so this happened last weekend and its been bugging me. i was flying in a park, not a national park just like a regular city park, and a police officer came up and told me i needed a permit to fly there. i didnt know that was a thing and i honestly dont think i was breaking any FAA rules because i checked the airspace beforehand and it was class G, well below 400ft, registered drone, the whole thing. but he seemed pretty confident i needed a city permit. i kind of just packed up because i didnt want drama but now im wondering if he was right or just didnt know what he was talking about. how do i find out what the actual local rules are before i fly somewhere

he was probably right unfortunately. this is the thing that trips people up all the time ? FAA compliance and local ordinance compliance are completely separate things. the FAA controls airspace but municipalities can absolutely regulate where you take off and land, and a lot of cities have passed drone ordinances in the last few years requiring permits for flying in city parks. packing up was the right call honestly. to find out before you go, you can try searching the city name plus municipal code or drone ordinance, or call the parks department directly. some cities have it posted on their parks page, some dont. its kind of a mess because theres no central database for local rules

ugh this exact thing happened to me in a different state. the cop was super nice about it but yeah told me the city had passed something the year before and i had no idea. i think the frustrating part is there really isnt one place to look this all up, you kind of have to do seperate research for federal state and local which seems insane for something as simple as flying in a park. i just email the parks dept now whenever im going somewhere new, usually get a reply within a day or two and then you have it in writing which doesnt hurt either