New Drone TFRs: Middleburg VIP Today, Cape Canaveral and Palm Beach This Weekend, Homestead Expanded

A fresh VIP temporary flight restriction is up over Middleburg, Virginia, today, and Florida is stacking VIP and drone-only security zones from Cape Canaveral to Palm Beach and Homestead this weekend. Colorado’s Pagosa Springs flood-response TFR was also reissued and now runs through next Tuesday. We checked the FAA’s TFR list and NOTAM detail pages at about 5:20 a.m. Mountain time on Thursday, November 5.

Today: Middleburg, Virginia VIP zone (NOTAM 6/5767)

FDC 6/5767 puts a 5 nautical mile circle centered near Middleburg, Virginia, from the surface to 4,999 feet AGL. It is active from noon to 7:45 p.m. Eastern today — 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Mountain. This is a VIP movement TFR under 14 CFR 91.141. All aircraft operations, including remote-controlled aircraft, are prohibited inside except flights ATC can work with a discrete squawk and two-way radio, plus active law enforcement, firefighting and medevac missions. Aircraft may not loiter. Drones that ignore the zone can be jammed, seized or destroyed under the counter-UAS authorities cited in the NOTAM. The FAA does not name the VIP.

Friday: Cape Canaveral VIP plus a drone-only overlay

VIP NOTAMs 6/5390 and 6/5393 cover Cape Canaveral on Friday, November 6, from 4:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST (2:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. MST). The footprint is a 30 NM outer ring and a 10 NM inner core from the surface to 17,999 feet MSL. Inside the core, almost everything is shut down except approved law enforcement, military support, air ambulance and certain TSA-screened airline and cargo flights. UAS, sightseeing, banner towing and model aircraft are not authorized. Security NOTAM 6/5589 adds a separate drone-only 2 NM circle near Cape Canaveral, surface to 2,000 feet AGL, from 2:50 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. EST Friday under 14 CFR 99.7 — SGI waiver required for any qualifying exception.

Friday through Sunday: West Palm Beach VIP and Palm Beach UAS zone

VIP NOTAM 6/5410 stands up a 30/10 NM TFR over West Palm Beach from 7:45 p.m. EST Friday through 7:30 p.m. EST Sunday (5:45 p.m. Friday to 5:30 p.m. Sunday Mountain). UAS ops are expressly not authorized. A separate drone-only security TFR, 6/5574, keeps a 2 NM circle near Palm Beach closed to UAS from the surface to 2,000 feet AGL from 6:10 p.m. EST Friday through 8:20 p.m. EST Sunday.

Homestead: new all-day drone TFRs on top of NASCAR windows

Yesterday we covered the split-window NASCAR Championship drone TFRs at Homestead (6/4950, 6/5022 and 6/5087). Overnight the FAA added 6/5770 and 6/5772 — same 1 NM, surface-to-400-feet AGL drone-only circle, same NASCAR Championship title — but with continuous coverage from 11 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday and Saturday, filling the gaps between the earlier day and evening windows. Sunday’s split windows under 6/5087 remain as posted. Same 99.7 rules and SGI waiver path apply.

Updated through Nov. 10: Pagosa Springs flood response (6/5538)

The Pagosa Springs disaster-relief TFR has been reissued as 6/5538. It now runs daily from 7 a.m. to 4:59 p.m. Mountain through Tuesday, November 10, surface to 2,000 feet AGL over a large polygon around Pagosa Springs for the Archuleta County flood response — extending and raising the earlier package we flagged this week.

Still on the board

Also still active: the Wild River Fire TFR near Gorham, New Hampshire, through Nov. 11; Naval Station Mayport security airspace through Saturday; Santa Rosa Island defense zones; air show TFRs at Pensacola (including today), Titusville, Punta Gorda, San Marcos, Somerset and Safford; UAS public-gathering zones in Orlando, Tampa and Raleigh; and Monday’s Fountain, Florida, gas-venting hazard TFR.

What this means for drone pilots

Today’s Middleburg VIP TFR and this weekend’s Florida VIP stack are the short-notice, high-penalty zones that catch Part 107 pilots most often. Check the FAA TFR list or a B4UFLY-approved app before every flight, and read the actual NOTAM for times and altitudes. Presidential-size VIP TFRs ban UAS outright; 99.7 drone-only security TFRs still carry criminal-penalty language and counter-UAS enforcement warnings.

If you fly events, races or coastal real estate, you need a solid Part 107 foundation plus the skill to request SGI waivers when a client job lands inside a security zone. Drone U’s Part 107 test prep course covers airspace, NOTAMs and TFRs, and students have been known to complete it in three days and pass the test.

Sources: FAA NOTAM 6/5767; FAA NOTAM 6/5770; FAA NOTAM 6/5772; FAA NOTAM 6/5393; FAA NOTAM 6/5390; FAA NOTAM 6/5589; FAA NOTAM 6/5410; FAA NOTAM 6/5574; FAA NOTAM 6/5538; FAA TFR list

0