Drone Vs. Powered Hang Glider

[FASTFJR]

This happened to me last week on a beach in Nags Head while I was filing some surfers one morning. I had taken off from the beach and had been between 50ft - 60ft off the water. All of a sudden I hear what appears to sound like a chain saw engine. I look up and their is a guy flying around around 150ft in a powered hang glider. No video or photos of him but you can see my link, this is what he was flying...... TrikeBuggy Delta, Powered Hang Glider Ultralight Trike, Delta Trike - TrikeBuggy.com

From what I can tell he had glided in from a much higher height and then powered up when he got lower. As soon as a saw him I dropped to as low as I could and landed. I was only about 300ft away. Not only did it scare the heck out of me it really pissed me off this guy was flying so low and came in without a warning

 

[Flycaster]

That's why we need to be aware of things going on around us when flying. And yes, sometimes we will have to take action because some foo foo head is just......there.

 

[gnirtS]

Thats why you need the drone close and in good VLOS. Its not so much to see the drone, its to be able to see traffic *around* it.
Its quite common to have unexpected traffic "sneak up" on you in certain areas.

 

[ZX14-R]

If you had VLOS then surely you would have see or been aware of the other aircraft??

 

[Nfhill]

Not only did it scare the heck out of me it really pissed me off this guy was flying so low and came in without a warning

The ultralight has the same right to fly as you do. For many ultralight pilots, flying low and slow is a major part of the fun. Keep in mind that some ultralight pilots will actually shut off their engine when gliding so it's important to keep a watch as they may be silent. Just how would you propose the ultralight pilot should warn you that it's approaching?

Nick

 

[raven swe]

sound his horn??

 

[OldGoatMTB]

The area down there, near Kitty Hawk, is a big hang gliding area. I guess the wind is what attracted the Wright Brothers there. Didn't know about powered gliders.

 

[AnzacJack]

as already stated. You were flying in VLOS so was easily able to avoid incident. Not sure why you would be pissed off. Im sure you had a better chance of seeing him than he did of seeing you.
Situational awareness always needed and the big thing that i see lacking soooo often, is good simple airmanship.
that dude is probably posting on his powered hang glider forum about how a drone was in his airspace and how he is pissed off.

 

[unionglzr]

as already stated. You where flying in VLOS so was easily able to avoid incident. Not sure why you would be pissed of. Im sure you had a better chance of seeing him than he did of seeing you.
Situational awareness always needed and the big thing that i see lacking soooo often, is good simple airmanship.
that dude is probably posting on his powered hang glider forum about how a drone was in his airspace and how he is pissed off.

I would would think it’s the hang gliders responsibility to know what’s in front of him. Just like the drones operator is responsible to know the same. You fixate on the direction you are traveling while checking in other directions. A car approaching a rise in the road going faster than he should be collides with a car on other side of rise doing speed limit. whos at fault there?

 

[Dave Maine]

Maned aircraft of any type always have the right of way, and drone pilots are obliged to avoid them, just as people on the ground do.

 

[superstarpup]

Maned aircraft of any type always have the right of way, and drone pilots are obliged to avoid them, just as people on the ground do.

Exactly. Right of way goes like this-

Manned a/c has right of way over drones.

Maned a/c has right of way over everything.

“Never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports.”

Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based Organizations

www.faa.gov

 

[Skywatcher2001]

I think you will all agree that the problem with VLOS is depth perception adding that 3rd dimension. When you are 300 feet out, elevations, angle of attack and speed all get a bit skewed until some time passes (critical time) and you get visual confirmation of this data. By then it could be too late for a course correction. Not sure if radar could (or should) be packed into these little gems but it's been discussed (in length) in this forum. Glad it all worked out and you took the proper evasive action. . . that would scare the crap out of me! I got nervous just reading it.

 

[Bigbird48]

If I was flying 300 ft out and VLOS looking at my drone and a glider with no noise came from behind me and suddenly powered up it would scare me and piss me off. Sure he's got the right of way but theres nothing I can do till I know he's there and 300 feet is very little time to react almost impossible to move out of the way . Does anyone look behind them when flying I doubt that you do too often becdause then you have to take your eyes off your drone or off the screen. I see people sit in cars and fly sit in the house and fly sit on the porch and fly and all these place you can't even see behind you . Keeping tabs on whats going on in the sky behind you is not a natural thing and if all you na sayers say it is I'll call BS. I don't do it and I don't know anyone that flys and I know a lot that keeps watch behind them.

 

[FASTFJR]

Just to clarify a little bit. I was facing east towards the ocean, drone was 50-60ft off the water about 300ft out. I could clearly see it. The glider came from the west, behind me. I did not hear or see him until he powered up. I then immediately dropped as low as I could, returned and landed. I was pissed / annoyed I was doing just about everything I could to fly safe. I'll also add their were a bunch on people flying kites at 200-300ft that were a lot closer to this guy than my drone was. This guy could have easily wrapped himself up in some kite string. Probably would have broken the string before anything happened but you get my point. He then proceeded to make a bunch of very low passes up and down the beach. Frankly if I was flying it I would have been pretty worried. Their are gulls and pelicans the size of small dogs that could have easily taken this guy out

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Just to clarify a little bit. I was facing east towards the ocean, drone was 50-60ft off the water about 300ft out. I could clearly see it. The glider came from the west, behind me. I did not hear or see him until he powered up. I then immediately dropped as low as I could, returned and landed. I was pissed / annoyed I was doing just about everything I could to fly safe. I'll also add their were a bunch on people flying kites at 200-300ft that were a lot closer to this guy than my drone was. This guy could have easily wrapped himself up in some kite string. Probably would have broken the string before anything happened but you get my point. He then proceeded to make a bunch of very low passes up and down the beach. Frankly if I was flying it I would have been pretty worried. Their are gulls and pelicans the size of small dogs that could have easily taken this guy out

You did nothing wrong here. Pilots have VLOS rules too. He can't bank, descend or ascend without clearing the airspace. He can't just drop in all willy nilly and fire up his engine at 150' AGL . . . what if that engine didn't fire? He'd glide right into the water. Unfortunately you would have been blamed in the event of a tragedy, but that's our lot in life . . . blame it on the sUAS.

 

[FASTFJR]

Thanks
I guess my post is more of a heads up for everyone that anything can happen. The Outer Banks has almost constant air traffic along the coast. From slow flying banner planes to Navy Jets of all shapes and sizes. And yes their are lots of hang gliders at Jockey's Ridge, you can going hang gliding thru Kitty Hawk Kites

 

[superstarpup]

You did nothing wrong here. Pilots have VLOS rules too. He can't bank, descend or ascend without clearing the airspace. He can't just drop in all willy nilly and fire up his engine at 150' AGL . . . what if that engine didn't fire? He'd glide right into the water. Unfortunately you would have been blamed in the event of a tragedy, but that's our lot in life . . . blame it on the sUAS.

I don’t think anyone is saying he did anything wrong. In fact the contrary, he saw the guy, in fact he did what he’s supposed to do. Descended and landed.

And yes, I suppose pilots have vlos rules too, i don’t think I know of any that fly their plane or helicopter or whatever beyond their vlos.

The weird part is where he got pissed off and was expecting some kind of warning. That’s the entire point of vlos, and in this instance it worked exactly as designed. It’s the point those trying to fly their drone 3 miles out don’t seem to understand, ac will show up with little to no warning, sometimes from behind the operator.

 

[rainystateguy]

Just to clarify a little bit. I was facing east towards the ocean, drone was 50-60ft off the water about 300ft out. I could clearly see it. The glider came from the west, behind me. I did not hear or see him until he powered up. I then immediately dropped as low as I could, returned and landed. I was pissed / annoyed I was doing just about everything I could to fly safe. I'll also add their were a bunch on people flying kites at 200-300ft that were a lot closer to this guy than my drone was. This guy could have easily wrapped himself up in some kite string. Probably would have broken the string before anything happened but you get my point. He then proceeded to make a bunch of very low passes up and down the beach. Frankly if I was flying it I would have been pretty worried. Their are gulls and pelicans the size of small dogs that could have easily taken this guy out

Maybe he powered up to gain altitude to put more room between himself and your drone. Could be that you scared him as much as he scared you. Seems to me that everything worked the way that it is supposed to. Kudos to you for keeping an eye on your drone and being aware enough to lower your aircraft to increase the safety margin.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

That’s the entire point of vlos, and in this instance it worked exactly as designed.

Good point. In the defense of the aircraft pilot, dropping down from a higher elevation (with no INS), how could we expect him to see an 18-inch drone (below him) camoflauged by water? I can see that. He probably never saw the drone. Point taken. . . really, that puts the onus 100% on us.

 

[FASTFJR]

I don’t think anyone is saying he did anything wrong. In fact the contrary, he saw the guy, in fact he did what he’s supposed to do. Descended and landed.

And yes, I suppose pilots have vlos rules too, i don’t think I know of any that fly their plane or helicopter or whatever beyond their vlos.

The weird part is where he got pissed off and was expecting some kind of warning. That’s the entire point of vlos, and in this instance it worked exactly as designed. It’s the point those trying to fly their drone 3 miles out don’t seem to understand, ac will show up with little to no warning, sometimes from behind the operator.

I was pissed / annoyed because the hang glider pilot did not seem to care where he was flying. I heard back from beach patrol and they are supposed to be at a minimum height of 300ft along the beach. He was far below this