so this happened last week and im still a bit frustrated about it. we were at Zion, knew you couldnt fly inside the park boundaries obviously, so we drove out to a pulloff area just outside the park on the highway. i checked the map, we were clearly not in the park. got maybe 8 minutes of footage and then a ranger pulls up and tells me i need to stop.

he was actually pretty nice about it but said the FAA airspace over certain areas extends past the physical park boundary which i genuinely did not know. he didnt fine me or anything just told me to pack up. but now im second guessing every spot i thought was safe. does anyone know a good way to check the actual airspace boundaries not just the ground boundaries because those are apparently two different things

yeah this trips people up all the time. the physical park line and the actual restricted airspace are totally different things. B4UFLY app from the FAA is what i use, its not perfect but it shows the actual airspace classes and any TFRs in the area. also Airmap has a pretty decent overlay. you basically have to check both the ground rules AND the airspace and sometimes they dont match up at all which is frustrating

ugh yeah national parks in the US are a nightmare for this. i just assume anywhere scenic and popular is probably a no-go until i can verify. kinda ruins the spontaneous aspect of it tbh. glad the ranger was chill at least, ive heard stories of people getting $1000+ fines for way less