Kite flying

by B A R R Y balsapilot@[EMAIL PROTECTED] Apr 19, 2006 at 05:18 PM

There have been r/c vs. full scale conflicts around an r/c club at a
turf farm located south of HFD, where the FAA has complained. No
accidents that I know of, but complaints have been lodged. The
particular club has a large "giant scale" membership, so I suspect that
many of the planes weren't as close to full scales as the full scale
pilots may have perceived.

On the other hand, I've flown r/c @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
active, open airports, with
permission. In that case, we simply used a spotter and landed the r/c
stuff until the full scale was clear of the runway. Kind of like street
hockey. If a plane appears in the pattern, someone yells "plane", and
we stop, and then someone yells "game on!" when the full scale is clear.
Other times, we'd have scanners or handhelds listening for approach
calls.

Woodstock, CT, now a private field, even lists r/c activity in NOTAMS
and on airnav.com.

Before the current stadium was built, r/c was frequently flown at P&W's
East Hartford facility. Tethered balloons were flown to demonstrate
max. altitude to r/c pilots, to prevent conflicts with HFD.



Interesting stuff. Amazing how often new and interesting things keep
appearing on RAP. Its why I keep coming back.

This kite thing has some potential. If the folks at STN all bought sturdy
kites, outfitted them with 40 pound test fishing lines, and flew them at
499.5 feet, they would be perfectly within their legal rights, and it
might make the stunt planes fly a little higher...