slammed2000

well here is a question for all. Has anyone ever had a problem flying by an airport by the police department? There is a multi purpose
field by the airport where i live in new smyrna beach florida. I have been flying there for years and now all of a sudden i had a cop come up to me last sunday while i was in the middle of a inverted flat spin and yell, You need to get that plane on the ground now,
so I turned around to see who it was and saw the cop. I quickly pulled out of the manuver and immediatly started my approach.
It is a little tricky to fly into the field but not to bad. As i was about half way through my approach she yells at me again and i turn to her and tell her that i am trying. So my best friend mother and father are out with us and he is a pilot as well and starts to explain to the cop that i have to land it i just can't put it on the ground that it land just like a full size plane. So now i am about 2-3 feet off the deck, and coming in hot to try to get it down as quick as possible which is normally ok, When the officer yells at me again and i totally dupe the landing ripping my gear front and tail wheels off along with my rudder. Now i am a little upset that was pretty uncalled for keep in mind that from the time i pulled out of the spin to the time i was on the ground was only about 45-60 seconds.
So it is not like i kept flying and trying to disrespect her(the cop). Now that my plane is down i turn to her and ask her why she told me to bring the plane down and her responce to me was that we( the model aviation society) are not alound to fly within 5 miles of an airport. Well folks there is no place to fly within fourty miles of my house that isn't five miles away from some airport. So anyways i did a little digging and so far i have not found that there is any law or ordinance that restricts you from flying within five miles of an airport. The only two things that i have found out that are laws is that if you are flying close to an aiport you must not fly higher that 400 Feet that law is made by The FAA who where very helpful to me today but told me other than a local ordinance there was no other laws. The other law is a local ordinance which states that if you are going to fly at the airport like on a runway or taxiway that you must have written or verbal consent from you local airport manager. So I am just wondering if anyway maybe able to shed some light on this or did someone call and complain and tell the police officer this and she did not take the time to look it up to make sure she was actually enforcing the law or not. The other reason i ask this is because one of the other place i fly is next to the spruce creek fly in and i have had sherrif officer come out there and stop by to watch and ask questions about how they work and just generally be curious about the hobby, but they never once said that i was braking a law or even give me a hard time about what i was doing. thanks for taking the time to read this and i look foward to the responces.

AstroMan

It's funny that this comes up from time to time. I know of several clubs (not in my current area) that actually fly with consent at regular airports. In Salt Lake City there is a huge club about 1 mile from the international airport. The TOC was held in Las Vegas directly under the final approach path of LAS, (I look down at it all the time). My current club is only about two miles from the end of a busy runway. Unless there is a local or state ordinance, and you'll have to check thoroughly to find out, you are on solid ground. Personally I would file a complaint at the police department, advise them of the law, and send them a bill for repairs to your plane, but then I'm in a litigious mood today. Of course they'll change their story and claim you were operating in a reckless manner, which is totally the judgment call of the officer, and can't really be disputed since they are self-proclaimed experts on all aspects of public safety. Oh, and I think Spruce Creek has an RC club too.....

iflytailies

My Feedback: (82)

see ama safety code under GENERAL 2):

http://www.modelaircraft.org/templat...-files/105.pdf

danhoh

Speaking as one that works at an airport, as well as being a model flyer......... I have been known to fly at the airport, but nobody has said anything to me. HOWEVER in all seriousness, you would be totally be in your rights to go down to the police station and have a discussion with them. As long as you are CALM about it, they have to answer your questions. They ARE Public Servants and HAVE to answer your questions!!! Explain what happened, and ask them what is their basis for what the officer said. If they claim its the FAA......... well you will be able to educate them on that factor. Explain that you have called the FAA as you did, and they explained their position. If they claim it is an ordinance (it IS possible), then they should be able to quote which ordinance it is........... then go look it up. However an ordinance of this sort is pretty rare.

If they still claim its a FAA rule, the you will need to call the FAA again, and ask them where THEY got their information. Again they are Public Servants and HAVE to answer your questions. They WILL be able to quote Chapter and Verse from the Federal Aviation Rules (FAR's) You may also ask for a copy of such specific regulation to be mailed to you at no charge.

At this point, its up to you whether you want to go back to the police station armed with the paperwork from the FAA. Personally I'd just mail them a nice little letter with copies from the FAA. (BTW, the information you wrote about what the FAA said.......... is my knowledge also. the 400 feet part AND calling the nearby airport manager, for a verbal. Most Airport Managers once they know where you are at, will tell you that you don't have to call them again.)

Then I would go back to flying there where you were flying with a copy of such paperwork handy while flying. As per the norm, make bloody sure you have the permission from the property owner to fly there, otherwise you could get cited for trepassing.

Just my .02 BTW I have been working at airports for about 30 years now. I sincerely hope this helps. Let us know what happens.

Dan

WILDCRASHWILLY

I fly at a local airport all the time. I have not only the airport managers approval but also encouragement to bring other modelers to his facility. He wants all who flie there to have AMA membership. It is a KY. State Park airport that has private and small company owned planes landing there but no commerial airline type traffic. He just requires everyone to watch and yeild to full scale as we should. We are allowed to take off and land from the taxiway prodominantly however if we want we can use the runway. It is a small airport with rarely over a dozen full scale planes a day utilizing it the fall or winter and two dozen in the summer. The company that I work for keeps a Mooney Ovation hangered there at different times of the year.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Man that rocks. You are very fortunate.

Joe

slammed2000

thanks for all the feedback and today was not very productive the city attorney was in an important meeting all day and the airport manager has not returned my call yet. But i will keep you posted on what happens next. The only good thing that did happen today was that the city attorneys paralegal took the time to do some research for my in the city ordinance's for me and turned up nothing.
All truth be known is the one that does all of the research for the city attorney anways so that is a good thing i guess. So hopefully something will happen tommorow.
thanks again for the help.

cropdusterdave

My Feedback: (2)

The flying field that I have been flying at for the past 12 years is at the local municipal airport. Actually, one of the full scale grass runways touches the corner of our model runway. And 40 miles down the road...same situation. Give right of way is all that is asked. I also fly off the ramp in the wintertime when there's no planes parked on 1/2 of it. I work there some of the time, but it wouldn't matter if I did or not...people are pretty laid back here.

Dwest

Hello Slammed. As an air traffic controller I might be able to shed a little light on this for you. I don't know what airport you were flying by but if the airport has an operating control tower they will have what is called a Class Delta Surface Area. This is typically an area surrounding an airport usually 3-5 miles in radius extending up to 3000 feet. Federal Air Regulations state that NO aircraft (and your model IS an aircraft) may operate in the Class Delta without a clearance (permission) from the control tower. This is a safety concern. You model being uncontrolled (from the tower) may interfere with the operation of other aircraft and in the worst case scenario may cause a collision. It is possible to lose control of the model (radio interference, equipment failure etc.) and cause a problem. I'm sure thats what the police officer was worried about. If there is no control tower then there is no Class Delta Surface Area so the regulations would not come into play. Many states have aviation divisions and they make their own regulations as do local and county governments and you may have run afoul of that. You need to check on what the laws actually are.

This last summer I was operating a temporary control tower from the old Norton Air Force Base in California to provide air traffic control services for the Tanker Aircraft based there fighting the California wildfires....it is normally an uncontrolled field. There was a club operating on the field, with the permission of the airport operator, that was flying very close to the main runway and I felt this was a hazard to aircraft. The airport operator refused to stop the operation but in the end I did have the authority to stop it and I did...for the duration of the temporary tower. I am an RCer myself..but that was an unsafe operation given what was going on and federal law does authorize me to control it. I would recommend that if you're flying by a controlled airport to talk to the tower personnel. If its uncontrolled talk to the airport operator and see if you can get written authorization from them and keep that with you when you fly. You might also want to talk to your city council and see if you can get their permission. We went to ours and ended up leasing a field from them for $1 a year. By doing a little legwork, letting people know who you are and what you're doing before flying you can probably save yourself this type of aggravation....Good luck!

slammed2000

well i have found the problem or should i say part of the problem. The airport manager is not a very nice person. For the what member dwest said i believe that was his name this is and uncontolled tower airport so there is no class delta. The airport manager who for whatever reason hates model aircraft. This guy is not even a full scale pilot anymore. He has not flown in over 15 years. I do not know what his personal problem is with models but the guy won't return my phone calls or talk to me when someone is there.
So i do not know how to make this come to an end i do not want this to become some big fiasco i just want to fly. So hopefully i have found a way out of this dillema today with the help of my local code enforcement and the city attorney who have been very helpful.
anyways i will let you know how i make out.
thanks again for all the help and support.

mattsimonton

A little thing like that has happened here in sapulpa Ok.
A model runway/field was built
2.5 years before a new neighborhood was thought of and built
the field was given only a certain time to fly and mostly obided by that
until a Carden Extra wen through the roof of a 100+ thousand dollar home and landed in the kid's room
No body was home but some one came home and found a 10 food wingspanned plane in 50 million pieces in there kids room
So a city ordinance has been filed and boom no more flying here
so I have to drive to keifer
or tulsa
danget

I hope you can find some meaning of this to help you

Matt

AirIck

im in fort myers florida and theres a flying field about 15 minutes from here thats right on the outer edge of an airport.. no problems and lots of FULL SCALE!! going on

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

Several friends and myself fly our Jets, turbine powered, at an arport in Michigan. We are allowed to share the runway with fullscale aircraft. The pilots spotter keeps watch for planes entering the patttern and calls for a gear pass when a plane is spotted. The full scale pilots often turn on the runway lights to announce their intention to land. works great for us.

hookedonrc

Matt,
I don't know if you are looking for a place to fly, and we are way out east on 71st street, but if you would like more information, here's our website: www.americanturfflyers.com It doesn't change your driving, but it's a great area to fly.