No Fly Zone - Great Smoky Mountain National Park

The day was beautiful on Saturday as my girlfriend and I hiked up Clingmans Dome in The Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

THE GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS

The mountain's elevation is 6,644 feet above sea level. You can drive to what is considered the top but the parking lot is still a 1.5 mile hike to the top. The path is paved but its not for anyone that has a hard time breathing as it can make even the most seasoned of hikers breath harder and talk a lot less.

I love to see cloud shadows crossing the landscape of rolling hills below us looking out over Tennessee to the North and West North Carolina prominently to the East and South. My girlfriend and I are from the northern United States originally and have both been up to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Mt Washington is not as tall as Clingmans Dome but it is the highest point on the east coast, only cause Clingmans Dome's summit isn't in a state that touches the Atlantic Ocean. We both love Mt Washington and miss it, but we do enjoy the soft feel of GSMNP.


So all that being said, we came across a fellow DJI UAS pilot as we neared the top of the summit. He had his Phantom 3 all packed up and was reviewing his flight path and some images he had captured while flying. Spectators were impressed with the images and he was taking pride in his work as I do as well when flying. He was being informative answering questions from tourists and through hikers alike. I asked him if he was with the National Parks Service and he replied he wasn't. I informed him that since he wasn't part of the park service that he was in violation of the current rules of the Nation Park Service and he was subject to fines. He questioned, "What if I have my 333 exemption?" The Section 333 Exemption offered by the FAA does not grant you permission to fly anywhere you want.

The first rule of flying a UAS/Drone or any radio controlled aircraft is FLY SAFE. That encompasses knowing the rules of what you can do and what you can't do. If this pilot had his exemption he should have known that he should check the NO FLY ZONE maps that are publicly published and kept up to date. I am not going to go over all the rules of what you can and can't do in this post, but I am going to share the links below of the NO FLY ZONE maps, two of the ones that I use before I fly.
MapBox is really great and I find it a bit more up to date than others.
Click Here

No Fly Zone of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Map Box

DJI offers a map to show you where you can, but its not as detailed or up to date. But it is the map that will shut down your DJI Phantom, Inspire, A2, or Wookong Flight Controllers.
Click Here

No Fly Zone of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park - DJI