Originally Posted by
Maximilionalpha
The airport's 7.2 miles away from me and the pilots tend to seldom fly over in this direction. When they do, I just don't fly on those days. I generally fly early in the mornings, or later in the afternoons. That way, I avoid any potential conflicts with the occasional small aircraft. . . .
So, you do admit that airplanes and helicopters
do fly in the airspace you fly in. How can you be 100% certain that aircraft will not be in the airspace when you fly?
Originally Posted by
Maximilionalpha
It's safer, flying where I fly now, then what it was when I used to fly at my local clubs flying field. Which was just on the other side of the mountain, from the airport. As far as the helicopter goes...it doesn't come anywhere near this park. In the videos where you can see the far ends of the farm fields, well, that's the closest the life flight heli, ever comes over and that's once, maybe, twice a month(don't ask me why). Other then that, it comes and goes, towards the NE, of the hospital.
So, there is no chance that the LifeFlight heli may need to land near you to pick up an patient? These choppers may need to land or take off from anywhere.The last one I saw was in the middle of a farmer's field, picking up a child who had been in an ATV accident.
What would you do if an aircraft were on a 150 knot collision course with your glider? Keep in mind would not even see the aircraft until it was within seconds of collision. You might not even be able to see it at all, given the fact that it's over a half mile in the air.
Do you have a handheld VHF transceiver to communicate with aircraft? If not, do you at least have a scanner that allows you to listen to position reports and ATV conversations from aircraft in the vicinity? These are the kinds of questions the FAA and and federal prosecutor may ask if there is an incident.
I agree with
FLAPHappy. The FAA is going after modelers because of people like you. I hope you do not kill anyone. If you do, God forbid, don't as any of us to back you up. Indeed, there are scores of responsible, experienced, and respected modelers out there would would happily testify against you as expert witnesses.The AMA and FAA are on opposite side of many issues, but they are united against your practices.