Well our airport has finally finished its runway upgrade and so has opened up again. This means the makeshift airstrip they made is now free for me to fly my plane from. I have also met two other rc flyers that are excited about a flying area so close to town and want to try and setup a club.
Just to be sure though I phoned the airport and asked them if they knew what the regulations actually were regarding me flying an r/c plane on the temporary strip, but they weren't actually sure. In fact he said that he had never been asked before (Remember I live in a small country town and we have no club etc).
The only thing he said was that as long as our planes fly below 500ft it should be okay. He also said to contact the tower each time we go flying so they can alert any small planes and in particular some helicopters that sometimes come in over our area, as they call up for their approach. He also went on to thank me for taking the time to call him.

The question I have though is just how high do our planes fly. When he asked me I was stumped as I had never even thought about it before. I figure that we wouldnt fly no where near as high as 500ft but just how high do we actually fly?

regards,

Troy.

I have been asked this before and my answer is... till the plane is out of sight... Because if I can't see it I can't fly it.
Your transmitter signal will reach farther than you can see.

probably 200' to 400' most of the time

IF YOU CAN SEE IT YOU CAN FLY IT

A buddy of mine strapped a Casio watch with an altimeter on it once. It would hold the highest altitude reading. He set the watch so ground level was 0 feet. He had a spotter with binoculars to watch the plane for him and would tell him left or right, etc. He took off and started climbing in circles. The model, which was a trainer finally ran out of fuel and started it's decent. When he landed the altimeter read 6,000 + feet. The field is at 2400 ft so he was better than 8,000 ft. above sea level.

At high altitude, I blip the throttle from full, to idle to full. There is about a 2 second lag, so, at 1000 FPS (roughly) the plane is about 2000 feet high. But the plane is barely within my ability to control it at this altitude. I think 400-600 feet is about the limit for a normally sighted pilot flying a 60"span model.

We fly from a full scale airport here, about a mile away from the main runway. We usually monitor the unicom frequency for our airport, and if not, we usually can hear the full scale guys coming in. When we do, we get down low in the traffic pattern.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like we will be well under their 500 ft limit for normal flying.

regards,

Troy.

The AMA safety code says, " I will not fly my model higher than approximatley 400 ft within 3 miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator." So, the airport operator sets the limits beyond 400 ft.

Troy,

Not to be anymore of a smart *** than I already can be ... all in good fun though.

The general altitudes you will fly are between OUT OF SIGHT and 2" under the ground.

Anywhere in between is the safe zone.

Precision,

ROFLMAO

...2" under the ground... ...I Love It !!!

Precision,
Thast what I am worried about though, trying to stay between out of sight and 2 inches undergorund...

Troy.

the stick - makes a point about the AMA safety code....however, troyp is from Australia. Does AMA have any influence "down under"? Does Australia have any national model flying organizations?

fly high enough that if you try anything new you have time to recover or figure out how to recover......

I had to laugh at some of the replys. They are right in many ways but....I think AMA regs indicate we should not fly higher than 400feet to be effectivly covered by Insurance, yad-ayadda...!

The Model aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) is the governing body for aeromodelling in Australia as well as being an international representative.

This is an extract from the Cival Aviation Saftey Authority (CASA) regulation booklet. A person may operate an unmanned aircraft at an altitude above 400 feet AGL within 3 nautical miles of an aerodrome if permission by the air trafic control service for that aerodrome has been given for the operation.

Thanks for the spicifics John. I think, for me I will stick with "if I can't see it, I can't fly it".

Let's put things in perspective:

A football field is 300 ft long, not including end zones. If you can find a football field, place the plane on the ground at one end, then look at it from the other end to get a "visual picture" of it's size at 300 ft away.

OR

At your field, take a piece of rope that's a specific length, like 10 yards (30 ft) , and count out the 10 yard (30 ft) lengths until you reach 500 ft. Again, place your plane on the ground at one end and get a "visual picture" of it's size from the other end.

Either of these methods should give an approximate altitude, based on the plane's "visual size", while it's in the air.

Troy,

Two of the clubs in our area are on full scale runways. We must have a designated spotter looking for incoming planes and have a radio scanner listening for air traffic. You can't hear a plane coming in down wind until it is right on top of you. We have had some close calls so the rule is a steadfast rule. Violate it and your gone.

Usually its the jet boys that like to power climb above 400 ft. For sport plans it doesn't usually happen. Gliders have a tendency to fly rather high too giving you more time to find thermals.

Ace

Thanks for the tips guys. I should be okay as long as I contact the control tower each time so they can warn any approaching craft to keep an eye out of they are flying low.

Regards,

Troy.

Troy,

I am not sure if this is an FAA ruling or not but the onus to keep an eye out is yours. It is their airspace that YOU are infringing on SO be careful. A spotter really is a good idea. And so is not flying your model alone by yourself. Especially if your new at it.
Ace