bar shaker
This new rule is an Aerial Photographers' Charter and is not good news for the image of GA.
Well, I'd say we were both putting an interpretation on the revised rules that reflects our own prejudices and the type of equipment that we fly. That's OK, isn't it? We all do that to some extent. Just because the legal boundaries have changed doesn't mean that everyone has to fly lower automatically. I see it as a common sense change that allows you as a pilot more freedom of choice of action within the capabilities of both the aircraft and your own assessment of the situation.
OK, I'm a balloon pilot. There are several Rules of the Air that are applied to the conduct of all GA aircraft and there are many which are not appropriate to the way in which some of them fly. All I'm saying here is that while it is
probably foolish to overfly a heavily built-up area in a PA-28 at 1000', a balloon with plenty of fuel on board and calm weather would not represent anything like the same risk to those below even if all systems failed completely. Slow, low-level flight is what balloons are superbly equiped to do well and safely, hence my positive reaction to this announcement!
Ripline