Arch,<br><br>I also work with UAV projects. Up until recently it was a grey area and different FAA field offices offered their own interpretation of this AC with regard to UAV's. In the last year or so we were told was a more formal interpretation from FAA headquarters that said this AC covers only model airplanes flown by hobbyists and it can not be applied to UAV's or model aircraft flown for commercial purposes. The commercial purposes was key.<br><br>You are correct that the FAA is developing rules for UAV's flown for commercial purposes (and have been developing such rules for at least 4-5 years that I know of, probably longer). The AC has existed for over 25 years and has had little effect on us. Very few flyers know it even exists. I think you are right on the money that it is up to us to be smart and careful so that when the new rules finally do come out, they won't restrict us excessively.<br><br>Ed<br><br><b><i>Archie Stafford
<rcpattern@swtexas.net></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <!--[if !mso]> <style> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} </style> <![endif]--><o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PersonName"> <!--[if !mso]> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal,
li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-reply; font-family:Arial; color:navy;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </o:SmartTagType></o:SmartTagType></o:SmartTagType><div class="Section1"> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Ed,<o:p></o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial; color: navy;">My info came directly from one of the guys who write the rules from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oklahoma City</st1:place></st1:City>. He was in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Del Rio</st1:City></st1:place> working with us on a UAV project involving training and compliances. As I said in my post, it is in the gray area, that there is a lot of room to interpret. I think as long as we are smart and careful this wont become a problem. I’m sure that when the new UAV rules come out over the next couple of years, we will be mentioned in there. <o:p></o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Arch<o:p></o:p></span></font></div> <div
class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <hr tabindex="-1" align="center" size="2" width="100%"> </span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"> nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org] <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Ed White<br> <b><span style="font-weight:
bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, January 21, 2008 3:14 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">NSRCA Mailing List</st1:PersonName><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Altitude limits</span></font><o:p></o:p></div> </div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It is written in FAA Advisory Circular AC 91-57, dated June 9, 1981. You can download it from the the FAA website (www.faa.gov and then type AC 91-57 into the search box).<br> <br> It says "Do not fly model aircraft higher than 400 feet above the surface." This applies to any location. But because the next sentence says "When flying aircraft within 3 miles of an airport, notify the airport operator ..." some people
misinterpret the requirement as 400 feet only when within 3 miles of an airport.<br> <br> The key point is that it is an ADVISORY Circular. It outlines the FAA's preferred model aircraft operating standards, but compliance with the AC is voluntary. An AC is not the same as a FAR (Federal Aviation Regulation). <br> <br> Ed<br> <br> <b><i><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mark Atwood <atwoodm@paragon-inc.com></span></i></b> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was always my understanding that we were never supposed to exceed 400 ft<br> and that full scale aircraft were to stay above 500ft. But I'm not sure<br> where that's written...<br> <br> -M<br> <br> <br> On 1/21/08 2:35 PM, "James Oddino" <joddino@socal.rr.com>wrote:<br> <br> > I'm getting some breaking news that there is some type of advisory<br> > that says we shouldn't be flying
above 400 feet at our field in<br> > <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Camarillo</st1:place></st1:City>. Are there any general rules about altitude limits that we<br> > should be aware of? We are pretty far from the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Camarillo</st1:place></st1:City> airport and<br> > never get close to any full size stuff so I don't understand why there<br> > would be a local restriction. More to follow I'm sure.<br> > <br> > Jim O<br> > _______________________________________________<br> > NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br> > NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<br> > http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion<br> <br> _______________________________________________<br> NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br> NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<br> http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion<br> <br> <o:p></o:p></joddino@socal.rr.com></span></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times
New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></div> </div> _______________________________________________<br>NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br>NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<br>http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</blockquote><br>