over head helicopter flights

ccase39 said:
Not 1 minute earlier I was at the exact altitude as they were and they would have hit it. Its just a matter of time before this happens.

And when it does the sUAS operator will be held 100% responsible. In many respects the FAA views us the way the FCC views a lot of frequency allocations. We are secondary users and we bear 100% of the burden to avoid conflicts with the primary users.
 
I always land or bring my quad in really close when I hear other traffic. I live next to a moderately large military base (Ft.Hood), it is not uncommon to see black hawks, Apache & other helicopters skimming just a few 100 feet off the deck. I'm not going to be That Guy that they make an example out of! Just easier to avoid any problems at all.
 
This shows one fault with the FAA's "see and Avoid" policy and why "Sense and Avoid" makes more sense. You can hear a heli or other manned aircraft well before you can see it most times. I am in a departure path for John Wayne airport and they pass over my house above 10,000 feet and I can still hear them most times, even inside my house!!
 
Life flight helicopters fly pretty close to the house at what looks like about 400', usually to the east of me. The hospital is only 15 miles away but I can hear them coming a LONG ways off. I've never timed it but it seems I can hear them for 1-1/2 or 2 mins before they get there.

I don't fly that high but I figure I have more than enough time to get out of the way. A guy could always do a CSC if worse come to worse. They pretty much stay on the same flight path using the quickest way from point A to B.
 
A friend of mine flies for PHI Medical (yellow and black helis). Their SOP is 1,500 feet agl until approaching the scene or hospital. Keep in mind that they frequently do transfers from an ambulance to the heli and sometimes at odd places like ball parks, etc.
 

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