It's like talking to a wall. Logic alludes you. Time will tell as always. If trying to spread the concepts of safety in the NAS is riding a high horse, then so be it. I am sorry that you can not just go fly as high and as far as you like in the NAS without any rules, regulation or TRAINING. IF you are going to share the airspace with others, you must share the same knowledge base so everyone is on the same page. FOR SAFETY. This is why the FAA is doing what it's doing. To those who think the FAA has no authority, GOOD LUCK with that. I guess airline pilot's consider the FAR's as just a recommendation. Right? I don't know how else to implore safety to someone whom has threatened a helicopter's pilot's life with a rock. Like it or not, the UAS community is going to be integrated into the NAS. If you are going to fly where manned aircraft can fly, there are going to be RULES. I am not here to pick a fight, but when I read someone suggest to everyone something that is, to me, unsafe, and disregards the rules, I feel a need to say something about it.
Now you can tell me more about that horse you were referring to. I like horses.
Wow. Took you a couple days to get back. It's not a wall. You're spewing misinformation. It's been clearly stated in the above posts. I can assure you, logic does NOT allude me. Been flying a very long time, in all disciplines, RC and GA. I've been training since '87.
I agree with the rock thing, but that was Reed's decision . Foolish, maybe but nothing happened and who am I to say. He would have that on his conscience if something did. Worse accidents have happened. I've done some things I wished I hadn't when I was younger. I'm sure we all have.
Two of the fields I fly at are AT GA airports. We fly giant scale IMAC/3D planes with 10' wingspans that weigh 40+ lbs. They cost $5000+ and many hours to build, and we don't want to lose them to any incident. We've been flying higher than 400' for a very long time, SAFELY. The IMAC schedule cannot be done BELOW 400', plain and simple. Is that facet of RC grounded now? Nope, because it's a guideline and is done safely and will continue to. Ever been to Joe Nall? That's 2000+ aircraft, 2000+ pilots, 10,000 people and held at an AIRPORT. It's been happening SAFELY for 30+ years.
How about Top Gun? All the turbine guys I know don't fly below 400'. The jets are too fast and must be flown upwards. These are 5K- $20,000 model aircraft flown by pilots higher than 400', SAFELY. Are all these guys grounded? Frank Tiano better cancel Top Gun this year. Nope, it's just a guideline. All these pilots with thousands invested in aircraft and countless hours of time can't fly any more. Yes they can, at a place where it's safe, like the airport they fly at.
How about a soaring meet? Ever been? It would be hard to keep those guys below 400'. The winch line lets go about 600'. Are all of us grounded? Nope, it's just a recommendation. Not a law. It can be done SAFELY. It has been and will continue.
How about IRCHA? That's at the AMA headquarters in Muncie, IN. Was in Ohio before that. I've seen autorotations from 1/2 mile up. How do they get away with it at the home of responsible RC flying? Probably because it's a guideline, not a law. Many times, full scale aircraft fly by to check out the event. We did have a full scale helicopter crash, but that was due to power failure and not FOD.
And I'm not trying to pick a fight either. The high horse is you telling everyone it's a "violation" of some imaginary law. Sorry. It's not, not yet, not today. Maybe in the future? We follow rules. We've been "registering" for years, with the AMA. We can't fly at an event without an AMA membership. We ALWAYS have a spotter, a second set of eyes. We always let the tower know we are out there. Close down the runways with giant "X"'s at each end during the large events. Our aircraft are large and much easier to see than a P3, but are classified just the same. From my training, experience and common sense, I know we won't be the first one to get in the paper from an incident. We are aware of our surroundings. We aren't trying to cause problems and safety is our main concern. I'm not afraid of the FAA. They have been around a long time, and have coexisted without issue. Probably more so the FCC taking our frequencies away. Then everyone is grounded.
DAP-UAV, I understand your safety concern and fully agree with it. But..........the 400' altitude guideline is just that, and not a law, just a recommendation. You can fly above 400' safely. I've seen it, done it and will continue to safely.
SD