Sharing the airspace

[Jim abbatoy]

I live along Lake Erie in NY and love to take flights over the water. The scenery is beautiful this time of year.

So here's my rant. FAA limits out altitude to 400 ft agl. I generally fly from my house at 200 ft to insure I clear all the trees. On occasion I'll have to ground myself due to low flying

helicopters and private planes.

So tonight I set out for a quick 5 minute Litchi mission from my house to the corner to fly over my friends yard. On the return my bird is around 450 feet from my house and I hear what appeared to be a lawnmower. Not uncommon for dusk in the summer. I have the bird in sight,but still flying autonomous and I look to my left and there's an ultra lite about to intersect with my bird. He too is around 200 feet up. If the FAA insists on limiting us to 400, I wish they would raise other small manned crafts to no less than 400.

I quickly hit the pause button on Litchi, but it didn't respond quick enough so I switched to P mode and stopped to allow him to pass. This could have been disastrous.

On a positive note, while hovering I was able to capture a beautiful sunset shot.

 

[sar104]

I live along Lake Erie in NY and love to take flights over the water. The scenery is beautiful this time of year.

So here's my rant. FAA limits out altitude to 400 ft agl. I generally fly from my house at 200 ft to insure I clear all the trees. On occasion I'll have to ground myself due to low flying

helicopters and private planes.

So tonight I set out for a quick 5 minute Litchi mission from my house to the corner to fly over my friends yard. On the return my bird is around 450 feet from my house and I hear what appeared to be a lawnmower. Not uncommon for dusk in the summer. I have the bird in sight,but still flying autonomous and I look to my left and there's an ultra lite about to intersect with my bird. He too is around 200 feet up. If the FAA insists on limiting us to 400, I wish they would raise other small manned crafts to no less than 400.

I quickly hit the pause button on Litchi, but it didn't respond quick enough so I switched to P mode and stopped to allow him to pass. This could have been disastrous.

On a positive note, while hovering I was able to capture a beautiful sunset shot.

Nice photo.

On the airspace issue though, are you actually suggesting that the FAA should require manned aircraft to remain above 400 ft AGL in order that you can have your recreational UAV fly around autonomously without having to worry about other air traffic? Not happening. If conflicts become too common, they are much more likely to get legislative support to add far more restrictive regulations on recreational sUAS activities.

Right now, encounters such as the one that you describe are the reason for the requirements to keep the UAV within line of sight, remain in full control (i.e. not autonomous flight) and be able to see and yield to manned aircraft.

 

[ryantrax]

Beautiful Photo!

 

[With The Birds]

UAV operators need to give way to manned AC no matter what the circumstances. Can’t see any revisions being adopted.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

I live along Lake Erie in NY and love to take flights over the water. The scenery is beautiful this time of year.

So here's my rant. FAA limits out altitude to 400 ft agl. I generally fly from my house at 200 ft to insure I clear all the trees. On occasion I'll have to ground myself due to low flying

helicopters and private planes.

So tonight I set out for a quick 5 minute Litchi mission from my house to the corner to fly over my friends yard. On the return my bird is around 450 feet from my house and I hear what appeared to be a lawnmower. Not uncommon for dusk in the summer. I have the bird in sight,but still flying autonomous and I look to my left and there's an ultra lite about to intersect with my bird. He too is around 200 feet up. If the FAA insists on limiting us to 400, I wish they would raise other small manned crafts to no less than 400.

I quickly hit the pause button on Litchi, but it didn't respond quick enough so I switched to P mode and stopped to allow him to pass. This could have been disastrous.

On a positive note, while hovering I was able to capture a beautiful sunset shot.

yip lucky you heard that ride on lawnmower ,this pic of some rules we have here note the underlined one,i had couple close calls to and not at height either ,mayby this is where dji should add this alert feature to there firmware showing oncoming traffic ,i might even update if something like this comes along

 

[Jim abbatoy]

It's scary. It would be nice if the technology advance to a point where you could detect oncoming traffic. Line of sight works to a point. But in this case, one minute there appeared to be nothing but clear skies and next minute the ultra lite was directly above my house. Scared the heck out of me.

 

[BigAl07]

Detect oncoming traffic? Talk about adding weight, complexity, and expense to our HOBBY aircraft.

This is why we are required to remain always alert and eyes on the sky. As already stated, if it becomes a bigger problem the UAS industry will get rougher rules & regulations as opposed to manned aircraft.

Be careful what you ask for... it could happen! ! ! !

 

[happydays]

In the UK, aircraft are not supposed to fly below 400'. I have complained a few times to the local (25 miles away) airfield who take customers out on jollies to fly around our lough and seaside. One was that low I could read its registration number.

 

[Richard R]

I live along Lake Erie in NY and love to take flights over the water. The scenery is beautiful this time of year.

So here's my rant. FAA limits out altitude to 400 ft agl. I generally fly from my house at 200 ft to insure I clear all the trees. On occasion I'll have to ground myself due to low flying

helicopters and private planes.

So tonight I set out for a quick 5 minute Litchi mission from my house to the corner to fly over my friends yard. On the return my bird is around 450 feet from my house and I hear what appeared to be a lawnmower. Not uncommon for dusk in the summer. I have the bird in sight,but still flying autonomous and I look to my left and there's an ultra lite about to intersect with my bird. He too is around 200 feet up. If the FAA insists on limiting us to 400, I wish they would raise other small manned crafts to no less than 400.

I quickly hit the pause button on Litchi, but it didn't respond quick enough so I switched to P mode and stopped to allow him to pass. This could have been disastrous.

On a positive note, while hovering I was able to capture a beautiful sunset shot.

First, the 400 ft agl limit only applies to Part 107 flights. By your own admission, keeping manned aircraft above 400 ft wouldn't have helped here, you were above that too. It's a misconception to say that we 'share' the NAS. That would imply some sort of equal footing between manned and unmanned systems. We are allowed into the NAS and have to yeild to any and all manned aircraft wherever they are. We are the lowest rung on the ladder and always will be. Protecting human life will always trump al other considerations.

 

[Jim abbatoy]

First, the 400 ft agl limit only applies to Part 107 flights. By your own admission, keeping manned aircraft above 400 ft wouldn't have helped here, you were above that too. It's a misconception to say that we 'share' the NAS. That would imply some sort of equal footing between manned and unmanned systems. We are allowed into the NAS and have to yeild to any and all manned aircraft wherever they are. We are the lowest rung on the ladder and always will be. Protecting human life will always trump al other considerations.

What? Where did I say I was above 400. The drone was 400 feet from my house. The ultra lite was right above my house. I'm amazed at how many people want to argue over nonsense.

My eyes were on the sky. The ultra lite was over my house approaching me from the north. My drone was on the opposite side of my yard. So how exactly was this my fault. I saw the ultra lite stopped and waited for it to safely pass! I can see this forum is bother
More than Facebook for drones. Way too many snarky comments her.

 

[sar104]

What? Where did I say I was above 400. The drone was 400 feet from my house. The ultra lite was right above my house. I'm amazed at how many people want to argue over nonsense.

My eyes were on the sky. The ultra lite was over my house approaching me from the north. My drone was on the opposite side of my yard. So how exactly was this my fault. I saw the ultra lite stopped and waited for it to safely pass! I can see this forum is bother
More than Facebook for drones. Way too many snarky comments her.

I don't think that anyone is criticizing your flight or your evasive action - it was appropriate. The criticism, if any, was for your suggestion that manned aircraft be excluded from under 400 ft AGL just so that UAV pilots don't have to worry about other traffic.

 

[BigAl07]

I don't think that anyone is criticizing your flight or your evasive action - it was appropriate. The criticism, if any, was for your suggestion that manned aircraft be excluded from under 400 ft AGL just so that UAV pilots don't have to worry about other traffic.

BINGO! Nailed it!

 

[Jim abbatoy]

I don't think that anyone is criticizing your flight or your evasive action - it was appropriate. The criticism, if any, was for your suggestion that manned aircraft be excluded from under 400 ft AGL just so that UAV pilots don't have to worry about other traffic.

Richard above said by my own admission I was above 400ft. Obviously he needs to reread my post. I was at 200 feet agl and 400-450 feet distance from my house. My suggestion wasn't for our convenience, it was for the safety of the manned pilots and people on the ground should a mishap occur. There's no mistaking a small plane or helocopter engine, but ultra lites blend into the sounds of lawnmowers too easily. I joined these forums to improve my skills, not to be lectured by someone that clearly need to brush up on his reading skills. At 58 years old, I don't have the patience for those who's primary reasons for taking part in this forum is to act as drone police [EXPLETIVE REMOVED].

 

[With The Birds]

In the UK, aircraft are not supposed to fly below 400'. I have complained a few times to the local (25 miles away) airfield who take customers out on jollies to fly around our lough and seaside. One was that low I could read its registration number.

What was the response from the local airfield? I live on the coast and often observe light AC at around 200ft out over the water (shark patrol, emergency services and sightseeing flights), it is perfectly legal apparently,

 

[adyb]

I was flying my bird recently behind the hotel i was staying at over corn and cotton fields out in the country at around 300f AGL. I heard a helicopter near by and immediately lowered the bird to tree level. Found out there is a helicopter pad about 1 mile away. FAA did not show any restrictions in the area. So i went there yo talk to the pilots. They told me not to worry about flying it if I'm staying below 400ft. They fly at a minimum of 500ft before landing.

 

[sar104]

Richard above said by my own admission I was above 400ft. Obviously he needs to reread my post. I was at 200 feet agl and 400-450 feet distance from my house. My suggestion wasn't for our convenience, it was for the safety of the manned pilots and people on the ground should a mishap occur. There's no mistaking a small plane or helocopter engine, but ultra lites blend into the sounds of lawnmowers too easily. I joined these forums to improve my skills, not to be lectured by someone that clearly need to brush up on his reading skills. At 58 years old, I don't have the patience for those who's primary reasons for taking part in this forum is to act as drone police or just plain A-holes.

He clearly misread your post. No need to overreact. As for the motive behind your suggestion, fair enough, but I would argue again that it is unreasonable for the relatively sudden appearance of widespread, untrained, uncertified, barely-regulated recreational UAV flying to lead to new restrictions on strictly regulated manned aircraft operations, and extremely unlikely to happen.

 

[Richard R]

What? Where did I say I was above 400. The drone was 400 feet from my house. The ultra lite was right above my house. I'm amazed at how many people want to argue over nonsense.

My eyes were on the sky. The ultra lite was over my house approaching me from the north. My drone was on the opposite side of my yard. So how exactly was this my fault. I saw the ultra lite stopped and waited for it to safely pass! I can see this forum is bother
More than Facebook for drones. Way too many snarky comments her.

Sri, misread your first post.

 

[happydays]

What was the response from the local airfield? I live on the coast and often observe light AC at around 200ft out over the water (shark patrol, emergency services and sightseeing flights), it is perfectly legal apparently,

They didn't reply. My retort was that the next time, I wouldn't contact them, but go direct to the CAA. You can imagine who would get the blame if a quad hit a plane, no matter if the plane was low at the time and in 'our' airspace.

 

[With The Birds]

They didn't reply. My retort was that the next time, I wouldn't contact them, but go direct to the CAA. You can imagine who would get the blame if a quad hit a plane, no matter if the plane was low at the time and in 'our' airspace.

Us.... no ambiguity or imagination required.

 

[Osmosis]

As a private pilot, I know that we need to keep things above 500', it's also the reasoning behind the FAA's UAV 400' rule. The intent, of course, is to keep the two users or the same airspace apart.

An aircraft must maintain an altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.