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NAAA Cautions Hobbyist and Professional UAS Operators to be Mindful of Low-Flying Agricultural Aircraft

It's the hobby/recreational knuckle heads that worry me not really the Professionals who should be and most likely are attempting to file NOTAMS etc.

I'd agree with this with the clarification that I am not referring to the RC airplane guy flying at an established field. I flew at PVMAC in Prado Regional Park last weekend. We are 3 miles from the center of Chino Airport (CNO) and have been there for years. We coexist quite nicely with the manned aircraft traffic and are one of the few RC fields actually noted on a sectional.

Same goes for the RC field in Sepulveda Basin park just 1.5 miles from Van Nuys (VNY). Decades of flying with very few issues and never an actual incident at either location.
 
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I'd agree with this with the clarification that I am not referring to the RC airplane guy flying at an established field. I flew at PVMAC in Prado Regional Park last weekend. We are 3 miles from the center of Chino Airport (CNO) and have been there for years. We coexist quite nicely with the manned aircraft traffic and are one of the few RC fields actually noted on a sectional.

Same goes for the RC field in Sepulveda Basin park just 1.5 miles from Van Nuys (VNY). Decades of flying with very few issues and never an actual incident at either location.


I agree 100%! The Clubs are well known and "usually" follow strict self governing rules.
 
I flew a 172 into Phoenix Sky Harbor one night to grab a Coke at the FBO. Upon departure I was told to taxi to Bravo 8 and Runway 26. As the good little pilot I was, I dutifully asked the tower what runway remaining was from Bravo 8. "Cessna 7 Kilo Yankee you have just shy of 5,400 feet remaining". "Roger Sky Harbor Tower, that should be just enough for me, 7 Kilo Yankee rolling".....

I got lots of mike clicks from the commercial traffic. I don't think you can fly GA into PHX any longer. Too bad. That's a fun memory!

Any of us that has done some flying has some stories to tell, and sometimes they are funny, sometimes scary, and sometimes just a learning experiences.
That is why I think the RC pilots have an edge on us, to this day if my drone is coming at me my first tendency is to turn the wrong way, I now correct myself before starting the turn or side slip, but the tendency to move the wrong direction is still there.
 
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That is why I think the RC pilots have an edge on us, to this day if my drone is coming at me my first tendency is to turn the wrong way, I now correct myself before starting the turn or side slip, but the tendency to move the wrong direction is still there.

I completely agree with you. Fortunately that whole "right/left/reverse" thing was burned into my wee brain many decades ago. I do have to say that flying fixed wing and helo R/C will teach you better than starting off with a MultiRotor because you have such a symmetrical airframe it's harder to develop the mental picture of "I'm in the aircraft which way to turn". Plus if they got it wrong and too close to the ground it was a self correcting problem LOL. Now we just let go of the sticks, take a breath, and then figure out which way to turn to get the desired results.

I can almost tell you within a few minutes of when this "Clicked" with my students over the years. I could tell by their body language if they had hit the "Sweet Spot" with control reversal or not.
 
You are 100% correct, however, does everyone do what they are suppose to, do we all drive the speed limit. You always need to remember the human factor, and we are all imperfect people that screw up once in a while.

Of course, the human factor can always be a handicap, but in trained personnel. You have brought up the subject of RC fields, which is the only place, in the past, where you could fly model airplanes. Among the members of the club themselves, with many decades of experience, you learn the rules. But, and this is a great BUT, today you can fly a drone anywhere, the amateurs are no longer limited to a RC field and here I think the big mistake lies.

In a RC field, you have a limited area that is fixed and that the other professionals (pilots of manned airplanes, or not) know beforehand. Since the rules change, any amateur, without any knowledge can fly anywhere and the most serious is that they do not even know where to look to distinguish the different types of airspace. I no longer speak of distances, especially heights, which would be the most basic.

This being so, because, due to these incidents, we have things increasingly difficult for professionals and do they not restrict amateurs once and for all in any way. How many times I have commented with colleagues, that it is better to fly as an amateur than as a professional, the consequences of doing things wrong are much more lax when you do it as an amateur. As a professional who knows the rules, as you can think of breaking them, up to millions of fine, an amateur would not approach those amounts and on top of that, in most cases, are the ones who commit the greatest barbarities.

For me, things as they are now don't make sense :rolleyes:
 
I completely agree with you. Fortunately that whole "right/left/reverse" thing was burned into my wee brain many decades ago. I do have to say that flying fixed wing and helo R/C will teach you better than starting off with a MultiRotor because you have such a symmetrical airframe it's harder to develop the mental picture of "I'm in the aircraft which way to turn". Plus if they got it wrong and too close to the ground it was a self correcting problem LOL. Now we just let go of the sticks, take a breath, and then figure out which way to turn to get the desired results.

I can almost tell you within a few minutes of when this "Clicked" with my students over the years. I could tell by their body language if they had hit the "Sweet Spot" with control reversal or not.

Plus 100 on this!!
 
I flew a 172 into Phoenix Sky Harbor one night to grab a Coke at the FBO. Upon departure I was told to taxi to Bravo 8 and Runway 26. As the good little pilot I was, I dutifully asked the tower what runway remaining was from Bravo 8. "Cessna 7 Kilo Yankee you have just shy of 5,400 feet remaining". "Roger Sky Harbor Tower, that should be just enough for me, 7 Kilo Yankee rolling".....

I got lots of mike clicks from the commercial traffic. I don't think you can fly GA into PHX any longer. Too bad. That's a fun memory!

If it is a cool day, and close to sea level, the 172 can rotate in very little distance, the opposite is it is terrible in high altitude airports like South Lake Tahoe, the 182 is a much better aircraft other than being nose heavy.
 
Yep. I'll save the story of my C150 ride from Tucson to Chandler on a nice August summer afternoon for another day. BTW, you can, in fact, thermal a C150.
 
Yep. I'll save the story of my C150 ride from Tucson to Chandler on a nice August summer afternoon for another day. BTW, you can, in fact, thermal a C150.
I ferried a 150 from Spokane WA to San Jose in the summer, I only did that once, also ferried a 182 from San Diego to Hawaii and only did that once.
 
I recall a test a few years back where they flew several multicopters around a field. A cropduster entered the area to determine if they could spot known drones. They could not.

So, sorry, telling manned pilots to watch out for drones is not a solid strategy. It is still 100% on us to see and avoid. A friend of mine flies medical helicopters. There is a model airplane field not far from his base (he is a long time RC modeler). He has flown behind their flight line and observed several pilots on the ground clearly flying, but was unable to spot traffic. He knew where they were, knew what they looked like, and still had a hard time spotting anything.

Which is why I call BS on most all "drone" sightings.
Yep - I've personally had to look hard for traffic from time to time when the tower tells you exactly where they are. Spotting drones from manned aircraft would be very hard.
 
One thing pilots with a lot of hours tend to do is focus on their instrument panel, and let ATC worry about other aircraft, especially if one had done a lot of IFR (Instrument flight rules) especially at altitude and in controlled airspace. Given the approach speed aircraft being from 75 mph or 150 it would be very easy to not see a drone. Jets have a much higher approach speed, 120 to 150 mph, at that closure rate you aren't going to see it until it is too late. Not only that the pilot is focused on his glide slope and the runway, not sight seeing. The biggest danger with drones and jets is an engine digesting a drone, it could possibly cause a flame out of that engine. Engine failure on approach has the potential to be deadly.
 
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