A plea from a Professional Helicopter Pilot

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I posted this on the Ground Station sub forum where someone had flown their Phantom into controlled airspace. PLEASE FLY BELOW 400 FEET!!!! I know how much fun it is to get those great shots, or see how high your aircraft can go, but remember there are a lot of MANNED AIRCRAFT UP THERE!!! I have had close encounters with birds, balloons, kites, and other aircraft. I cringe whenever I see a bunch of balloons floating away...I religiously use our Air Traffic Control System, even when I don't have to, I am on the radio making sure I know where everyone is. If I were to hit a Phantom head on, it would enter the cockpit through the windscreen and at worst kill me, best maybe unconscious. It could also hit my rotor blades, tail rotor blades, control pitch links on the mast, or damage my engine. I really like my phantom, and I ALWAYS FLY NO HIGHER THAT 400 FT! Please, with respect to fellow pilots who are not all snug and comfy on the ground, stay below 400 ft above ground level (remember we can't pull over on clouds). Thank you

Hate to be nit picky, but as a professional helicopter pilot, I need to ask...Were you in contact with your local Flight Service Station(FSS) or Common Traffic Freq? A quick look at the charts shows that near Barnesville, PA both Hazelton Airport and Arner Memorial Airport both have Class E shading around them meaning that controlled airspace drops from 1200 to 700 ft above ground level(AGL). Basically so that IFR traffic can get in an out, however as a helicopter pilot that used to fly back east, your video and flight data disturbs and frightens me., your aircraft was above 1400 ft almost the entire time, with NO FPV!!! I own a Phantom, however as a commercial pilot, I am very aware of my airspace and surroundings. I just want other phantom pilots to realize that not all planes or aircraft fly high all the time. Most helicopter traffic flys 500-1,000 agl, or above ground level. Although I cannot wait until Ground Station is available for the Vision Plus, please please please stay below the 400 ft agl level that R/C aircraft are supposed to abide by.
 
rotorjunkie said:
I posted this on the Ground Station sub forum where someone had flown their Phantom into controlled airspace. PLEASE FLY BELOW 400 FEET!!!! I know how much fun it is to get those great shots, or see how high your aircraft can go, but remember there are a lot of MANNED AIRCRAFT UP THERE!!! I have had close encounters with birds, balloons, kites, and other aircraft. I cringe whenever I see a bunch of balloons floating away...I religiously use our Air Traffic Control System, even when I don't have to, I am on the radio making sure I know where everyone is. If I were to hit a Phantom head on, it would enter the cockpit through the windscreen and at worst kill me, best maybe unconscious. It could also hit my rotor blades, tail rotor blades, control pitch links on the mast, or damage my engine. I really like my phantom, and I ALWAYS FLY NO HIGHER THAT 400 FT! Please, with respect to fellow pilots who are not all snug and comfy on the ground, stay below 400 ft above ground level (remember we can't pull over on clouds). Thank you

Hate to be nit picky, but as a professional helicopter pilot, I need to ask...Were you in contact with your local Flight Service Station(FSS) or Common Traffic Freq? A quick look at the charts shows that near Barnesville, PA both Hazelton Airport and Arner Memorial Airport both have Class E shading around them meaning that controlled airspace drops from 1200 to 700 ft above ground level(AGL). Basically so that IFR traffic can get in an out, however as a helicopter pilot that used to fly back east, your video and flight data disturbs and frightens me., your aircraft was above 1400 ft almost the entire time, with NO FPV!!! I own a Phantom, however as a commercial pilot, I am very aware of my airspace and surroundings. I just want other phantom pilots to realize that not all planes or aircraft fly high all the time. Most helicopter traffic flys 500-1,000 agl, or above ground level. Although I cannot wait until Ground Station is available for the Vision Plus, please please please stay below the 400 ft agl level that R/C aircraft are supposed to abide by.


The 400ft rule does very little good for helicopters’ as they are not restricted as fixed wings are

d. Helicopters. Helicopters may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph B or C of this section if the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface. In addition, each person operating a helicopter shall comply with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the


They multiple times daily can be seen buzzing around my area doing training, doing medical flights, and traffic flights well below 400ft many time tree top level for miles
So if I were to have to worry about all these as well id be flying at tree top level only.

Better idea :idea: fly were I feel safe and be aware of my surroundings below 1500 feet you can see and hear planes for miles in advance.
As a skydiver I am tired of the holier than now pilots spouting faa rules and safety on line. when they are flying thru are notam area ,flying under us on jump run and coming in for landings all without a peep on the radio.
So I say as long as rules permit I will fly were I want as high as I want and when I want
Personally I am very aware of what is going on in the sky around me .I know this is not the case for all but
But like any activity your going to have clueless morons and we cant ban stuff because of a few idiots or we wouldn't have cars
 
This is why the FAA needs to act now instead of dragging this thing out.
Create some rules and pass it thru congress. Get-er-done !

Perhaps the land ownership is to be considered too:

  • If you are flying over private property, then you have the land owner to deal with.
    If it is pubic property then you have local law or ordinance.
 
I have a friend who flies EMS/Medevac in Phoenix. They generally operate at around 1,500 feet AGL. Of course when landing, etc. they will be lower than that, but their company policy is to stay about that high most of the time.

I know that he and some guys he flies with are not very happy about the prospect of encountering a guy with a Phantom trying to get the cool shot at a scene. He is a long time RC guy too and is well aware of our quads and what they can do. You have no idea how difficult it is to spot something this small in the first place and then compound that with the fact that they are flying in a high stress environment where other things are on their minds.

So please do as the OP asked, stay low, and even lower if you hear a heli nearby. What you are doing pales in comparison to the importance of what they are doing, so give them all the airspace they might need. After all, you pull over for a ambulance, don't you??
 
SilentAV8R said:
So please do as the OP asked, stay low, and even lower if you hear a heli nearby. What you are doing pales in comparison to the importance of what they are doing, so give them all the airspace they might need. After all, you pull over for a ambulance, don't you??

I will yield to a copter and will decend if I hear one coming
but that being said Im not staying below 400 ft all the time just because he would feel safer
Im sure he would feel safer if no other planes where in the sky or skydivers but hey we all want to have fun
deal with it
 
this is why i've already ordered some super bright strobe lights to put all around my Phantom.


Just how Pilots cant always count on Phantom flyers to stay below 400feet as the FAA guidelines suggest, Phantom flyers also cant expect all Pilots to stick to the FAA rules and keep above 500 Feet. It goes both ways, no matter what side you are on there are always going to be idiots who with screw things up.

Also in my area there are police and medical helicopters that fly overhead all the time at or below 400 feet in the same airspace we fly our phantoms in.
 
skyhighdiver said:
SilentAV8R said:
So please do as the OP asked, stay low, and even lower if you hear a heli nearby. What you are doing pales in comparison to the importance of what they are doing, so give them all the airspace they might need. After all, you pull over for a ambulance, don't you??

I will yield to a copter and will decend if I hear one coming
but that being said Im not staying below 400 ft all the time just because he would feel safer
Im sure he would feel safer if no other planes where in the sky or skydivers but hey we all want to have fun
deal with it


The point you miss with those other activities is that they are generally known locations (sky diving) and they generally communicate and coordinate, neither of which we do. But hey, I can see how your desire to have funs trumps his desire not to get hit by some guy "having his fun."
 
I'm an air traffic controller. There is no FAA 400ft rule. People really need to get that number out of their head and understand the difference of AMA member rules vs FAA regulation.

Again, there are NO RULES for r/c aircraft!! Just plain common sense if that even exists...
 
Boozshey said:
I'm an air traffic controller. There is no FAA 400ft rule. People really need to get that number out of their head and understand the difference of AMA member rules vs FAA regulation.

Again, there are NO RULES for r/c aircraft!! Just plain common sense if that even exists...

+ thank you.
 
Boozshey said:
I'm an air traffic controller. There is no FAA 400ft rule. People really need to get that number out of their head and understand the difference of AMA member rules vs FAA regulation.

Again, there are NO RULES for r/c aircraft!! Just plain common sense if that even exists...


its not a rule or law, its a Guideline as what was stated.....


One think Ive learned about common sense is that its not common at all!
 
I'm an air traffic controller. There is no FAA 400ft rule. People really need to get that number out of their head and understand the difference of AMA member rules vs FAA regulation.

Again, there are NO RULES for r/c aircraft!! Just plain common sense if that even exists...

While I agree that FAA Advisory Circulars are not mandatory, they are in place to establish common sense and safe workable airspace. On that subject, maybe I shouldn't talk on the radio anymore to SoCal TRACON when flying in the Palm Springs TRSA...hey its not mandatory, I'm sure if you were working TRACON or KPSP Tower on a busy day, you might think differently...
 
skyhighdiver said:
SilentAV8R said:
So please do as the OP asked, stay low, and even lower if you hear a heli nearby. What you are doing pales in comparison to the importance of what they are doing, so give them all the airspace they might need. After all, you pull over for a ambulance, don't you??

I will yield to a copter and will decend if I hear one coming
but that being said Im not staying below 400 ft all the time just because he would feel safer
Im sure he would feel safer if no other planes where in the sky or skydivers but hey we all want to have fun
deal with it

"I will yield to a copter and will decend if I hear one coming " seems a reasonable thing to say, but in conjunction with the qualifying statement of

"but that being said Im not staying below 400 ft all the time just because he would feel safer " The outcome of this thinking is truly mind blowing, then to finish the absurdity of this I read

"Im sure he would feel safer if no other planes where in the sky or skydivers but hey we all want to have fun
deal with it", He's in a Helicopter for pete's sake, you can't hit many things and survive in those but hey I like flying my quad so tuff.

lol, sorry to be a downer here but I couldn't believe what I was reading .


The things you don't say out loud
 
.

Just because hes in the air doesn't mean I need to clear it
that's like saying if I'm on the freeway in LA everyone off the roads in Florida because I may fly by NO
Do I want anyone hurt or damage done no ,but just because we share the air that doesn't make it dangerous for us to be there
 
skyhighdiver said:
.

Just because hes in the air doesn't mean I need to clear it
that's like saying if I'm on the freeway in LA everyone off the roads in Florida because I may fly by NO
Do I want anyone hurt or damage done no ,but just because we share the air that doesn't make it dangerous for us to be there

Sadly, you're the guy the FAA is using as the poster boy for the reason they need to regulate us.
 
SilentAV8R said:
skyhighdiver said:
.

Just because hes in the air doesn't mean I need to clear it
that's like saying if I'm on the freeway in LA everyone off the roads in Florida because I may fly by NO
Do I want anyone hurt or damage done no ,but just because we share the air that doesn't make it dangerous for us to be there

Sadly, you're the guy the FAA is using as the poster boy for the reason they need to regulate us.
No its people like you that have made Calif the over regulated crazy nut job state that it is
 
I dont live in an overpopulated, overregulated, paranoid place .... but I must say am with Skyhighdiver on this one ..... I fly in a park close by to my house .... some nutjob pilots flying into the city CUT corners so they can land early in the ranks, ..... ranged a cessna 210 at 145 feet the other day !!?? .... why should I be the one to clear the skys when I was happily doing nothing wrong in an area outside ATC just because a plane flies through a lower altitude than they should to save gas ?? ..... If you dont want a quad through the window follow the rules, flight corridors and height AGL's ... my P2V has flight restrictions and limits set and I fly safely ..... I will keep out of yours, you keep out of mine.
 
Unintelligent and unaware of it makes for dangerous people, we deserve ourselves.
(and a kiwi saying it..that blows)

That may get me booted from this forum but I truly can't believe what I'm reading here, I'll not say anything more as I come everyday and enjoy this place.
 
The way I see it is this,

If a UAV-RC-Drone whatever you want to call it, A craft that has no human inside of it.
Is in the air and not flying in a controlled airspace.(what ever that may be where you are located)
And a Licensed, FAA recognized and registered craft be it plane , jet , or helicopter
Happens to be in the same air space as your craft then you are the one that will be deemed
to be in the wrong if there is a collision.
Face it, the officials will not see it any way other than that.

RC-Drones-UAV's do not have a airspace that is 100% theirs and will take a back seat to all other types of air crafts.

So I err on the side of caution,
When I am flying I very rarely go above 300F and if I do it is for a short amount of time to get a still image.
If I see anything that is a threat be it wild life (large birds) or other aircrafts I always land post haste.
It is not worth the trouble. Or the loss of my equipment.

I am not saying any one is wrong or right. I am just stating what Is my take of the issue.
 
MikesTooLz said:
this is why i've already ordered some super bright strobe lights to put all around my Phantom.


Just how Pilots cant always count on Phantom flyers to stay below 400feet as the FAA guidelines suggest, Phantom flyers also cant expect all Pilots to stick to the FAA rules and keep above 500 Feet. It goes both ways, no matter what side you are on there are always going to be idiots who with screw things up.

Also in my area there are police and medical helicopters that fly overhead all the time at or below 400 feet in the same airspace we fly our phantoms in.


WOW! You saved me from writing the same message! *(regarding the airspace issue, we have Fox units Police, doing search consistently below 400) I bought a Strobe light that another PP member showed us, stripped it down and reworked the power source saving 90% off the weight. It works so well I was going to mount a 2nd one. When my new new replacement P2V+ arrives, I'll share the plans with everyone interested.

Great post BTW!
Moose
 
The FAA has no doctrine or official statement that I know of with this "guideline" is my point. It was something the AMA has suggested.

If the FAA has come out with a cfr, far or other notam of the such then I'd like to read it. Do you have such a document or reference? Or are you just spouting off what you've read in all the other countless ignorant articles or "pleas" that you've read on the internet?
 

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