Low flying Vs aeromodellers

[alex90]

If there is a conflict between a model and an aircraft it is the model pilots fault.

And yet - who pays the higher price if the worst actually happens? I don't think fault or blame is a good way of looking at things. If there is a conflict between two real aeroplanes, the plane that has the other plane on its starboard side must give way. But if you're the other pilot (who has the other plane on its port wing) [I've been there] and you don't see them taking any action, do you just wait for the inevitable to happen? Risk killing yourself and people in the other plane, as well as people on the ground because you had right of way? Or do you take evasive action?

Just talk to one another, even go for a beer to chat about setting up procedures. Put a safe plan in place, make all model club members aware of these, and all instructors/members of real planes aware of those too. Save the risk of thousands in damages and potential loss of life, by just having common courtesy & talk to one another!

rant over...

[funfly]

I have been a qualified GA pilot and am a model aircraft builder and flyer of over 20 years including some quite big ones (third scale etc.)

Putting the 'drone' issue to one side, there have been very few interactions between model aircraft and full sized aircraft over the years mainly because model flying is not a children's hobby but one often occupying more mature men (and some women). Most model fliers carry out their hobby within the British Model Flying Association membership of which includes insurance.

The advent of the 'drone' has changed the whole scene allowing less skilled people, often quite young (or immature) to take to the skies often to the distress of other people. The irresponsibility of this new breed has catalysed the CAA into action and the people who have suffered most have been the responsible model fliers who have carried out their hobby usually unobtrusively over the years and who are now facing more restrictions and scrutiny.

So we are in a period of unsettlement. Hopefully the 'fad' will go and drone flying will become a respectable hobby well regulated by the CAA and insured by some organisation (BMAA). Having a small model that anyone can fly at any age using its own stabilisation etc. scares me and will inevitably make my own hobby more difficult.

[abgd]

The issue is very simple. Model aircraft have no right of way over manned aircraft. They have to keep well clear and should immediately manoever away and land if they observe an aircraft approaching the area they are flying.

Realistically speaking, it can take several minutes to get to a point where you can set up an approach to land. Some aircraft e.g. my r/c helicopter can be quite difficult to land other than reasonably close to you (if you can't judge drift towards or away from you, you're likely to topple over). An aircraft with undercarriage only fit for a paved runway would be a bit hamstrung if a full-size aircraft decided to do an approach to the spot that you were using as your runway.

I would crash my aircraft rather than bring down a fullsize pilot, but I would also feel somewhat peeved if I were forced to do this, particularly at a site I considered to be 'mine'. A minor ding can cost a few hundred pounds and an afternoon screwing parts together. Some of the bigger scale models take as long to make as a full-size aircraft.

Alt-Azimuth is easy, but it's very difficult to judge the relative distances of two aircraft. I can envisage situations where an r/c pilot knew their aircraft may be in conflict, but could simply not work out how to take avoiding action.

The other thing worth mentioning is that particularly for helicopters you have to remain very focused on the model or else you crash. You can't effectively scan the sky whenever you hear an aircraft noise.

Finally, it used to be the case that you had to fly from a recognised field in order to avoid radio interference and adjacent clubs might co-ordinate their frequencies to avoid conflicts. These days that's no longer an issue, so people can pop up in all kinds of unexpected places.

Realistically, whilst the moral onus is on the modeller to avoid bringing down a full-size aircraft, in practice this might be easier said than done. Cluttering the charts with model flying sites might be overkill, but I think it's reasonable to expect instructors to know where the local model flying sites are and to avoid them.