07-09-2017, 09:52 AM
Some idle Sunday morning musings...
With all the noise being made about drones, I don't recall any such noises when the so-called "park flyers" came about. For those not familiar, it's a term used to describe a radio controlled model aircraft, generally made of foam, and powered by an electric motor. The selling point for these models was they could be flown in your local park.
If memory serves, CAsA's definition of a model aircraft is one that weighs 110 grams or more. There are some regulations that cover different weights - I think anything above 25kg? has to be properly registered. Now that's a *big* model. Just to give you an idea of size, I have, in my shed, a scratch-built Ugly Stik. This particular model has a 54" wingspan (1371.6mm) and weighs a touch over 2kg fully fueled. I also have a number of park flyers stored in my shed and around the house. These days, I don't fly them, because I can never seem to find the time. In fact, there are 5 models that have never flown....
Anyhow, the point being, when these parkies hit the market, I recall seeing a number of videos of them being flown from the street, with nary a thought given to any sort of regulation. When I lived in Perth in 2008, there was one infamous case of an F4U Corsair model getting caught up in the wake turbulence of a Virgin flight on final approach to Perth Airport. The video, taken from the cockpit of the model, shows it getting fairly close to the 737 before crashing. The pilot (of the model) had put his name on the side of his model, too.....I sometimes wonder what (if anything) happened to him..
I'll post a little more on this subject when I think of it...
With all the noise being made about drones, I don't recall any such noises when the so-called "park flyers" came about. For those not familiar, it's a term used to describe a radio controlled model aircraft, generally made of foam, and powered by an electric motor. The selling point for these models was they could be flown in your local park.
If memory serves, CAsA's definition of a model aircraft is one that weighs 110 grams or more. There are some regulations that cover different weights - I think anything above 25kg? has to be properly registered. Now that's a *big* model. Just to give you an idea of size, I have, in my shed, a scratch-built Ugly Stik. This particular model has a 54" wingspan (1371.6mm) and weighs a touch over 2kg fully fueled. I also have a number of park flyers stored in my shed and around the house. These days, I don't fly them, because I can never seem to find the time. In fact, there are 5 models that have never flown....
Anyhow, the point being, when these parkies hit the market, I recall seeing a number of videos of them being flown from the street, with nary a thought given to any sort of regulation. When I lived in Perth in 2008, there was one infamous case of an F4U Corsair model getting caught up in the wake turbulence of a Virgin flight on final approach to Perth Airport. The video, taken from the cockpit of the model, shows it getting fairly close to the 737 before crashing. The pilot (of the model) had put his name on the side of his model, too.....I sometimes wonder what (if anything) happened to him..
I'll post a little more on this subject when I think of it...