Martin really has this one absolutely right!
Keith
I like the present situation because there's a sort of gentlemen's
agreement with the FAA -- we don't interfere with full-size traffic and
they leave us alone. It works well for both parties. The FAA assumes that
we're responsible people but reserves the right to wield a big stick if
we're not. All Dave Brown can do is disturb a stable situation. He can't
request exclusive use of airspace up to 700' without seriously restricting
the number of places we can fly.
Full size pilots have to share the air. They just have to look where
they're going, especially near the ground. There are birds up there. There
are other people blundering around in planes and ultralights. There's
parafoils, balloons -- all sorts of things. Our models add just a tiny bit
extra to the mix -- there's not a lot of us, we're predictable, we avoid
areas where planes fly and we can get out the way quickly if we have to.
So if we're not being a problem then why try to find a solution?
My hope is the FAA is more pragmatic than the AMA. So far, so good.
Martin Usher
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