2 low flying aircraft

[m0j0]

I live in a really rural area. I fly most of the time on the outskirts away from everything and everyone. So Friday I'm on my way home decide to stop in a very rural area near a mountain. Looks great no wind I'm up about 100 feet flying around. Land after taking a few shots. About 30 seconds later here comes an air ambulance. Flying about 500 feet off the deck. If I had been flying when it came through I would have been fine because I was up about 100 feet but If I had been up doing something stupid could have been bad.

Today I'm flying a the base of a hill. I land to switch batteries, here comes a fixed wing flying no higher than 200 feet above the deck. What the hell? I'm at least 15 miles from the local airport. It was clear that he was having a good time flying low on purpose. Absolutely could have been a big problem if I was flying.

Stay safe. There absolutely is the potential for bad things to happen. I see what iampilot is saying related to flying. I agree with him but man it isn't just the drone pilots that do stupid things. Both drone pilots and "real pilots" need to respect the rules to avoid a really unfortunate accident.

 

[Dacon Productions]

FAA rules.
1000 ft above densely populated areas.
500 ft above rural, scarce populated areas.
He was at legal altitude at 500 ft.
At 200 ft AGL is illegal unless emergency or landing.

 

[jingthing]

FAA rules.
1000 ft above densely populated areas.
500 ft above rural, scarce populated areas.
He was at legal altitude at 500 ft.
At 200 ft AGL is illegal unless emergency or landing.

But you are only talking about light aircraft, others fly lower and often faster.

 

[impilot51]

Here's the kicker in these situations. I often hear folks saying the altitude is reported above take off, not true AGL with our Phantoms. Well, that light aircraft that is supposed to be at least 500 ft AGL, well, he may not have GPS, and my only have a barometric altimeter that will report his altitude as ASL. Now throw in rolling hill terrain, and he may be guessing on his AGL altitude too based on his sectional chart, the charts depiction of the elevation at that point, and his altimeter. All while piloting, navigating, perhaps communicating on the radio or any of a number of other things. If flying low, it's very easy to bust the 500 foot AGL deck, esp for occasional pilots. Moral of this story....don't count on that low flying general aviation airplane to be at or above 500 feet AGL.


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[jingthing]

Myself and many others fly hang gliders on days with no thermal activity doing ridge runs often at very low altitude with no instruments apart from a gimbal compass at most, using only dynamic lift, jumping ridge to ridge we can pull speeds over 70kmh and still have a good enough glide angle to reach the next,
I only fear the uav pilots without VLOS,
I am also a phantom pilot but the few times i have flown without VLOS i felt very irresponsible.

 

[michnels]

This is why the new FAA rules and the GeoFence crack me up a little. At my local strip - anything goes with these country pilots. If that cannot be controlled - I dunno how they think they are going to get drones under control.

 

[m0j0]

Moral of this story....don't count on that low flying general aviation airplane to be at or above 500 feet AGL.

I hear you but there is absolutely no way he thought he was at 500 feet. Absolutely no chance. He was flying with the terrain. Avoiding peaks. He was flying around the mountain. Truly there were houses higher than the plane along the ridge. He was having fun flying low. It was not what I believe was safe or responsible flying. I'm certain he was flying to the airport but he was clearly too low. I understand the rules and will not fly higher than recommended. I would feel awful if I caused an accident. This guy though would have been completely at fault if he came through and smashed into my phantom at 200 feet.

Is there no accountability for pilots? I guess the moral of the story is if I'm flying and a reckless pilot flying at 200 feet above the ground hits my phantom it's my fault irrespective of my adherence to rules and his blatant disregard for them.


Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

 

[m0j0]

We have a bad wrap.. There is a small community at the base of this mountain where I was flying. This old lady comes out from walking her dog. Sees the plane fly directly above a selection of houses and hers.... She stops to talk to me says "I was worried you might be spying on me." Hahahaha I was thinking to myself, this idiot pilot just about trimmed your tree a few seconds ago and you are worried about me. To be honest the plane was closer to the house than I was. SMDH


Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

 

[impilot51]

If you can get the tail number of the aircraft, get it and report him to the FAA. Better yet, if that low try and snap a pic as well.


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[m0j0]

If you can get the tail number of the aircraft, get it and report him to the FAA. Better yet, if that low try and snap a pic as well.


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I'll be honest it scared the crap out of me because it came out of nowhere. It came through fast enough that I would never been able to get a camera on it. I sure could have jotted down the tail number though.. Was a white Cessna with blue accents.


Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

 

[Phantomfreak]

Where I live I see helis and light aircraft below 500 ft. quite often, flying around aimlessly looking at the mansions on the hill, looking at the lake.. I try to film them but the phone camera never catches the tail letters.. When I do that plane or heli will be reported to the FAA for sure.. Funny how "real" pilots are so concerned about irresponsible UAV pilots, but they themselves NEVER do anything irresponsible, right?

 

[dmagnus]

"Over Open Water or Sparsely Populated Areas: an altitude allowing for a linear distance greater than 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure;"

If he was 500 feet laterally from you he was perfectly legal.

 

[impilot51]

Where I live I see helis and light aircraft below 500 ft. quite often, flying around aimlessly looking at the mansions on the hill, looking at the lake.. I try to film them but the phone camera never catches the tail letters.. When I do that plane or heli will be reported to the FAA for sure.. Funny how "real" pilots are so concerned about irresponsible UAV pilots, but they themselves NEVER do anything irresponsible, right?

I'm a real pilot. Commercial Instrument Certified Flight Instructor Airplane and Instrument and Multi Engine rated. And I'm the one who just said to get the tail number and report the unsafe behavior. So please don't make sweeping generalizations. They are universally wrong. BTW, I'm concerned about unsafe behavior on either side of the equation.


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[m0j0]

I'm a real pilot. Commercial Instrument Certified Flight Instructor Airplane and Instrument and Multi Engine rated.

Which is why most on here respect what you have to say. I don't always agree with you but do respect your opinions.

BTW, I'm concerned about unsafe behavior on either side of the equation.

Which I believe should be the ultimate goal. I do think that pilots need to be more cognizant of the threat that flying low brings.

I do know that the air ambulance pilots here have drone awareness flyers on their office wall. I live directly in their flight path. I see the helicopter regularly. I can say they are rarely flying low.

My incident does give me some perspective for sure. For sure if I was out a fair distance and this guy came from the opposite direction there would have been absolutely no way for me to take any evasive action.



Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

 

[4StateFlyer]

FAA rules.
1000 ft above densely populated areas.
500 ft above rural, scarce populated areas.
He was at legal altitude at 500 ft.
At 200 ft AGL is illegal unless emergency or landing.

What about planes like crop dusters? I think they are lower then the 500 feet. I have not seen one in quite a while. But have seen a few fields use them before.

 

[m0j0]

"Over Open Water or Sparsely Populated Areas: an altitude allowing for a linear distance greater than 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure;"

If he was 500 feet laterally from you he was perfectly legal.

Flying over the top of a row of houses? Naw! He was reckless

 

[impilot51]

What about planes like crop dusters? I think they are lower then the 500 feet. I have not seen one in quite a while. But have seen a few fields use them before.

Special exception. Perfectly legal for them to fly like they do.


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[4StateFlyer]

Special exception. Perfectly legal for them to fly like they do.

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Thanks for info! I was not sure how they fit in as the few times I have seen them they fly pretty crazy. Been a while since I've seen anyone pay for a crop duster though.

 

[impilot51]

Thanks for info! I was not sure how they fit in as the few times I have seen them they fly pretty crazy. Been a while since I've seen anyone pay for a crop duster though.

Btw, some of the most dangerous flying out there.


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[yankee65]

I have to watch for helicopters in fall time skimming the tree tops looking for marijuana, they fly around 200'


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