Jim, The "400 foot limit within 3 miles of an airport" thing is an AMA safety rule; it has nothing to do with FAA airspace. So are the "no autonomous flight" and "maintain unenhanced visual contact" rules. The AMA rules used to correspond exectly to the published FAA guidelines for model aircraft operations. I don't know if they still do.
Most of us that fly anywhere remotely near urban areas fly in controlled airspace (see below). The only reason that we are not violating FAA regulations is that the FAA HAS NO REGULATIONS regarding operation of model aircraft. The FAA doesn't even have a good definition of what a model aircraft is! The FAI does. Essentially if your model weighs less than 5 Kg. (FAI limit), then you have a pretty good argument for it being a model (unless you use it commercially). Depending on who you talk to at the FAA and what you're using your model for, they will probably say it's a UAV if you're going to take it very high - certainly if you're wanting to venture into class A airspace! Because model gliders routinely operate at a thousand feet or higher within controlled airspace, I firmly believe that the FAA should take control of model aircraft regulations. If nothing else, the FAA should provide guidelines and assistance (NOTAMS...) for high altitude model operations around established AMA facilities, XC operations, and record attempts. At the moment, it is impossible to work with those guys as they have no established procedures. Right now, the AMA has a "head in the sand" attitude and will take no action to coordinate with the FAA. ****************************************** All US airspace is classified as A,B,C,D or E - or uncontrolled. Class A is above 18K feet in the continental US. Class B is airspace from the surface to 10,000 feet MSL surrounding the nation's busiest airports. Class C airspace extends from the surface to 4,000 feet above the airport elevation (charted in MSL) surrounding those airports that have an operational control tower, are serviced by a radar approach control, and that have a certain number of IFR operations or passenger enplanements. Class D airspace extends from the surface to 2,500 feet above the airport elevation (charted in MSL) surrounding those airports that have an operational control tower. Generally, if the airspace is not Class A, Class B, Class C, or Class D, and it is controlled airspace, it is Class E airspace. Except for 18,000 feet MSL, Class E airspace has no defined vertical limit but rather it extends upward from either the surface or a designated altitude to the overlying or adjacent controlled airspace. There are Class E airspace areas beginning at either 700 or 1,200 feet AGL used to transition to/from the terminal or en route environment. ******************************************* Mark -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 9:20 AM To: soaring@airage.com Subject: RE: [RCSE] High Altitude Glider Jim, I've seen this site before. Projects like this are the reason that the FAA wants to regulate UAVs (and RC aircraft) flying under autopilot or video downlink. This case is specifically mentioned when they talk about having to control any aircraft in "their" airspace. It doesn't apply to RC until you get above 400', then you're in their space again. They also regularly use the example of a full scale helicopter flying under an RC trainer with a video downlink under it. The helicopter never saw the RC plane as it passed ~100' below it. Unfortunately this kind of story constantly pops up on the internet giving the feds more ammunition to make stricter regs with. Luckily the FAA isn't that concerned with typical RC flying, only with vision enhanced systems or autonomous systems. Happy flying, Jim www.jtmodels.com RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format *************************************************************************** This message is intended only for the use of the Addressee and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please erase all copies of the message and its attachments and notify Space Imaging immediately. *************************************************************************** RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
