When Flying Lightweight Recreational Aircraft It’s Fun To Fly Low And Slow, But The Regulations And Common Sense Need To Be Applied

The FAA rules and regulations pertaining to how low an aircraft is allowed to fly were established for safety reasons, but now there’s more to it than that. When you consider all the hype regarding drone operations, and then add in the concern of many citizens regarding terror attacks on civilians, anything that flies unusually low can be scary.

When flying something like an ultralight, powered parachute, a trike, or an open-air flying machine, it’s hard to resist the temptation to fly low and enjoy the scenery. The issue is, what altitude restrictions apply to flying over something, or someone, on the ground?

In part, the answer to this question can be found in FAR 91.119. This regulation is basically broken into three groups which depend on whether you are flying…“anywhere, over congested areas, or over other than congested areas.”

The “anywhere” part of the rule simply says you must be high enough that if an engine fails the aircraft can be landed without undue hazard to persons or property. The “over congested areas” list the altitude requirements as a minimum of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. The regulation calls for aircraft flying over “other than congested areas” to remain no closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure. The regulation is little more detailed than this and the term “congested” is open to some interpretation. Of course, these limitations don’t apply to takeoff and landing.

These rules have been around for a long time, but there are some exceptions. Helicopters, powered parachute, and weight shift control aircraft can deviate from the basic rules listed above. For example, a powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may be operated at lower altitudes provided the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface.

The regulations really set the guidelines and common sense dictates the application. Despite the fact that the rules allow low flight in powered parachutes and weight shift control aircraft doesn’t negate the fact that farmers do not consider “cow tipping” to be a funny.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/faa_regulationsa