This summer I was flying my drone at a beach that I visit often with my family in the Ocean City area. There were no nearby airports and the airspace was completely clear. Later in the week I was surf fishing around 5 and a Chinook flew over under 400 feet, what would have happened if I was flying my drone, am I allowed to fly there?
Military aircraft flying low in open airspace?
- Thread starter Robb4848
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If you were flying, as you saw the helicopter approach you would immediately land in a safe manner before it got to your area.
Be thankful of all military flights. They train and operate to protect us.
Thanks
Jim
WA5TEF
Thanks
Jim
WA5TEF
Keep in mind that helos operate below 500' often and in areas such as beaches, lakes etc any aircraft "can" operate at lower altitudes.
Our #1 priority is to See & Avoid manned aircraft. As stated above you would immediately land and give full right-of-way to the manned aircraft.
Our #1 priority is to See & Avoid manned aircraft. As stated above you would immediately land and give full right-of-way to the manned aircraft.
I saw it twice one day and no other days when I was there for the week so it probably is a training route. Also there is military airspace about 2 miles of the beach
Ok cool, thanks for the help. I’m always worried a helicopter will fly by while I’m flying anywhere lol
That's always.. I mean ALWAYS a high probability. Always fly with your head (and ears) on a swivel and always be thinking " what if right NOW....".
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Flightradar24 is a GPS tracking app I use that checks aircraft in my areal Real Time. I set it to "under 1000' " to scan for low flying helios, gliders and small aircraft. It's pretty accurate though my ears and eyes are more so. This app, however, does not check for attacking hawks protecting their nests. And, for me, that's what I need to look out for the most. 
Flightradar24 is a GPS tracking app I use that checks aircraft in my areal Real Time. I set it to "under 1000' " to scan for low flying helios, gliders and small aircraft. It's pretty accurate though my ears and eyes are more so. This app, however, does not check for attacking hawks protecting their nests. And, for me, that's what I need to look out for the most.
You may want to read up on FlightRadar24 and how they acquire their data. If you happen to be in Europe your odds are greatly increased but in the US of A those numbers are significantly diminished.
Flightradar24 - Wikipedia
Just a portion:
Currently, about 65% of aircraft in Europe are equipped with ADS-B but only 35% in the US.
Ads-B isn't the only way they track aircraft, it's actually the transponder its tracking and only if it's active, in 2020 all aircraft flying in controlled airspace will be requiered to have ADS-B, the advantage to it is that it's a real time tracking radar hit so it will more accurate than current systems, as far as the military is concerned you probably won't be able to track them anyways (for security and stealth) the problem with waterways is that there is no height restriction for aircraft, the only restriction is that you are supposed to be 1000 feet diagonally from people and that's it, just FYI
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A problem I face each time I fly as our beach is part of a transit for military jets, transports and helicopters on their way to train. No announcements , NOTAMs or anything of tha nature. For me the best illustration I can think of for VLOS.
Thanks for reinforcing the need to honor the VLOS rule. In my area, if the weather is good, you can expect sea planes flying at tree top level as they approach landing on a lake. Then there are ultra-lites ... again flying in the 100-200 foot altitude range. It is completely unsafe to launch in any area where there are trees that block you from seeing your drone directly and the air space around it.
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