I'm not interpreting this the same way at all. First, the document is a notice of policy that has been released with the action only for feedback, not for compliance. It is not a policy yet and should not be being enforced just based on this document. Second, making AC 91-57 the authority under which model aircraft are flown is not the same as changing its contents from guidance to mandatory. The policy does not change any of the words of AC 91-57 and in fact repeats those words, "Model aircraft SHOULD [my caps] be flown below 400 feet above the surface ..." That is not the same as saying "Model aircraft MUST be flown below 400 feet above the surface ...". In order for the 400 foot limit to be mandatory, the FAA will need to change the existing AC which only provides "guidance that encourages good judgment on the part of operators...".<br><br>Nothing in the notice of policy suggests to me that the FAA is proposing to make any such change.
<br><br>Ed<br><br><b><i>James Oddino <joddino@socal.rr.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>From: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">Bryan Hudson <<a href="mailto:gbflyer@sbcglobal.net">gbflyer@sbcglobal.net</a>></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Date: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">January 22, 2008 10:00:42 PM PST</font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>To: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">James
Oddino <<a href="mailto:joddino@socal.rr.com">joddino@socal.rr.com</a>></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Subject: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Re: Fwd: [NSRCA-discussion] Altitude limits</b></font></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div> </div><div>Jim,</div> <div> </div> <div>That used to be correct up till Feburary last year. Long story short. FAA (Advisory Circular) AC 91-57 for model airplanes has been around since 1981. It "advises" fly models below 400 feet AGL (above
ground level). Because of the growing unmanned aircraft industry, last February the NTSB / <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1201067814_2" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204);">FAA</span> issued a "Policy Statement" in the Federal Register officially making AC 91-57 the "Authority" under which models will be flown. So as of last Feb. fly below 400 AGL is federal law. This information has recently been added to the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1201067814_3" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204);">FAA</span>'s own web site, and now it looks like the new policy is being enforced. </div> <div> </div> <div>New regulation on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1201067814_4" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">FAA</span>'s web
site <a href="http://www.faa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1201067814_5"><font color="#003399">www.faa.gov</font></span></a></div> <div><font color="#003399"></font> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">T</font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">o fly a UAS you must have an (Experimental Airworthiness Certificate) EAC, </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><u>unless </u>you <span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);">are a hobbyist and intend to fly your model aircraft in accordance with the guidance in AC 91-57 "Model Aircraft Operating Standards.”</span></font></font></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font
face="Times New Roman">In other words, if you want to fly higher than AC 91-57 allows (above 400 AGL) then you must have an EAC. EACs are not being issued to modelers so don't even think about that.</font></font></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"></font></font></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">You can find the Federal Register Policy Statement that lays this out on this site also. </font></font></span></div><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;"></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Go to </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.faa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><font color="#800080"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1200932571_0">www.faa.gov</span></font></a> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">then click on:</span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Aircraft Tab </span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Aircraft Topics - Aircraft Certification</span></div> <div><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Design Approvals</span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Types of Aircraft - Unmanned Aircraft</span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </div> </font></font><div><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">At this point click on </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Regulations and Policies for links to:</span></font></font><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">:</font></font></span></div> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Advisory Circulars - AC 91-57 Model Aircraft Operating Standards</font></font> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:
0in 0in 0pt; color: black;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Policies - </font><a title="Federal Register Notice – Clarification of FAA Policy" href="http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/uas/reg/media/frnotice_uas.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Federal Register Notice – Clarification of FAA Policy</font></span></a><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></li></ul> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Or after Unmanned Aircraft click on FAQ for statement on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1201067814_6" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204);">FAA</span>'s web site.</font></font></span></font></font></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in
0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"></span></font></font></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);">Bryan</span></font></font></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="color: rgb(61, 61, 61);"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><u></u></font></font></span></font></font></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font></span></div> <div style="font-size: 7pt; color: gray; font-family: verdana;"><font size="2"> <div> </div></font><br><br><b><i>James Oddino <<a href="mailto:joddino@socal.rr.com">joddino@socal.rr.com</a>></i></b>
wrote:</div> <blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;"><br> <div><br> <div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> <blockquote type="cite"> <div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>From: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">Ed White <<a href="mailto:edvwhite@sbcglobal.net">edvwhite@sbcglobal.net</a>></font></div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Date: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">January 21, 2008 1:13:55 PM PST</font></div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>To: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">NSRCA Mailing List <<a
href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a>></font></div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Subject: </b></font><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Altitude limits</b></font></div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><font style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" color="#000000" face="Helvetica" size="5"><b>Reply-To: </b></font><font
style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;" face="Helvetica" size="5">NSRCA Mailing List <<a href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a>></font></div> <div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div></div>It is written in FAA Advisory Circular AC 91-57, dated June 9, 1981. You can download it from the the FAA website (<a href="http://www.faa.gov/">www.faa.gov</a> 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>Mark Atwood <<a href="mailto:atwoodm@paragon-inc.com">atwoodm@paragon-inc.com</a>></i></b> wrote: <blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;">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>> Camarillo. Are there any general rules about altitude limits that we<br>> should be aware of? We are pretty far from
the Camarillo 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>> <a href="mailto:NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a><br>> <a href="http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion">http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br><a href="mailto:NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion">http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</a><br></joddino@socal.rr.com></blockquote><br>_______________________________________________<br>NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br><a
href="mailto:NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion">http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</a></blockquote></div><br></blockquote><br></span></blockquote></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br>NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<br>http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</blockquote><br>