West Covina, CA Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

Sec. 15-20(b) governs any "model aircraft," defined as an unmanned aircraft flown strictly for hobby or recreational purposes, and sets five specific numeric and behavioral limits that apply on top of, not instead of, federal FAA rules. A recreational pilot must always give way to manned aircraft and cannot interfere with one (Sec. 15-20(b)(1)). The aircraft must stay within the operator's own natural visual line of sight, meaning corrected only by ordinary eyeglasses or contacts; using binoculars, night-vision goggles, a spotter standing in for the operator, or a first-person-view camera feed does not satisfy the requirement (Sec.

15-20(b)(2)). Flights are restricted to daylight hours between official sunrise and sunset (Sec. 15-20(b)(3)), capped at 400 feet above the ground (Sec. 15-20(b)(4)), and, apart from takeoff and landing, must stay at least 25 feet away from any person other than the operator or the operator's helper (Sec. 15-20(b)(5)). Recreational flights, along with commercial "civil UAS" flights, are also bound by Sec. 13 standard. Sec. 15-20(d) separately bars using any drone to record or transmit images or audio of a person or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, though it exempts model aircraft flown under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act's Section 336 that record nothing. Because Sec. 15-20 sits outside Sec. 1's infraction list, breaking any of the model-aircraft limits is a misdemeanor under Sec. 1-37(a).