There are some very good topics scattered about regarding the emergence of FAA "interpretation" and application of regulations. Here's one for consideration. If you have others, here might be a good place to post them. The meaning of "Notify". I was under the FALSE impression that the requirement to "notify" ATC was not a request for permission, but an announcement of intention. Wrong. Check out: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/941/discussion_topics/22554 . This explains that: “Finally, the statute sets a requirement for model aircraft operating within 5 miles of an airport to notify the airport operator and control tower, where applicable, prior to operating. If the model aircraft operator provides notice of forthcoming operations which are then not authorized by air traffic or objected to by the airport operator, the FAA expects the model aircraft operator will not conduct the proposed flights. The FAA would consider flying model aircraft over the objections of FAA air traffic or airport operators to be endangering the safety of the NAS.” . You can certainly object to the FAA air traffic or airport operator's (manager's) decision and run it up the FAA chain of authority, or work with your local RC club to approach the issue in a unified voice, but there is no gray in "...the FAA expects the model operator will not conduct the proposed flights."Important.
Nautical vs. statute miles. For informational purposes I am doing the Embry Riddle Drone course to see what kind of info they are teaching to the noivices. It has some decent insight such as below. Good Day! For those interested, some new Q&A have been posted in the "Ask the Expert" area; excellent questions! One of the questions sent in asked how five (5) miles from an airport is measured. I thought it important to tell you why I take the approach presented in the video. FAA Notice N8900.313 for hobby/recreational users refers to 5 miles (interpreted as 5 statute miles) from the airport. Many operators use the single point airport (or aerodrome) reference point (ARP), which is the geometric center of all the usable runways on the airport, to determine their distance from the airport (see http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/AERO/arpcomp/arpframe.html). For a small airport, this might work okay. However, for a large airport with long runways (such as KMWH addressed in the video), using the ARP can bring a mile or more of difference into the picture as to how close you get to an active runway. This is why I refer to the closest runway point of your desired UAS operating area for your planning measurements. Additionally, a commercial UAS operator pursuing a 333 Exemption or a public UAS operator pursuing a COA will not be approved for operations within 5 nautical miles of an airport (nautical - not statute) without a certificated pilot (Sport/Private/Commercial) at the controls and airport authority approval (www.faa.gov). It is because of this 'statute' versus 'nautical' mile difference that I default to 5 nautical miles (the greater distance of the two) so that everyone flying a UAS in the NAS is operating from the same baseline. The FAA is aware of the statute versus nautical mile discrepancy; safety of flight requirements should be consistent for all concerned.