2 low flying aircraft

[Helijoc]

Which is why most on here respect what you have to say. I don't always agree with you but do respect your opinions.



Which I believe should be the ultimate goal. I do think that pilots need to be more cognizant of the threat that flying low brings.

I do know that the air ambulance pilots here have drone awareness flyers on their office wall. I live directly in their flight path. I see the helicopter regularly. I can say they are rarely flying low.

My incident does give me some perspective for sure. For sure if I was out a fair distance and this guy came from the opposite direction there would have been absolutely no way for me to take any evasive action.



Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

As someone who has flown low on the coast of California we are looking for such dangers. There are areas on the bluffs where people fly radio controlled gliders . You will come across flocks of seagulls whom generally will turn off and dive to avoid you. The biggest threat there is are hawks. They don't move for you. You take corrective action to avoid them. So when it comes down to it pilots of real aircraft can see such dangers and avoid.

I remember a story when I was flying about a Robinson R22 taking a strike from a hawk. It wasn't the strike that almost caused a crash but the fact the hawk survived blowing through the wind screen and was going crazy bitting and flapping.

 

[Timtro]

Aircraft can receive clearance to fly at low altitudes. I was searching for a lost horse once in Sanford and hired a pilot to help. We called the tower to obtain permission to fly low enough to identify the horse we were looking for. PS: Often an "introductory flying lesson" is less expensive than a "sight seeing tour".

Law enforcement and military helicopters may be seen flying as low as 200 feet AGL for specific reasons (drug crops, escapee, lost child search, training). That's why an aircraft radio monitor sometimes is a good accessory. Ad banner planes along a beach can be seen flying very low. Yesterday I saw a helicopter flying very low over Panama City Beach. That's why we need to always watch and listen. Sometimes it's not only "see and avoid" but also "hear and avoid".

 

[Sneaky_ru]

But you are only talking about light aircraft, others fly lower and often faster.

FAA rules.
1000 ft above densely populated areas.
500 ft above rural, scarce populated areas.
He was at legal altitude at 500 ft.
At 200 ft AGL is illegal unless emergency or landing.

there are exceptions to this especially in a rural area.

 

[88VMX12]

What I would have done is written down the tail number and called into your local airport advising of the situation. this is going to happen until all is sorted. I almost see all drones being hooked to some sort of temporary no fly zones. Meaning you go out to fly your drone, your favorite area of course. Go through all of your steps, get ready to light it up and BAM! right on your screen no fly zone until xx:xx time. Well the big boys called it in and reserved that area to do some low flying. who knows it might just happen that way? Any thoughts

 

[Providian623]

Crop Dusters and Pipeline/Powerline Inspection aircraft typically fly below 500'. Just use the old military Mark-1 eyeball and keep an eye out for them.

 

[Air Ontario]

there are exceptions to this especially in a rural area.

Very true around here especially............

151132 CZYZ TORONTO FIR
CZYZ ALGONQUIN TATEX AREA ACT SFC TO 6000 FT MSL
(REF CFS SECTION C)
1400-0600 DLY
1511011400 TIL 1602010600

It would be rough on a P3P flying thru a GE Turbofan.

No way to avoid one when they're NOE either except reading the NOTAMs and avoiding the area, like a responsible pilot............

 

[SDODD]

I live in a really rural area. I fly most of the time on the outskirts away from everything and everyone. So Friday I'm on my way home decide to stop in a very rural area near a mountain. Looks great no wind I'm up about 100 feet flying around. Land after taking a few shots. About 30 seconds later here comes an air ambulance. Flying about 500 feet off the deck. If I had been flying when it came through I would have been fine because I was up about 100 feet but If I had been up doing something stupid could have been bad.

Today I'm flying a the base of a hill. I land to switch batteries, here comes a fixed wing flying no higher than 200 feet above the deck. What the hell? I'm at least 15 miles from the local airport. It was clear that he was having a good time flying low on purpose. Absolutely could have been a big problem if I was flying.

Stay safe. There absolutely is the potential for bad things to happen. I see what iampilot is saying related to flying. I agree with him but man it isn't just the drone pilots that do stupid things. Both drone pilots and "real pilots" need to respect the rules to avoid a really unfortunate accident.

Of course. I recall long ago after Vietnam flying with my buddy along the beach in a storm the plane flying backwards in the wind. I also knew a guy who hit a saguaro cactus in the desert. Bang you're dead. Etc ...

 

[Grae]

Crazy stuff. As long as we humans are involved, boundaries will be pushed. I used to live in a place where RAF Tornados would scream past the house almost touching the roofs. Last weekend I drove out to a remote area of moorland, parked up and started to hike out. Within minutes I heard a helicopter but couldn't see it - because it was just taking off from a random field close by. If I had the drone up and it came my way, I'd have had to operate an emergency landing. I hope nobody has a hairy moment where they have to do that.


UK

 

[Captain Jerry]

I live in a really rural area. I fly most of the time on the outskirts away from everything and everyone. So Friday I'm on my way home decide to stop in a very rural area near a mountain. Looks great no wind I'm up about 100 feet flying around. Land after taking a few shots. About 30 seconds later here comes an air ambulance. Flying about 500 feet off the deck. If I had been flying when it came through I would have been fine because I was up about 100 feet but If I had been up doing something stupid could have been bad.

Today I'm flying a the base of a hill. I land to switch batteries, here comes a fixed wing flying no higher than 200 feet above the deck. What the hell? I'm at least 15 miles from the local airport. It was clear that he was having a good time flying low on purpose. Absolutely could have been a big problem if I was flying.

Stay safe. There absolutely is the potential for bad things to happen. I see what iampilot is saying related to flying. I agree with him but man it isn't just the drone pilots that do stupid things. Both drone pilots and "real pilots" need to respect the rules to avoid a really unfortunate accident.

 

[m0j0]

Btw, some of the most dangerous flying out there.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Ironically I saw a special where they were making drones to crop dust.. Just looking at the capabilities of the phantom and the preprogramming of the P3. Not a stretch to think that a bigger version would be capable of crop dusting at a substantially reduced cost.


Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2

 

[TheRealNick]

Myself and many others fly hang gliders on days with no thermal activity doing ridge runs often at very low altitude with no instruments apart from a gimbal compass at most, using only dynamic lift, jumping ridge to ridge we can pull speeds over 70kmh and still have a good enough glide angle to reach the next,
I only fear the uav pilots without VLOS,
I am also a phantom pilot but the few times i have flown without VLOS i felt very irresponsible.

I saw a guy flying an ultra light near where I was flying. I decided to stay way far far away from him probably at least a mile...I doubt he even saw me.

I thought helicopters were allowed to cruise lower than 500 feet...is that right?

 

[Air Ontario]

Many do on occasion such as Police, etc. however the pucker factor(HV)height /velocity or Dead Man's curve is more critical(depending on rotor mass).

I would want some decent KIAS at that flight level, in case my donkey quit...........