so ive been flying for about 3 months now and i got my part 107 cert last month which i was pretty proud of but honestly it raised more questions than it answered for me. like i know the FAA rules but now im reading that individual states and even counties have their own rules on top of that and i genuinely dont know how to figure out what applies where i live.

theres a state park maybe 20 minutes from me that looks perfect for flying, open fields, no crowds on weekdays, and its not in any controlled airspace according to b4ufly. but someone in another group told me that state parks in my state (virginia) are basically all off limits for drones. is that actually true or were they just being overly cautious? and if its a blanket rule does it apply to the whole park or just certain areas

i dont want to be that guy who gets a fine on his third real flight lol

virginia state parks do have a general no drone policy yeah, its been that way for a few years. you technically need a permit to fly in them and from what ive heard they rarely grant those except for like official photography projects or something. the rule isnt posted super clearly everywhere which is why a lot of people get surprised by it.

your best bet is to just call the specific park office directly, sometimes rangers have different interpretations or there are areas just outside the park boundary that are totally fine. ive found that calling ahead saves a lot of headache. also check if there are any local flying clubs near you because they usually know all the good legal spots in the area that arent obvious from an app.

wait b4ufly doesnt show state park rules at all, it only does airspace stuff. thats kind of a trap a lot of new people fall into, thinking if the airspace is clear then youre good. the FAA stuff and the state/local stuff are completely separate layers of rules that both apply at the same time which is honestly kind of annoying to navigate