Low Flying Manned Aircraft ... what restrictions

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It seems that flying drones where I live cannot be done on weekends when the weather is excellent for flying ... clear, no wind. Sea planes and ultralights fly over the tree tops at such low altitudes that you can’t see them until they are directly overhead. You literally hear them well before they are out from behind tall tree cover. I need to fly no higher than local trees (up to 120’) to avoid becoming a hazard. What restrictions do sea planes or ultralights have? Do they have a 500’ low level floor or not? What good is the FAA ceiling of 400’ in this situation?
 
What restrictions do sea planes or ultralights have? Do they have a 500’ low level floor or not? What good is the FAA ceiling of 400’ in this situation?
FAA minimum altitude rules:
§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.
(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
(d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface—
(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA

If they have cameras, or cell phones, and are over your property, choot em
What does their possession of a camera or a phone have to do with anything?
How could you tell anyway?
 
FAA minimum altitude rules:
§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.
(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
(d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface—
(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA


What does their possession of a camera or a phone have to do with anything?
How could you tell anyway?
What does their possession of a camera or a phone have to do with anything?
How could you tell anyway?

Examination of the wreckage?:mad:
 
It seems that flying drones where I live cannot be done on weekends when the weather is excellent for flying ... clear, no wind. Sea planes and ultralights fly over the tree tops at such low altitudes that you can’t see them until they are directly overhead. You literally hear them well before they are out from behind tall tree cover. I need to fly no higher than local trees (up to 120’) to avoid becoming a hazard. What restrictions do sea planes or ultralights have? Do they have a 500’ low level floor or not? What good is the FAA ceiling of 400’ in this situation?

Depending on where they are flying, where they are flying to/from, what type of aircraft etc they could have a "hard deck" of surface or 500' or 1000' ft. Regardless of what they are doing the requirement is for you, the operator of a sUAS to See & Avoid at all cost. Your flights are not to INTERFERE with manned aviation in any way.

So like many of us in the world we sometimes have to seek out a place to fly that isn't directly in out back yard in order to mitigate risk.
 
Depending on where they are flying, where they are flying to/from, what type of aircraft etc they could have a "hard deck" of surface or 500' or 1000' ft. Regardless of what they are doing the requirement is for you, the operator of a sUAS to See & Avoid at all cost. Your flights are not to INTERFERE with manned aviation in any way.

So like many of us in the world we sometimes have to seek out a place to fly that isn't directly in out back yard in order to mitigate risk.

See and Avoid at all cost is my rule ... that’s the issue we have. One way I avoid encounters with low flying aircraft in my area, on weekends with excellent flying weather, is to fly early in the morning. At that time it is very quiet and, if any aircraft are flying locally, I will know it and will not launch. Fortunately the Magic 2 Pro is much quieter than it’s predecessors so if I have launched it in the quiet of the early morning, I can hear local aircraft at a considerable distance allowing me to cease my drone mission and land it. Fortunately, most pilots of manned aircraft choose not to fly until mid-to-late morning.
 
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Fortunately, most pilots of manned aircraft choose not to fly until mid-to-late morning.

The only thing I'll (at least from my point of view) disagree with is this... depending on the time of year, I plan my "manned" flights for fun away from the mid-hot part of the day. Morning flights can be absolutely stunning and glass smooth before the ground gets heated up, thermals grow, and the air becomes bumpy at the altitudes I fly in. My absolutely most favorite time to fly manned aircraft is morning or evening but of course YMMV :)
 
What do you do about those 'radar avoidance' test flights by military fighter jets and cargo planes?

Last year, I was standing in my driveway, talking with a customer and became aware of a deep roaring sound on the western horizon. Before I could mentally process what the heck that sound was, the entire sky above me blacked out as a huge aircraft, probably a C5A, passed overhead just above the trees. The tops of the trees reacted as if a microburst had hit them. The whole event took 5 seconds and all sound was gone. I keep thinking, had I been hovering my drone at that time, there'd have been no time to get out of the way.

I called up FlightRadar24 on my phone immediately, and this flight was not on their map. The town's Facebook page lit up with complaints about the low flying aircraft, people thinking it was about to crash. Someone "in the know" said it was a radar avoidance test by the Airforce. Normally we don't see aircraft over this area.
 
What do you do about those 'radar avoidance' test flights by military fighter jets and cargo planes?

Last year, I was standing in my driveway, talking with a customer and became aware of a deep roaring sound on the western horizon. Before I could mentally process what the heck that sound was, the entire sky above me blacked out as a huge aircraft, probably a C5A, passed overhead just above the trees. The tops of the trees reacted as if a microburst had hit them. The whole event took 5 seconds and all sound was gone. I keep thinking, had I been hovering my drone at that time, there'd have been no time to get out of the way.

I called up FlightRadar24 on my phone immediately, and this flight was not on their map. The town's Facebook page lit up with complaints about the low flying aircraft, people thinking it was about to crash. Someone "in the know" said it was a radar avoidance test by the Airforce. Normally we don't see aircraft over this area.


Keep in mind that FlightRadar24 is only "marginally" effective in the US. Last report I saw (last year) was under 50% IIRC.
 
Though every time I spotted a commercial airliner passing overhead, I could find it and at least three other flights over my immediate area.
Last year, I used it to track my wife's JAL flight to Japan, and I saw that her flight actually passed about 10 miles east of my house, even though it's over 2 hours drive to the airport.
 
Get plane ID # and report to FAA and see what they say about it and let us know what they say!
 
Though every time I spotted a commercial airliner passing overhead, I could find it and at least three other flights over my immediate area.
Last year, I used it to track my wife's JAL flight to Japan, and I saw that her flight actually passed about 10 miles east of my house, even though it's over 2 hours drive to the airport.

Of course an Airliner is being tracked... you're missing the whole scope of flightRadar24.... Not every plane is Transmitting to ATC....
 
Though every time I spotted a commercial airliner passing overhead, I could find it and at least three other flights over my immediate area.
Last year, I used it to track my wife's JAL flight to Japan, and I saw that her flight actually passed about 10 miles east of my house, even though it's over 2 hours drive to the airport.
Flightradar is of marginal usefulness for drone flyers wanting to avoid close interactions with airplanes.
It's only going to show planes that have active ADSB transponders.
SO airliners are almsot always going to show.
But military planes and many light aircraft will never show up.
And those are the aircraft that are more likely to be flying at altitudes where drone interactions can occur.
 
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And military aircraft which are doing radar avoidance tests are not likely going to be officially listed. Even the local airport had no knowledge of the low altitude flights. They received numerous calls after that low altitude flyover.
 

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