Question about FAA regulations

I am going to be flying my arducopter mostly at a friends land in the country. Sadly there are a few old, probablly debunked airstrips around his land. These airports are registered and have a rating for no more than a single engine plane and neither even have an actual runway.

I checked google earth and several other sources for sat photos of the airports and many do not even look operational any longer. No hangars, no visible aircraft and not even the typical marking of small airstrips.

This being said, does anyone know how far away from these small strips I need to keep my arducopter?

Would it be worth contacting the owners of the strips to find it they are still operational?

Any other ideas or things I should think about before flying in the area?

Thanks!

I don't know the exact UAV rules but I do know about the airspace rules and I can share that information with you. Its a starting point at least..... The rules vary from airport to airport, for example a large airport like LAX has very restrictive airspace around it for quite a large radius. Other airports that are medium size might still have a tower in which case they have some airspace restrictions and you don't want to fly anywhere near it. Strips like what you are talking about aren't likely to have any restrictive airspace which means it has a G airspace rating. Class G airspace is the least restrictive and is pretty much open to anyone anytime (assuming visibility is good). To be sure what airspace it is you should make a trip over to your local small airport that does flight lessons. Most likely they will help you out, and I am sure they know the air strips. If they are not helpful ask to buy a sectional map which will show all the airports in your area (even private ones). If you cant find the strips then they aren't live anymore. The map can be hard to read so if you buy a map and cant figure out the airspace tell me the 3 letter identifier for the airport and I can help you figure out what it is. At least you will know for sure if they are considered active or not after that. If they are active I would keep the plane away from the traffic pattern which is generally left hand and at 1000' AGL. The UAV rules that I have read on this forum suggest that you should not go above 400' AGL and have the plane in visual range. I think that if you follow that rule along with some common sense and you will be fine.

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Darren October 24, 2010 at 8:28pm

if you use google earth, there is a kml file out there that shows in 3d the conus class b and c airspace.
click here for the link
Click here for the kml file
John Owen October 24, 2010 at 7:17pm

Thank you very much for the information. I am going to continue investigating a bit. I spoke with some folks next door to the smallest and nearest airstrip and they said that there hasn't been a plane out there for years. I will do a little more snooping around and see if its actually still active. I have a feeling the status on the page I was looking at was incorrect.

Thanks!
Fred Briggs October 23, 2010 at 5:18pm

I don't know the exact UAV rules but I do know about the airspace rules and I can share that information with you. Its a starting point at least..... The rules vary from airport to airport, for example a large airport like LAX has very restrictive airspace around it for quite a large radius. Other airports that are medium size might still have a tower in which case they have some airspace restrictions and you don't want to fly anywhere near it. Strips like what you are talking about aren't likely to have any restrictive airspace which means it has a G airspace rating. Class G airspace is the least restrictive and is pretty much open to anyone anytime (assuming visibility is good). To be sure what airspace it is you should make a trip over to your local small airport that does flight lessons. Most likely they will help you out, and I am sure they know the air strips. If they are not helpful ask to buy a sectional map which will show all the airports in your area (even private ones). If you cant find the strips then they aren't live anymore. The map can be hard to read so if you buy a map and cant figure out the airspace tell me the 3 letter identifier for the airport and I can help you figure out what it is. At least you will know for sure if they are considered active or not after that. If they are active I would keep the plane away from the traffic pattern which is generally left hand and at 1000' AGL. The UAV rules that I have read on this forum suggest that you should not go above 400' AGL and have the plane in visual range. I think that if you follow that rule along with some common sense and you will be fine.

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