Hello everyone

After many years of dreaming of getting in to the hobby the trifecta finally came in, that being time, resources (money) and a place to fly. I've ordered my trainer and it's on it's way. Which brings me to some questions that after poking around the forums for 2-3 hours I didn't find. I would appreciate it if someone knowledgeable with any of these issues could give me their insight.

1. I have a relatively large field to work with but there is a major electric tower transmission line (believe 500KV) that dissects the pasture east to west. Using the lower 5 acres I'm able to secure a clear flying field of approximately 200 yards X 100 yards with an approximate 100 yard minimum separation from the towers. Finding out that the radio transmitter is FM based, my concerns are not as they once were about interference with the radio signal. Do I have a potential problem with this and need to start worrying about this again?

2. There is an airport approximately 1/2 mile due south whose runway runs east and west. Being to the north I am not in any landing/takeoff path and besides, what sane person would want to be anywhere near those 500KV transmission towers in a plane. I do not plan on flying any higher than approximately 200 feet. Reading the AMA's guideline they say over 400 feet within 3 miles of an airport but I want to make sure I'm not in any conflict with the aircraft involved with the airport. The airport is a field strip with no tower and approximately 150 takeoffs/landings per year total, if that many. What is the proper etiquette/protocol concerning flying and surrounding airports?

I appreciate anyones input on these matters to help make this not only enjoyable but more importantly a SAFE experience for me and anyone affected by it. I do plan on joining a club in the area but am just now doing the research on what's available in the area.

Sounds kinda tight..

AMA rules say you agree not to fly over 400 feet within 3 miles of an airport without coordinating with the airport and ALWAYS yield right of way to full-scale aircraft. Regardless of the height you intend to fly, I would definitely talk with the airport about what you want to do.

The area DOES sound VERY tight. You will be AMAZED how much real estate you can eat up in a VERY short period of time. See the attached pic for my club flying site (Paxtuxent Aeromodelers) and it is none too large. The trees encroaching on the field at either end are at least 100 yds from the pilot stations and have eaten many planes. Even the fenceline at the far left of the pic is around 300 yards from the stations and has gobbled up several planes. Depth perception deteriorates exponentially with distance.

Flying within 400 yards of any high tension power lines is, IN MY OPINION (sure I'll get counterpoint to that), a recipe for disaster. It is easy to lose your depth perception at those distances and you can very easily slice a wing off with a wire and stand helplessly while your fuse plants itself very dramatically into the ground. I'm sure you'll hear from pilots who fly near lines routinely and have no problems, but I just wouldn't recommend it to a beginner if at all possible.

Regardless of what you choose to do, WELCOME to the hobby/obsession and best of luck. Do you have a trainer?




The above is my opinion only and does not necessarily represent the views of the host or any others on this site.

Power lines - no problem. I'm not sure about your amount of space.

Golfer6464,

Park Flyers will work in the field you mentioned but I'd be carefull with faster models 100x200 yards is kinda small. when I first started out I tried to fly in an area approx 300x300 yards and hard a lot of trouble keeping it in the area when you are first starting out its nice to be able to concentrate on the model without having to worry about obstacles.

Thanks for the information everyone. I'm glad to hear I don't have to worry about interference radio signal wise from the power transmission lines. I agree with the sentiment that the area is tight, especially for a newbie. My intentions were to get proficient at a club field before taking on my own field. I'm hoping by this winter I might be able to handle it. Worse case scenario I just use the field at the club I'm checking out which is only about 20 minutes away. Besides, driving up to the club field in my truck with all my gear is sounding more and more appealing as opposed to packing it all up and down the hill each time. Sort of like when I go golfing, do I pack my bag of clubs around or just rent the cart. With my age now the cart wins out every time.

I've already ordered my trainer, a Megatech Air Strike 4ch. RTF 47" package. Although I built various models as a kid growing up I wanted to get something "out of the box" since the prime flying season is well under way. This package sounded as out of the box as one could get. I would like to build my second plane when it comes time to graduate to the next class.

I'm looking forward to learning more about the hobby. The club I'm looking at has an open house coming up in 1 1/2 weeks and I'll go check it out and meet the members. Be a good opportunity to have one of the members take my plane on it's maiden journey and tell me what they think about it and it's characteristics. I just missed their monthly meeting for this month but have plans on attending the one in July.

I don't really know the answer to this one myself, but if the airfield is really that low utilization, then could you not approach them about simply flying from there? I assume they have more than 100X200 yds clear to work in?

Duke

Those kinds of power lines usually don't mess with our gear, but they can. Just do a range check at the site, with the engine off and another with the engine running. If it range checks ok, you'll probibly be ok with the towers. If you do get a really short range check, you can try calling the power company. They will often try to stop whatever is generating the signal, since it usually means some of their equipment is out of adjustment anyway.

The space sounds small, but if you follow your plan and get started at the club, you'll be able to get a much better feel for the amount of space you need after a few flights.

Good luck!

Welcome aboard, Golfer.

Looks like you're on track to check out your plane safely, and I congratulate you for that. I hope you find flying enjoyable and trouble free. Those power lines will require attention, and I believe Montague stated it well, you'll want to do a careful range check, both at the club field and near your power lines for comparison.

Good luck, and keep us informed.
Dave Olson

If you have ordered a gas trainer then consider the following. If not than you should be ok. Here is some quick math for you.. Assuming you fly at 30 mph or 44.1 fps

Flying the circuit of your field. (the outermost perimeter) you would have to turn at the following rates.

200 yds = 13.6 seconds to transit the length if the field. 100 yds = 6.8 seconds to transit the width. Cut those times in half if you are starting from the middle of the field.

This is a bit tight. Also consider that you plan to fly at 200 ft. 4.5 seconds from any impact-Ceiling to ground! Just for fun I did this in my simulator and found it to be do-able but not very fun. I would recommend finding a proper RC flying site.

Of course if you have an electric trainer than your flying field should be plenty big..

Thanks Broken for confirming some rough numbers I had worked out in my head. I had assumed the airspeed of the plane between 25-30mph but used 34mph as a guide for easy math knowing 68mph was 100 ft/sec, so I just cut it in half and figured standing in the middle would be approximately 6 seconds to traverse.

Good advice Montague about the range check. When and if the time comes that I'll want to use my own field I will definitely perform that to make sure I'm in good shape.

Nice idea there Dukestar and I'll look in to it, but I'm not too optimistic about it panning out. I left a message at the contact number on a static filled, tape hissing message recorder. The message recorder must have been a Radio Shack purchase back in 1982. I did check with the county records for the airports in the county and that field had a total of 42 takeoffs/landings last year.

I am in total agreement on the range check and size issues. That is an awful small area. If that was the strip and lots of room beyond I would say you are fine. But it sounds too small to be safe for glow powered flight.

Mark Shuman