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Stupid helicopter

spsphotos

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Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft. Heard a noise behind me and this helicopter came out of nowhere and he was hauling ( Mod Removed Language) Couldn't judge its exact height but I KNOW it was not 250ft up because I had the drone up at 240 about 5 mins before and from my view he was lower. Had to nose dive the drone to be sure he didn't hit it. Anyone else ever run into this type of situation?
 
Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft. Heard a noise behind me and this helicopter came out of nowhere and he was hauling ( Mod Removed Language) Couldn't judge its exact height but I KNOW it was not 250ft up because I had the drone up at 240 about 5 mins before and from my view he was lower. Had to nose dive the drone to be sure he didn't hit it. Anyone else ever run into this type of situation?

Yeah I've had a couple of similar situations, one of which I shut the motors off in-flight. My view is they have right of way (even if technically they don't) simply because they're manned. I see it as my responsibility to be hyper aware and get the heck out of their way.

On the other hand, judging height can be pretty hard without relative visual points of reference. They might seem low, but in probability were over 250ft...
 
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Yes, about a half dozen times. When I'm flying near shorelines, over the waters edge along nice beaches I've had similar encounters. The heli was probably higher than you realize, they usually are but man it seems like they're so low when they go over close by.
Good for you having the required situational awareness and yielding to manned aircraft. We grumble about it but that's exactly what we're supposed to do. Now you'll know to be aware that it happens in that location and to watch out.
Remember just because the map says it's 250' doesn't mean that it's all yours, you're still sharing the airspace and not everyone is following the rules.
Good piloting, good looking out?
 
You may be ignorant of the rules- manned AC have right of way under all circumstances. There are circumstances where helicopters can legally fly at low altitude. The biggest surprise I have had to date was a helicopter being employed to deliver palm trees.

if you go to flight radar and use the playback feature you might actually be able to see how highly that helicopter was (if it was transmitting ADS-B).
 
I've had a helicopter fly low not far from shore. I was flying along the shore as it was windy and I wanted a chance of recovery if something went wrong.

I couldn't accurately judge height or distance of the heli by VLOS, but FPV confirmed it was at 250ft altitude but probably 100ft off shore so I was OK. Because I couldn't determine its altitude, I couldn't decide to descend from 300ft and possibly end up on top of him or not.

I know helis have more flexibility but if they are cruising, they should adhere to fixed wing rules.
Later a small plane buzzed by fairly low. I had already stopped flying by then. He was offshore, but somewhat close. There were swimmers and boats in that beach area.

Can't MAS play nice, particularly when there's UAS around now? Like they say about the road, let's share the airspace.
 
Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft. Heard a noise behind me and this helicopter came out of nowhere and he was hauling ( Mod Removed Language) Couldn't judge its exact height but I KNOW it was not 250ft up because I had the drone up at 240 about 5 mins before and from my view he was lower. Had to nose dive the drone to be sure he didn't hit it. Anyone else ever run into this type of situation?

What kind of airspace "zone" and to what aircraft did the 250' min or max altitude apply? Or was the 250' zone a max altitude apply? Some "restrictions", such as the NPS 2000' minimum altitude above surface features, are really more "request" than regulation, though most often the suggestion is well founded and good to obey. (I will confess to ignoring it when flying my glider of Yosemite - I certainly wasn't bothering the earthlings below with a bunch of noise. :) )

In many sparsely populated areas or over open water, so long as 500' separation is maintained from persons, boats, vehicles and structures, manned aircraft can legally operate right down to the deck.
 
Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft. Heard a noise behind me and this helicopter came out of nowhere and he was hauling ( Mod Removed Language) Couldn't judge its exact height but I KNOW it was not 250ft up because I had the drone up at 240 about 5 mins before and from my view he was lower. Had to nose dive the drone to be sure he didn't hit it. Anyone else ever run into this type of situation?

It seems like you misunderstand controlled airspace altitudes. Just because you are authorized to fly up to 250 feet doesn't mean you have exclusive rights to that airspace or that manned aircraft (especially helicopters) can't fly below that 250 foot altitude.
 
I gotta learn this nose dive move .
Maybe Sport Mode left stick down and right stick forward ?‍♂️
 
Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft. Heard a noise behind me and this helicopter came out of nowhere and he was hauling ( Mod Removed Language) Couldn't judge its exact height but I KNOW it was not 250ft up because I had the drone up at 240 about 5 mins before and from my view he was lower. Had to nose dive the drone to be sure he didn't hit it. Anyone else ever run into this type of situation?
I regularly see choppers flying low near my house.
It's the army flying low close to drone max permitted height (90 mtr)
Thankfully I hear it coming from a long way off,and it's more or less the same flight path,but days and times vary.
Planes also come over shortly after taking off,but they are already at a safe height.
 
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We have a small helicopter that regularly flies just over the treetops here. It carries and broadcasts chemicals for mosquito mitigation. Quite necessary in my part of the world.

In urban areas as I am, there are often hospital and police helos flying around. I have a rangefinder and I can assure you that they are typically higher than you think - usually well above the max height for drones here.
 
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It seems like you misunderstand controlled airspace altitudes. Just because you are authorized to fly up to 250 feet doesn't mean you have exclusive rights to that airspace or that manned aircraft (especially helicopters) can't fly below that 250 foot altitude.

I will leave this here:


So, yes helicopters can fly at any altitude per their discretion..

Personally? I would complain to the local field office if the helicopter was not landing or taking off.
 
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I find helicopters to be a much bigger issue than fixed-wing aircraft. I was flying my drone at home at about 100 feet and, all of a sudden, a copter comes roaring by at a low altitude and it was close. That taught me a lesson. Copters don't like altitude, they prefer to fly low (crash would be less catastrophic). So I now fly in sport mode at any significant altitude so I can get down quickly.
 
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Choppers fly low above the Ohio River near downtown Cincinnati all the time. Some are sightseeing charters, some are news choppers and others are Aircare/medevac, bound for the hospitals about 2 miles north of the river. They always scare the bejeepers out of me, and I mean like bejeepers running everywhere.

I find it very difficult to tell how high the choppers are relative to the drone. So now I do not fly more than about 50 feet above the tallest bridge.
 
Coast Guard helicopters fly over my house daily. I happen to be on their flight path heading out into the Gulf of Mexico. They fly very low and they are also very loud. I usually have about 15 seconds to make a decision, full left down. Also have occasional news and medflight helos nearby, as well. Two nearby hospitals and an unused helipad next door, (though available in emergencies).

Being a pilot myself, I give all maned craft a wide berth. And benefit of the doubt on height.

Helicopters aren’t stupid. LOL
 
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Copters don't like altitude, they prefer to fly low (crash would be less catastrophic).

As someone who flew helicopters professionally for over 30 years, they definitely do like altitude - they’re no different to fixed wing in that respect. Crashes from low level at high speed tend to be more catastrophic, rather than less. Having plenty of height to fully establish autorotation (the equivalent of a fixed wing glide) gives you lots more options in an emergency. The thing is that many of the helicopter’s roles tend to be in the lower airspace - search and rescue, police, air ambulance, power and pipeline inspections, military low level, site surveys and crop spraying to name just a few.
 
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Was flying in a zone marked 250ft doing a 180 shot at about 150ft

I have one question for you... you stated "flying in a zone marked 250ft".... did you have FAA Authorization to be flying up to 250' in that sector?
 
I must always be on alert for low flying Medical Evac helicopters. Worst kind of fellars?
They might not be the
. Worst kind of fellars
if they had you or one of your loved ones though.
 
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