Flight around obstacles

kptw_pilot · Jan 22, 2016

I fly my Phantom out of my backyard, and I was wondering if it was legal to take my Phantom above 400 ft. up to 578, since my house is right about where the 578' obstruction is marked on the sectional. Note. N10 (perk valley) is a grassy knoll that is nearly closed. (I've personally landed there since I am a student pilot) however the runway is really rough and my CFI said he will likely not land there again because there is risk for the prop getting nicked. The owners of the airport don't put any money into it, and it receives little to no traffic whatsoever. As I said, it will soon be closed. PTW is about 10 miles away.

I remember hearing that you can fly above 400' if there is a nearby obstruction, because a plane should be flying way over 578' in this case to avoid the obstacle. Is this correct?

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N9344H · Jan 22, 2016

I don't think so, but I may be wrong. As all aircraft should fly clear of the obstruction, so should you, as the phantom is an aircraft. The FAA is not big on gray areas.

Just my $.02

kptw_pilot · Jan 22, 2016

The obstacle is Spring Mt. A rather pathetic mountain, but it is a few miles away and it is not something my Phantom would run into.

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Mark The Droner · Jan 22, 2016

It comes down to whether the FAA can determine you endangered the safety of NAS. If the answer is yes, they can pursue enforcement action against you. See AC 91-57A.

Meta4 · Jan 22, 2016

kptw_pilot said:
I fly my Phantom out of my backyard, and I was wondering if it was legal to take my Phantom above 400 ft. up to 578, since my house is right about where the 578' obstruction is marked on the sectional.

I remember hearing that you can fly above 400' if there is a nearby obstruction, because a plane should be flying way over 578' in this case to avoid the obstacle. Is this correct?

kptw_pilot said:
The obstacle is Spring Mt. A rather pathetic mountain, but it is a few miles away and it is not something my Phantom would run into.

There's a problem with the reasoning here.
For obstructions such as towers that rise above ground level the agl height is shown in brackets.
Spring Mountain reaches 578 feet above sea level but the top of Spring Mountain is ground level.
Your Phantom doesn't understand sea level and will only show you the height above launch point.
So which 578 foot level are you asking about?