Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 20:19:12 -0500 From: Michael Masterov To: ultralight-flight@ms.uky.edu Subject: Ultralights at GA Airports >Access to GA Airports and Pilot Responsibility > >Yesterday I met with the Airport Authority for a local airport to try to get >permission for ultralight training from the field. They were not well >informed about ultralights and expressed alot of concern about liability. I >emphasized that we would provide responsible training and define traffic >patterns in cooperation with them to minimize the GA and ultralight traffic >interactions. I answered most of their questions (but they will check with >their own legal staff). They posed the question "Someone, who is a >non-pilot, buys an ultralight , comes out to the airport, sets it up and >flies off. Have they violated any laws?" The answer is clearly no. This >creates a serious credibility problem for the claim that we will fly >responsibly. > >My openion is that if we, the ultralight community, don't do something about >this, eventually the FFA will. Their solution will probabily be much more >onerous than ours would. > >Do you think it is reasonable to require some demonstration of competence and >responsibility from ultralight pilots flying from airports with GA traffic? >What should this demonstration be? How could this be enforced when someone >says "Get lost! I'm a citizen and have a right to be here"? Comments?>>>> Usually I'm a lurker on this mailing list but I couldn't resist this. You know, you can't have it both ways. The great thing about UL operations is how short FAR Part 103 is - no airworthiness certification, no airman certification, no maintenance requirements, no paperwork. But you pay a price for this. UL's a barred from airports and the airspace assigned to them (Class B,C,D,E) unless permission is obtained from the appropriate controlling agency. This is fair. I've seen some uncontrolled fields where sharing the pattern with an UL is no big deal - very little traffic and what there is tends to be light and small - and some uncontrolled fields where an UL has no business being - ever. So this non-pilot who buys an UL, comes out to the airport, sets it up and flies off is very certainly breaking the law unless he has received prior permission. For an uncontrolled field without an FSS the appropriate controlling agency is the airport manager - and he has a lot of latitude in this matter. So meeting with the Airport Authority is exactly the right thing to do, but asking for the admission of any UL into the Class-E designated for the airport is a mistake. What you ought to be doing at this GA airport is asking for prior permission limited to members of your club, or to USUA members, not all UL's in general - something along the lines of "any current and rated USUA member or student under direct supervision of a current and rated USUA instructor may fly for the purposes of ultralight training from the field." Anyone not covered is breaking the law; enforcement is not a problem. And as long as someone is going to go to all the trouble of joining USUA and getting trained, I don't think it is at all unreasonable to require knowledge of airport traffic patterns, markings, and regulations of all USUA rating holders. As a pilot, I can tell you right off what I would want an UL pilot to know if I'm going to share the field with him: 1. Know your pattern altitude and hold it until you begin your descent. 2. Know that waggling your wings is a sign of distress and a) don't do it unless you are in distress b) get out of the way of any aircraft that does 3. Either carry a radio and self-announce on CTAF (and know correct radio procedure when you do) or, if you must operate NORDO, fly a standard pattern ALL THE TIME. What happens then is simple: Those who want to fly UL's in an organized way join USUA, learn to interact with GA traffic, and are not a problem at small uncontrolled fields. Those who are pilots or former pilots already know how, and aren't a problem. Those who want to go at it with no training can fly out of their own back-40; they will be instantly recognizable at airports and can be effectively banned ("So, let's see your USUA card, Mr. 'What's right traffic at 500 AGL mean?' "). Skydiving (FAR Part 105) has worked this way for years. Most operations are part of USPA, require instruction and training, and teach students how to interact with airplane traffic at small, uncontrolled fields. But someone who really wants to jump out of an airplane (or balloon, or bridge) can legally do so without training as long as he does it over his own back-40. The FAA mandates only a bare minimum of regulations. So don't fix it if it ain't broke. Getting the FAA involved will only cause grief. Michael Masterov, USPA-A17157, PP-ASEL