ok so ive been flying for about 8 months now and i thought i had this figured out but apparently not. i was planning a shoot near a small regional airport, not like a major one, just a small one that has some Cessnas and stuff coming in and out. i submitted through aloft (used to use kittyhawk but whatever) and got an auto-approval for like 200ft which is fine for what i need.

but then a friend of mine who also flies said that LAANC approval doesnt cover you if the airspace is also a national park or some kind of state controlled thing. is that true? the area im going to is near a reservoir that i think might have some kind of recreation management situation going on. i honestly cant find a clear answer anywhere and the FAA website just makes my eyes glaze over every time i try to read it

basically i guess my question is -- if i have LAANC approval am i good or do i need to check other stuff too

yeah your friend is right and this trips people up constantly. LAANC is only dealing with the FAA controlled airspace side of things -- it literally just means the FAA and the controlling facility know you're up there. it has nothing to do with who owns or manages the land underneath you.

so if that reservoir is managed by like the army corps of engineers or a state park authority or whatever, they can have completely separate rules about drones that have nothing to do with airspace. i flew near a state park once with full LAANC approval and a ranger still came over and told me i needed a separate permit from the parks department. had to pack up that day. the FAA approval was fine, the land rules were a whole other thing.

best bet is to just call whoever manages that reservoir directly and ask. i know that sounds annoying but honestly it saves so much headache

this is something i had to learn the hard way lol. also worth checking if theres any temporary flight restrictions in the area before you go out, not just the permanent airspace stuff. i forgot to check once before a shoot and there was a TFR up for some local event i had no idea about. LAANC wont warn you about those i dont think, or at least it didnt catch it when i checked