B4UFLY Drone Airspace Safety

The app is almost amazing but needs a lot more work before we can say it is excellent. For example I used it today to check my location, ran the checklist (excellent), and then hit “notify”. The notify doesn’t allow to to adjust the parameters so I had to notify a 1 hour 400’ flight when it was going to be 15 mins at max 50’, so I tried to cancel the notification. I couldn’t cancel out of it because the X button on the notify window wouldn’t respond. So I had to put in a way more impactful notification than was needed. I’d love to know how manned aircraft get notified of my intentions. 20 mins after I made the notification a small plane routed to my exact position and circled in my overhead at 500’ estimated AGL. Coincidence? Who knows. And why would he do that? Must’ve been a coincidence.

Looking at many reviews, it seems some are not part 107 certified. Yes, you can fly at or near many airports in class G airspace. The app has a great “Notify and Fly” feature. However, I wish there was a way to “cancel” a flight. Also, as drone regulations seem to be ever changing, it would be worth it for more to get Part 107 certification. This app is great, but I don’t feel there will ever be 1 general source that will cover everything. Municipalities, each state, National Park Service vs. USFS, wilderness and some trails, the list just goes on and on. There is no way a recreational pilot would ever know where he can and can not fly. Having said all that, this app is a great start in making more responsible pilots.

I was contemplating purchasing a drone but live less than 1 mile away from a moderately busy small airport. While scouring the FAA website and other official resources for any safety information I could find, the FAA site recommended installing and using this app. It seemed like exactly what I wanted until I tried it. Regardless of where I drop a pin, it says it’s safe to fly. I was initially happy it said it was safe to fly in my backyard but felt it may have been inaccurate because I can almost see the runway of the airport from my backyard. So I dropped a pin directly in the airport and the app said it was “good to go”. Dropped a pin directly on the airport runway. Same thing, “good to go”. Dropped a pin on the runway of Philadelphia International Airport. Yep, it said “good to go”. The only way I could get this app to finally say “prohibited from flying” was to drop a pin directly on the White House. Now I have to hope the Secret Service doesn’t come kicking down my door thanks to a stupid experiment with an app. This is a pretty useless app if trying to find areas to safely fly anywhere outside of Washington DC. And DC is likely only accurate because everyone knows you can’t fly over DC. Do not trust this app, especially if you live near an airport.