Mini2 Almost collides with low flying airplane

[Droffarc]

Taking the opportunity in almost windless conditions after work this afternoon I went out along Clarence drive for some sea and coastal footage.
The mini2 was a mere 25 seconds in the air and 47 Meters out when I heard a strange sound like a truck approaching.
To my eyes surprise it was a low flying aircraft that sped by - If the drone had been further out and higher I would have been a drone short.

 

[Howard70]

Taking the opportunity in almost windless conditions after work this afternoon I went out along Clarence drive for some sea and coastal footage.
The mini2 was a mere 25 seconds in the air and 47 Meters out when I heard a strange sound like a truck approaching.
To my eyes surprise it was a low flying aircraft that sped by - If the drone had been further out and higher I would have been a drone short.

Close call! Were you recording your phone screen at the time? If not, you've got quicker fingers and reflexes than me!

Glad you missed them.

Howard

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Probably frame stills from video shown.

Close for sure (as far as manned aircraft distances go).
In SA, do you have min flight alt for light aircraft ?
In a lot of countries it's 500', and with 400' for drones, that give a reasonable buffer if the drone pilot is alert.

This pilot might have been at 500' from the sea level, hard to tell from the stills, but looks like it.
Goes to show how important it is to stay within 400' from the spot under the drone.
Of course your experience was pretty bad luck, timing, location, etc, but shows it can happen.

I see shark spotting planes out a bit from the cliff lines I like to fly sometimes, but they are out a lot further, and quite a bit higher, I'd never go near them but am always alert for them and possibly ultra lights, helis etc.

 

[Droffarc]

Close call! Were you recording your phone screen at the time? If not, you've got quicker fingers and reflexes than me!

Glad you missed them.

Howard

Yes I was recording - will post the clip later. Only quick reflex I have is the Sphincter

 

[Droffarc]

Probably frame stills from video shown.

Close for sure (as far as manned aircraft distances go).
In SA, do you have min flight alt for light aircraft ?
In a lot of countries it's 500', and with 400' for drones, that give a reasonable buffer if the drone pilot is alert.

This pilot might have been at 500' from the sea level, hard to tell from the stills, but looks like it.
Goes to show how important it is to stay within 400' from the spot under the drone.
Of course your experience was pretty bad luck, timing, location, etc, but shows it can happen.

I see shark spotting planes out a bit from the cliff lines I like to fly sometimes, but they are out a lot further, and quite a bit higher, I'd never go near them but am always alert for them and possibly ultra lights, helis etc.

Yes we have the same here. I guess the plane was about 500 above sea level and I was about 200 above sea level on a cliff road. This was the closest I have been to an aircraft. Once or twice I will hear a chopper before I see it then drop down to about 10 meters for safety.

 

[Droffarc]

This is where it happened

 

[Kola]

That is a lovely area to fly and photograph!

This is where it happened

View attachment 126889

 

[JoostGT3]

Wow, must have been nerve wrecking experience!
You may want to take those pictures offline though, 'cause chances are some bozo will find them and take them out of context to use them to tell the greater public how dangerous drones are... ?

 

[Meta4]

You may want to take those pictures offline though

Look at the pictures again.
Note how close the sea and rocks are.

 

[Meta4]

In SA, do you have min flight alt for light aircraft ?
In a lot of countries it's 500', and with 400' for drones, that give a reasonable buffer if the drone pilot is alert.

This pilot might have been at 500' from the sea level, hard to tell from the stills, but looks like it.
Goes to show how important it is to stay within 400' from the spot under the drone.

There's a common misconception in drone forums that airplanes must fly above 500 ft.
But there are many situations where they can legally fly lower than 500 ft and drone flyers should be aware of that.

Here's the relevant section of the South African rules http://www.caa.co.za/Legal Documents/CIVIL_AVIATION_REGULATIONS-2011.pdf
I've underlined the relevant parts

Minimum Heights
91.06.32 (1) Except when necessary for taking off, or landing, or except with prior written approval of the Director, no aircraft –
(a) shall be flown over congested areas or over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less than 1 000 feet above the highest obstacle, within a radius of 2 000 feet from the aircraft;

(b) when flown elsewhere than specified in paragraph (a), shall be flown at a height less than 500 feet above the ground or water, unless the flight can be made without hazard or nuisance to persons or property on the ground or water and the PIC operates at a height and in a manner that allows safe operation in the event of an engine failure; and

(c) shall circle over or do repeated overflights over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less than 3 000 feet above the surface.

(2) A helicopter shall be permitted to be flown at heights less than those prescribed in sub-regulation (1)(a), provided that–
(a) the operation is conducted without hazard to persons and property on the ground or water; and (b) the PIC operates at a height and in a manner that allows safe operation in the event of an engine failure.

 

[Mike Mas]

Yeah even though it appears you did nothing wrong - the fact it happened will only hurt the sport when it gets in others hands!

 

[Francoisvdm]

Taking the opportunity in almost windless conditions after work this afternoon I went out along Clarence drive for some sea and coastal footage.
The mini2 was a mere 25 seconds in the air and 47 Meters out when I heard a strange sound like a truck approaching.
To my eyes surprise it was a low flying aircraft that sped by - If the drone had been further out and higher I would have been a drone short.

In this area, we sometimes find some low flying planes for marine research etc, but to be honest, not that many and they keep more to the sea side and the middle of the bay. I've done a video there a while ago, just at Houtbay side, see

 

[Kola]

Many low flying aircraft just offshore around Cape Town.

Here in Melkbosstrand a lot of small planes and also powered para gliders are often very low.
Not that it matters here because it is a no-fly for us anyway, a number of airfields and Koeberg power station being close.

 

[Garatshay]

The aircraft looks a lot like a Harvard 2, which is commonly a military trainer - it would not be bound by minimum altitude restrictions, but the pilot would get a nasty surprise if he met a drone...!

 

[JoelP]

This illustrates why the Part 107 exam requires so much knowledge of aircraft landing patterns and how to read sectional charts. Once you understand the architecture of the airspace where you are flying your drone you can better anticipate those types of low flying aircraft.

I live just SW of a small airport and relatively close to San Jose Mineta International (SJC). The foothills to the East have high tension towers along the ridge. Small aircraft approaching the closer small Evergreen airport will fly below 400’ over this ridge just high enough to clear the high tension lines and towers, but low enough to stay under the SJC airspace and are perfectly legal to do so. If you were flying near the top of this ridge and were unaware of the airspace you could easily put your drone in the approach path.

 

[cgmaxed]

Taking the opportunity in almost windless conditions after work this afternoon I went out along Clarence drive for some sea and coastal footage.
The mini2 was a mere 25 seconds in the air and 47 Meters out when I heard a strange sound like a truck approaching.
To my eyes surprise it was a low flying aircraft that sped by - If the drone had been further out and higher I would have been a drone short.

OK FOLKS, THIS IS AND APRIL FOOLS JOKE !. The waves in each picture remain unchanged. The images are exact matches of one another. To catch the plane going one way, fool me once, to catch the plane going the other way, your not fooling me twice. They are the same pics, the waves do not change between the coming and going flights.

 

[cgmaxed]

This illustrates why the Part 107 exam requires so much knowledge of aircraft landing patterns and how to read sectional charts. Once you understand the architecture of the airspace where you are flying your drone you can better anticipate those types of low flying aircraft.

I live just SW of a small airport and relatively close to San Jose Mineta International (SJC). The foothills to the East have high tension towers along the ridge. Small aircraft approaching the closer small Evergreen airport will fly below 400’ over this ridge just high enough to clear the high tension lines and towers, but low enough to stay under the SJC airspace and are perfectly legal to do so. If you were flying near the top of this ridge and were unaware of the airspace you could easily put your drone in the approach path.

April fool joke. The waves do not change in between pics. The Images are duplicates, except maybe for the data.

 

[cgmaxed]

The aircraft looks a lot like a Harvard 2, which is commonly a military trainer - it would not be bound by minimum altitude restrictions, but the pilot would get a nasty surprise if he met a drone...!

april fools.

 

[cgmaxed]

Yes I was recording - will post the clip later. Only quick reflex I have is the Sphincter

Give it up. Your not going to post any video. You could have used two different photo's though. You blew it. The images are the exact same images, if anyone want to inspect them. Good attempt at an April fools joke though.

 

[cgmaxed]

Taking the opportunity in almost windless conditions after work this afternoon I went out along Clarence drive for some sea and coastal footage.
The mini2 was a mere 25 seconds in the air and 47 Meters out when I heard a strange sound like a truck approaching.
To my eyes surprise it was a low flying aircraft that sped by - If the drone had been further out and higher I would have been a drone short.

It's funny, you didn't even have to change the text data or pics and they all still believed you. LOL