Chopperjess Posted August 25, 2010 Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 Haven't posted here for a while, however I thought I'd post this video. Seeing as i've done some flights in areas with RC airplanes who get too close to comfort sometimes when I've been flying through an airspace, i'm sure others have as well. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab3_1282653276 Would love to hear your opinions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChprPlt Posted August 25, 2010 Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 wow...why are they flying an RC plane at an airport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactown77 Posted August 27, 2010 Report Share Posted August 27, 2010 (edited) Looks like there was a complete lack of communication. The scariest RC related incident I've ever encountered was flying 600 ft AGL over the Altamont Pass into Livermore Airport. There was an RC airport below me, and I figured 600 ft was plenty of clearance. As I was flying, an RC plane doing a loop was headed right towards my wind shield. I had no idea they had that kind of range. Anyways, I turned quickly and no damage was done. Edited August 27, 2010 by sactown77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heligirl03 Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 There are several RC "airports" in the areas I fly regularly. It seems the easiest way to find out about them is to get scared half to death by one suddenly appearing out of nowhere within 50' of your aircraft. Does anyone know if there are regulations for RC? Such as WHERE and HOW HIGH they can be flown? I can understand if the areas were charted like skydiving, balloons and such so I could purposefully avoid the designated block of airspace. But that doesn't seem to be the case and yikes, those big ones have met me easily at 700'AGL. I know there are a few RCers on here, does anyone have any more info? I've googled but haven't come up with much... Fly safe! HG03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHelicopterPilot Posted August 29, 2010 Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 (edited) Not only at an airport. But on an ACTIVE RUNWAY. Me thinks the FAA will/would side with the airplane pilot. The Real one that is. I did notice however, the one guy had a handheld radio. Then again uncontroled airport. Maybe the plane zooming down the runway didn't have a radio? The piloted airplane had smoke on and clearly wasn't landing. Very interesting video and topic. Edited August 29, 2010 by JDHelicopterPilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 (edited) It looked like a very poorly controlled airplane meet or expo of some sort. The huge group of people running accross the runway while an aircraft was taxiing on it makes me think that this collision was not the only safety issue of the day. Anyways, the RC club I used to fly at was flying out of a closed runway for a while. You can look it up on airnav at KPWT. It's a drag strip. We had airplane spotters and whenever a full size was in the pattern or nearby it was time to put the airplanes on the ground until they were done. It was a hassle for the hobbyists so eventually they got their own little airport to fly out of. Even then, if a full size was nearby the airplanes came down. I don't think we had to stop flying but we definitely were mindful of our altitude. Remote controls have huge range now (over a mile I believe) and the aircraft themselves can go very high. It's not uncommon for an RC glider to be sailing almost out of sight. Stay vigilant. Edited September 19, 2010 by SBuzzkill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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