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- Apr 9, 2010
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Llewtrah
Let's say this is a hypothetical question...
Say a local airport has an "open house" pancake breakfast that's expected to have a few hundred people from the city in which it's very closely located - WELL inside of it, actually. Although it's not an "airshow", there will be a Warbird or two flying overhead for a bit. The field is not NOTAM'd closed, so local/transient/unsuspecting traffic can come and go unexpectedly. Visitors may wander freely about the ramp, including where people's planes are tied down, where the fuel pumps are, and where any transient aircraft (to include periodic King Airs and helicopters) would drop off and pick up passengers. The ramp is directly connected to the runway for about 600 feet; there is no taxiway stem, etc. to separate the ramp from the runway. It's a private field open to the public and run by a non-profit structured to run it.
A few questions:
How close do people consider safe to allow spectators to get to the runway, especially if a plane came or went? In fact, how close have people seen spectators allowed to the runway at similar events, with active flight operations? I've been to airshows, where I believe 500 feet is the regulation (which would literally put the crowd 250 feet outside this small airport) but haven't seen anything of the nature I'm describing. And no rope line or other "barrier".
How close would people think is safe for spectators to be to the runway if the Warbird were to do a low pass (under, say, 100 feet)?
You can probably figure out this is not in my comfort zone. To me, the safest thing would seem to be to NOTAM the place closed entirely for the hours of the event and let the Warbird operate at or above maybe 500ft AGL (1,000ft would be better - and more clearly "legal") with no low passes. Even then, I'd worry about "normalizing" having groups of spectators go up close to the runway and watch planes after the event.
To be honest, even as a pilot, I would not feel comfortable being within 50 feet of the runway (the distance the "stay out" signs are around the REST of the field) unless I had a reason to, such as dealing with a plane at a tiedown in that zone, if only to not be a distraction to pilots on the runway.
I know things like REKLAW happen but that's kinda "by invitation", on truly private property, away from the city, and attended mostly by pilots.
I'm genuinely concerned about the safety aspects of this and want to sense if I'm over-worrying. A handful of non-pilot friends standing less than 10 feet from the runway sideline to watch someone's warbird do a low pass is (debatably) one thing but what I'm hypothesizing is a much bigger, "unknown" crowd.
Say a local airport has an "open house" pancake breakfast that's expected to have a few hundred people from the city in which it's very closely located - WELL inside of it, actually. Although it's not an "airshow", there will be a Warbird or two flying overhead for a bit. The field is not NOTAM'd closed, so local/transient/unsuspecting traffic can come and go unexpectedly. Visitors may wander freely about the ramp, including where people's planes are tied down, where the fuel pumps are, and where any transient aircraft (to include periodic King Airs and helicopters) would drop off and pick up passengers. The ramp is directly connected to the runway for about 600 feet; there is no taxiway stem, etc. to separate the ramp from the runway. It's a private field open to the public and run by a non-profit structured to run it.
A few questions:
How close do people consider safe to allow spectators to get to the runway, especially if a plane came or went? In fact, how close have people seen spectators allowed to the runway at similar events, with active flight operations? I've been to airshows, where I believe 500 feet is the regulation (which would literally put the crowd 250 feet outside this small airport) but haven't seen anything of the nature I'm describing. And no rope line or other "barrier".
How close would people think is safe for spectators to be to the runway if the Warbird were to do a low pass (under, say, 100 feet)?
You can probably figure out this is not in my comfort zone. To me, the safest thing would seem to be to NOTAM the place closed entirely for the hours of the event and let the Warbird operate at or above maybe 500ft AGL (1,000ft would be better - and more clearly "legal") with no low passes. Even then, I'd worry about "normalizing" having groups of spectators go up close to the runway and watch planes after the event.
To be honest, even as a pilot, I would not feel comfortable being within 50 feet of the runway (the distance the "stay out" signs are around the REST of the field) unless I had a reason to, such as dealing with a plane at a tiedown in that zone, if only to not be a distraction to pilots on the runway.
I know things like REKLAW happen but that's kinda "by invitation", on truly private property, away from the city, and attended mostly by pilots.
I'm genuinely concerned about the safety aspects of this and want to sense if I'm over-worrying. A handful of non-pilot friends standing less than 10 feet from the runway sideline to watch someone's warbird do a low pass is (debatably) one thing but what I'm hypothesizing is a much bigger, "unknown" crowd.
