guest house perfect for a quick overnight stay or even longer. It’s a small, independent guest house with a friendly staff that never lets me down. Just down the street is Ricky’s Blue Heaven and if you get there early, they might just have a seat or two left if you failed to make your reservation in advance. If they are full, Santiago’s Bodega and Moon Dog Cafe are about two additional blocks away and also have great food.
Flight Day:
My favorite time in Key West is early in the morning, especially when delivering Real Estate Books. The place is so quiet before 8AM, plenty of parking, no traffic and few distractions. Just a tourist or two looking for someplace to buy coffee. Anyway, this is a post about Key West Photography, not my paper route. After getting a few things done in the morning, it was off to Eagle Avenue to make sure the drone’s geofencing was going to allow me to take off and it did. As the clock struck twelve I took off and shot about ten photos for the client. The urban environment is quite different from all of the waterfront homes we shoot on a regular basis, but she and her sellers were happy with the result. All in all, it was completely drama free, which was the plan from the beginning.
