Blacksburg Campus

Flying on Virginia Tech campus outside of the Drone Park has separate protocols and more stringent requirements. All flights on Blacksburg campus must be approved in advance.

Blacksburg Campus Protocol

The following requirements must be met to fly on Blacksburg campus:

  • Obtain specific written permission for each flight or mission (see below)
  • Must have a current Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate and/or other applicable FAA authorization
  • Complete the Virginia Tech UAS Training Course
  • Aircraft must be registered with VT Risk Management

 

Virginia Tech Airspace

Please watch this video to learn about airspace at the Virginia Tech Blacksburg Campus and surrounding area . 

Requesting to Fly on the Blacksburg Campus

Flights on the Blacksburg Campus are approved via an online requesting system. They are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the UAS Safety Office and Oversight Committee.

Visit the online request system here

Here are a few tips to help ensure your flight request earns approval: 

  • Submit the request  at least 5 business days  prior to your requested start date. A more complex request may take additional time to review. 
  • The Project Description should provide details of your flight plan, and precisely how you intend to follow FAA Part 107 regulation.
    • Avoiding flying over people and maintaining visual line of sight can be difficult when flying on the Blacksburg campus. 
    • It is critical that you as the PIC have a plan prior to the flight to maintain a safe and legal flight environment. 
  • Due to the requirement of submitting the request in advance, you may include the names of multiple VOs to account for potential changes in their schedules. Please note in the Project Description how many VOs will be used for the operation. 
  • Requested Start and End Times do not have to be exact to the anticipated flight time. You may need to adjust the date or time of your flight due to weather or other circumstances on short notice, so in your request provide a buffer of a few hours or days if needed. 
  • If you are flying an automated or complex mission you may choose to upload a screenshot of the flight plan under "Supporting Graphics" in order to help describe the nature of the mission. 

 

You may not conduct any flights on the Blacksburg campus outside of the Drone Park unless they have been approved. 

 

Missions that are approved must be conducted within the limits of the flight request. This means you may not switch aircraft, flight times, flight locations, etc. if is was not included in the approved flight request. 

 

Any additional questions regarding flight approvals can be directed to uassafety@vt.edu.

 

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