Legal access to restricted airspace can be managed through the use of the FAA's Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system.
To learn more about LAANC, AirMap has a great resource: AirMap LAANC Support
After signing up with AirMap, Map Pilot users can manage their airspace authorization by using a method called "Deep Linking". This allows Map Pilot uses to pass their anticipated flight path to AirMap who then passes the information along to the FAA to get authorization.
The list of airports that support LAANC is growing and a current list of participating airports can be found here:
https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/data_exchange/laanc_facilities/#wave1
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The following image shows a standard Map Pilot flight plan, but note the GREEN circle to the right of top status bar. That denotes that there is a response from the local flight authority. The dot is called the LAANC Availability Indicator.
The LAANC Availability Indicator can be tapped to show the response from the AirMap LAANC system regarding the availability of automated or manual authorization capabilities.
Here is a brief video walkthrough of the entire process from end to end:
This doesn't work with a Mavic 2 Pro as of 2019-06-23. I was connected to the drone, made my flight plan, tried to upload the plan, went through the steps given here, and received the authorization. Upon being taken back to Map Pilot, the Mavic had disconnected and there was no way to authorize it, and no way to fly the drone. I got the same result several times, there's no way around it and no way to fly the mission. Why did I pay $9.99 for this? That's a premium price for an app that doesn't work.
The AirMap authorization has nothing to do with taking off or actually allowing the aircraft to do anything. It is purely there for airspace authorization. The ability to connect to the aircraft is a separate issue. The DJI No Fly Zones can be managed in the Zone Control tab. These will make it so you cannot take off without authorization (or at all) depending on where you are.
Once you have have the LAANC authorization you are good to go within the time window and parameters that you provided with your request.
If you can't connect to the aircraft you can unplug and replug the connection to the remote which will force it to reconnect. Version 4.0.4 which should be released for Map Pilot soon also has some additional checks to address connection issues on aircraft that are a little 'slow' to connect.
We always recommend that any professional user doing any sort of work should be well versed in using the tools. Doing LAANC authorizations in your first time using the app is not an easy way to start... Please check out our Quick Start guide and the Simulation feature so you can get familiar with Map Pilot's operation before heading into the field. Familiarity with how to troubleshoot issues is important.
https://support.dronesmadeeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/206019863-Quick-Start-A-Start-to-Finish-Guide
https://support.dronesmadeeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/211468103-In-App-Simulator
Hi Zane,
Is this LAANC something that does not involve people who fly in Europe?
Thanks