A question about altitude. ? ?

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Okay, I'm painfully aware that we are supposed to stay under 400', forget being near airports for now. I thought this was something we all agreed upon. Then, I saw posts saying this is a FAA legal requirement, so is this correct?

Back in my flying days, 500' was our lowest level, unless taking off or landing. BUT, the rule over any town or city was a minimum of 1,000'. So, if we are flying within city limits, shouldn't our maximum ceiling be 900'?

Am I missing something? The only reason I could think of is that RC operator's might not have enough of an IQ to realize if they were within city limits or not. That is the minimum altitude, but I flew at least 2,000' over a city. My only deviation was for the city's videographer and I flew at 1,000.'

I sorta hate the 400' limitation. I'm sure that I'm not alone in loving high altitude photography. Perhaps others are not willing to put it in words. I understand.

But, for some reason, it is okay to send a private rocket up to thousands of feet. Why? Some companies get FAA clearance to push their rocket, capsule, satellite, etc. into space.

It ain't fair! :eek:
 
Hey there phantomfanatic. .
that makes sense to have a ceiling of around 900 feet..
I don't know if they have limited max elevation in the phantom series, but for the inspire 1 it's hard coded at 500 meters. . They implemented it after the white house fiasco. .
I'm good with the hight restrictions because let's face it dumb people want to fly near airports and planes and that imo is dangerous. .
I stated before there's a time and place for everthing and any responsible person knows when and where that would be..
Happy flying ..turbo..
 
PhantomFanatic said:
Okay, I'm painfully aware that we are supposed to stay under 400', forget being near airports for now. I thought this was something we all agreed upon. Then, I saw posts saying this is a FAA legal requirement, so is this correct?

Back in my flying days, 500' was our lowest level, unless taking off or landing. BUT, the rule over any town or city was a minimum of 1,000'. So, if we are flying within city limits, shouldn't our maximum ceiling be 900'?

Am I missing something? The only reason I could think of is that RC operator's might not have enough of an IQ to realize if they were within city limits or not. That is the minimum altitude, but I flew at least 2,000' over a city. My only deviation was for the city's videographer and I flew at 1,000.'

I sorta hate the 400' limitation. I'm sure that I'm not alone in loving high altitude photography. Perhaps others are not willing to put it in words. I understand.

But, for some reason, it is okay to send a private rocket up to thousands of feet. Why? Some companies get FAA clearance to push their rocket, capsule, satellite, etc. into space.

It ain't fair! :eek:

There is no altitude requirement, 400 ft is only a recommendation. It is not law.
400 ft is recommended because it is extraordinarily rare for a manned aircraft not near an airport to be below 500 ft.
It is completely legal to fly higher, but be very watchful for conflicting aircraft. We don't want you to be in the news.
Also, if you do get some spectacular photos, just say they are at 401 ft. when you share them, otherwise you will be called names here.

There is accommodation for rocket and balloon flights even into Class A airspace above 18,000 ft. All that's required is to provide notice to the ATC facility nearest the launch location. (49 CFR 101).
Also, for hobby model aircraft flight, all that is required near an airport is to notify the ATC facility or airport manager before the flight. It's also your responsibility to not create an aviation hazard
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Section 336. Special Rule for Model Aircraft (a)(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport) with prior notice of the operation.
The FAA would consider flying model aircraft over the objections of FAA air traffic or airport operators to be endangering the safety of the NAS and probably a violation of 91.13 Careless and Reckless flight. So if you are told that your flight is not recommended (those are the words they will use), then they really mean "no".
 
loganboyd said:
Isn't it 500' now under new FAA guidelines?
How high did you want to fly?
It's 500 ft in the proposed rules for commercial small UAS flight. For hobby flight there are few rules, 400 ft is just a recommendation.
 
Steve,
That 5 miles from an airport. Is that big ones or does it include small town airports?
Also 5 miles from, what? The center of airport or from the end of the closest runway?
 
Happyflyer said:
Steve,
That 5 miles from an airport. Is that big ones or does it include small town airports?
Also 5 miles from, what? The center of airport or from the end of the closest runway?
Any airport. If there is no control tower then advise the airport manager or owner. The purpose of the notification is so that ATC or the Airport Manager can issue what's called a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen). Here's how it works. When an aircraft is approaching an airport there is usually a recording the pilot listens to while 25 miles or more from the airport called ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information System). If you have advised ATC or the airport manager of your intended flight activity, the NOTAM will be broadcast in this ATIS recording during your active hours. For example: "NOTAM for model aircraft activity one mile west at or below 400 ft". (The recording is updated every hour). This way pilots know of your activity before they get to the airport area. If the airport is really small there probably isn't an ATIS facility, but the airport manager or operator probably has what is called UNICOM (Universal Communications). All aircraft with a radio is expected to be monitoring and reporting their position in the airport area, for example, "Cessna N12345 on downwind for runway 25". Everyone listening to Unicom gets a mental picture of where that aircraft is located. While not required, the alert airport manager/operator may occasionally broadcast the NOTAM. Approaching aircraft may also ask. for example "Podunk Unicom, Cessna N12345 10 miles south requesting airport information". Perhaps someone will respond, or not - it's entirely voluntary. But other aircraft in the area get a heads-up that another airplane is approaching. Finally, if a pilot files a Flight Plan (not required for VFR flight), he/she should also review NOTAMS for the airport. Again, it's not required.

Distance from an airport is measured from the center of the active runways. For example, this magenta circle is a five mile radius around an airport on a sectional chart:
Airport%20Traffic%20Area.jpg
 
Fantastic amount of information Steve, Thanks.
My local airport is in a small town. They do land rich people's small jets there now and then, so it is not a grassy runway. :)
Interesting about that distance. I would guess there are more people than one could count that never advise the airport before they fly.
I have to admit it would be interesting if one did, on what response you would receive from the airport person.
....Thank you for advising of your flight.
...or
....Keep that blasted thing out of our air!
You never know what the attitude may be.
.
Thanks again, Steve.
 
You may be thinking of 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle or structure. 1,000 feet over populated areas.
Both altitudes have the exception of takeoff and landing.

Those apply to fixed wing aircraft.

Helocopeters (nope it's not a typo) can fly as low as they want.
If they hit something then they are in violation.

Ya may wanna rethink that 900 foot thing. ;)

You could move to Wyoming.
There aren't enough folks around to see what you're doing so you can do whatever you want. :D

As far as the "ROCKET" thing, well, I don't think there are thousands launching from folks yards... :lol: :!:

What was stevie talking about :roll: :?:
 
SteveMann said:
PhantomFanatic said:
Okay, I'm painfully aware that we are supposed to stay under 400', forget being near airports for now. I thought this was something we all agreed upon. Then, I saw posts saying this is a FAA legal requirement, so is this correct?

Back in my flying days, 500' was our lowest level, unless taking off or landing. BUT, the rule over any town or city was a minimum of 1,000'. So, if we are flying within city limits, shouldn't our maximum ceiling be 900'?

Am I missing something? The only reason I could think of is that RC operator's might not have enough of an IQ to realize if they were within city limits or not. That is the minimum altitude, but I flew at least 2,000' over a city. My only deviation was for the city's videographer and I flew at 1,000.'

I sorta hate the 400' limitation. I'm sure that I'm not alone in loving high altitude photography. Perhaps others are not willing to put it in words. I understand.

But, for some reason, it is okay to send a private rocket up to thousands of feet. Why? Some companies get FAA clearance to push their rocket, capsule, satellite, etc. into space.

It ain't fair! :eek:

There is no altitude requirement, 400 ft is only a recommendation. It is not law.
400 ft is recommended because it is extraordinarily rare for a manned aircraft not near an airport to be below 500 ft.
It is completely legal to fly higher, but be very watchful for conflicting aircraft. We don't want you to be in the news.
Also, if you do get some spectacular photos, just say they are at 401 ft. when you share them, otherwise you will be called names here.

There is accommodation for rocket and balloon flights even into Class A airspace above 18,000 ft. All that's required is to provide notice to the ATC facility nearest the launch location. (49 CFR 101).
Also, for hobby model aircraft flight, all that is required near an airport is to notify the ATC facility or airport manager before the flight. It's also your responsibility to not create an aviation hazard
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Section 336. Special Rule for Model Aircraft (a)(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport) with prior notice of the operation.
The FAA would consider flying model aircraft over the objections of FAA air traffic or airport operators to be endangering the safety of the NAS and probably a violation of 91.13 Careless and Reckless flight. So if you are told that your flight is not recommended (those are the words they will use), then they really mean "no".

Having done something unusual prior to posting, I discovered that private rockets, not near an airport, can fly to thousands of feet, without FAA approval. I am aware that launching into orbit, does require FAA permission. But, they have zero problems with leaving more, deadly, space junk, orbiting earth and being deadly to the space stations and especially to astronauts outside the space station.

Edit: If I am stupid enough to post high altitude videos here, they will be at 399', not 401'! :)
One reason I posted this is there was a poster saying the FAA had reached a conclusion about commercial flight. He posted the requirements. I was checking to see if it had any validity.

Thank you my friend, Steve! :)
 
The setup... :?

The takedown... :cry:

One point for Steve.
 
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
:lol: :lol:
:lol:
 

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