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Busy airspace day in South Florida!

JackL

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It is such a beautiful day I was thinking about doing a quick MA2 flight around the neighborhood when a Bell helicopter buzzed my house with what felt like about a 100ft altitude pass. I opened up FR24 to see how high it really was and who it was and noticed that every single light aircraft in SFL is actually either up in the air right now or on the way there...lol. I do understand why!busy-airspace.jpg
 
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Yeah nice day for a fly I guess. How low are helicopters supposed to fly?
I'm honestly not sure but it is not uncommon in my area for them to be very low. I've seen guys hanging out of them at 75' working on powerlines in the Everglades in the past. Law enforcement and the Fire Dept get down very low all over the place. Airsense on the MA2 is definitely a good thing.
 
Keep in mind that not EVERY aircraft is posting their position etc. At one point in 2019 FR24 was noted as only showing roughly 30% of air traffic in the US. Now if you're in CONTROLLED airspace that's a whole different ball of wax but outside of controlled airspace it's not safe to think all aircraft are going to be on the APP. Same goes for AirSense as well.

Helicopters can fly pretty much ANY altitude as long as they are following ALL other rules and regulations. 10' on up. Here's some of the wording I'm referring to:

"(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA; and"

Here's a link with some "dry" reading:
 
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I get it if a helicopter is hovering or maneuvering slowly that it be able to fly low. But if it's cruising, it should be required to follow fixed wing altitude rules.

Leave our limited altitude space alone.
 
As for controlled airspace, I live under class D airspace and I often don't find air traffic seeming to be rather low show up in FR24.
 
Keep in mind that not EVERY aircraft is posting their position etc. At one point in 2019 FR24 was noted as only showing roughly 30% of air traffic in the US. Now if you're in CONTROLLED airspace that's a whole different ball of wax but outside of controlled airspace it's not safe to think all aircraft are going to be on the APP. Same goes for AirSense as well.


Here's a link with some "dry" reading:

Very true. I've been a FR24 feeder since the beginning, and decoding ACARS and ADSB with homebrew equipment since their inception so I have seen it all! I hope the next Mavic series has actual true radar that's good for a few miles. ;) I can't overstate how incredible that would be!
 
I get it if a helicopter is hovering or maneuvering slowly that it be able to fly low. But if it's cruising, it should be required to follow fixed wing altitude rules.

Leave our limited altitude space alone.
I almost got hit last weekend by a literal flying rubber raft with a hang glider wing attached, down in the FL Keys!! Dude was bouncing from 10 to 50 feet all over the place. Later a guy on a powered parachute came out and I put my drone away. Too much stress. Definitely smart to keep your ears wide open when flying in Florida no matter how low you are keeping it!!
 
I get it if a helicopter is hovering or maneuvering slowly that it be able to fly low. But if it's cruising, it should be required to follow fixed wing altitude rules.

Leave our limited altitude space alone.
I'm sure there are rules for them to follow Not just flying around low without permits
 
I wish! But every time I bring it up, I get shot down with others saying they can.

Could be my wording being interpreted as it's not allowed vs it shouldn't be allowed.
 
I'm sure there are rules for them to follow Not just flying around low without permits
Check out post #6 above as I linked the actual Federal Regulation.

Permits?
 

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