Look what landed at my club's field today..

[jhsa]

I was flying my models, and 2 hot air balloons were approaching. I landed the plane just in case.. One of the balloons flew over and the other landed
It was the first time I saw one of these things landing live. Had to film it of course..

João


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ProetrzRqO4

[kaos]

Those balloon pilots are nuts, any one RC plane could rip a big hole in the balloon and crash them. Don't they have some regulation or airspace control for balloon in Germany? At least they should be aware of where are the RC flying club fields are.

[jhsa]

I landed my plane for him. But that's me

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[Flaps 30]

Those balloon pilots are nuts,.

Well yes. Anyone that gets up before dawn to just spend a short time in the air before the thermal activity starts must be nuts. They do fly in the late afternoon/early evenings for the same reason mentioned earlier. Of course you do get a few pilots (generally in far away places) who fly at any time of day, even when the thermals are strong, but they are true nutcases IMO.

any one RC plane could rip a big hole in the balloon and crash them..

Well yes that is true. But what are you doing flying close to a balloon in the first place?

Don't they have some regulation or airspace control for balloon in Germany?

Balloons fly under the same ANO's and regulations as any other aircraft. Balloons have the right of way over any other aircraft (including non powered gliders) when it comes to airspace. Of course they have a responsibility to avoid controlled airspace unless they have gained permission to enter it. That is sometimes hard to do or comply with ATC when they try to get a balloon to enter the circuit pattern for landing.

We as the pilots of unmanned aircraft (certainly in the UK) have to be aware of certain ANO's when we are flying and one of them happens to mention that we will not endanger another aircraft (or persons) by our actions. Manned aircraft will always have precedence over airspace with relation to us with our 'toys'. This is also one of the reasons why we have spotters by our sides when flying FPV.

At least they should be aware of where are the RC flying club fields are.

Nope. This is not a requirement as long as you are outside the limits of any full size airfield ATZ or any extended stub that the ATZ may have. If you propose to fly within the ATZ, then you will have to seek permission of the airfield to do so. This has been granted in a few places that I know of and the pilots using the field are aware. Even with that. It is your responsibility to stay well clear of any other aircraft and land if necessary.

[jhsa]

That's what I did.. I landed my model so the guy could land the balloon. Actually he did a very good job.He managed to stop the basket right after the corn field and on our fields grass. Right in front of him as you could see, there is a barrier of trees. There was a balloon that flew overhead just before the one in the video. When it got close, I landed my model and that is the right thing to do.. And they did appreciate it, and thanked.

There is an airfield not faraway from my club's field, and they do know about our place.. But people from other places don't, so we must always be careful, specially if we are flying gliders quite high. The airplanes and helicopters normally don't fly at 2000ft as required because they are already on approach to the airfield..

João

[kaos]

any one RC plane could rip a big hole in the balloon and crash them..

Well yes that is true. But what are you doing flying close to a balloon in the first place?

imagine you are flying in a certified flying field when the balloon just 'bulge in', you think every one in the flying field is good enough to avoid it? I won't take my chances if I were in the balloon. Balloon is a pretty large object. A newer solo RC pilot could panic trying to avoid it and crash into it. I don't think any one would deliberately flying close/into a balloon. Still that is too close to comfort. There are nuts who fly balloons and there are nuts who fly RC toys. They may just want to flying around the balloon and give the 'right of the way' to the balloon but hopefully every one flies RC toys is that good.

[jhsa]

If a balloon just flies over and is quite low, the only thing to be done is to land your model immediately and wait 5 minutes until it goes away. Balloons normally can't choose where they go as they fly with the wind. They can't change direction. Only up and down, so they can't avoid our flying fields. That is why all other aircraft have to give way to them. And yes, real aircraft have priority over models. You can see and hear aircraft flying above, but it very difficult to spot a small model when you're in an aircraft. We as hobbists, have to understand that they are real machines with real people inside and not plastic dolls like our models. If someone doesn't land the model when a balloon is flying over, it is your job to tell him to do so and explain why.
It's due to the lack of respect for the real aviation that FPV is already starting to be regulated and it will get worse. We don't need normal model flying to be regulated as well. I understand the fear of the people that fly REAL machines knowing that they can find some model flown by some idiot without any knowledge about aviation. Flying is not trivial. If you don't know what you're doing you endanger yourself and others. A while ago a FPV model nearly collided with a passenger jet on approach to an airport. Need to say no more

João

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[Kilrah]

A while ago a FPV model nearly collided with a passenger jet on approach to an airport.

That was a nice big fake.

Sent via mobile

[jhsa]

Maybe maybe not..

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[Kilrah]

It was, even the authors said it (it's a visual effects studio that picked on the hot topic to get some free promo, and made 2 videos in that style)

[jhsa]

Ahhh the one the model crash after flying close to the aircraft? Yeah, that might be.. but the other report from the pilots that were landing and saw the model passing at 2300ft is not fake. They thought the model crashed into them, so close it was.. This is what I was talking about. Or are you telling us that this one is fake as well??

João

Here is the link again.. Only on this video there are 3 reports. 2 involving commercial aircraft and one in the City of New York. the drone (Quad) crashed into a building and fell to the street near some guy walking. A few meters and it would have killed him. One with audio from an aircraft to the tower, reporting an incident.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... xInDycb5fY