Please. I think this thread belongs there. ThanksAs to your comments about 9/11 and MSFS, I'm pretty disappointed considering you got an apology.I don't think the people here are against your hobby. It's absurd for you to get so bent out of shape for what may be a perceived danger. A lot of us have no knowledge of RCs at 15,000 feet or even 23,000!! We're just looking at it from a real pilots perspective. Also, the concern I have about losing it and having it come down somewhere is real. If you're driving down the freeway and this thing lands on your windshield what the hell are you gonna do? What about a kid playing outside? The odds are a moot point; If it can happen it will eventually.

Edit: See below cause it was too thin-Cal

Leesw,While I don't entirely disagree with your point, I think there is a distinction between GA flight and RC flight. When flying GA, YOU as a the pilot are up there and can scan the skies above, below and at the altitude you are flying. By you being there, you are much better able to judge whether or not you are on a collision course with another aircraft and you have a much better ability to change that course all due to that judgement. Guaranteed, Giorgio said that they have people watching the RC aircraft with high-powered binoculars to change course if they need to, but in my mind, that is not enough (just have a look at those a.net photos looking up at two aircraft crossing at high altitude, they look like their at the same altitude when in fact, they are not). The fact is that they are not viewing the opposing aircraft at the same level as the aircraft, thus impairing their judgement. I know they have a video screen to watch, but that is essentially the same as flying here on our single computer screens and we all know from experience that you cannot see all 180 degrees, like when actually flying or doing any activity in real life. I'm not mad or anything, I just wanted to point this out. Giorgio, if you have a plan to see the airspace around your aircraft (i.e. multiple cameras=wider view) then by all means, please share. I just wanted to point this out. :-cool -CalEdit: Replied to initial post because it was getting to thin to read

Granted the chances of a collision are higher because of the lack of visibility, but the potential of a collision between a model and an aircraft to cause loss of life is much smaller than between two aircraft, so the risk probably balances out.Part of my job involves risk assessment for ATC systems so maybe I am splitting hairs here, but I don't see this activity as being any more hazardous to aircraft than skydiving, which I assume few people here would be concerned with. Model rocketry is a similar activity that can be done safely in certain areas and/or with appropriate NOTAMs.

Just because the odds of a collision are small is not reason to dismiss them.Suppose I go flying and spend all my time looking at things in the cockpit and never watching for traffic. Some pilots--many I'm sure--fly like that all the time. I probably get away with it. "Big sky, little airplane." But nobody would question that I am flying unsafely.Pardon me, but I am very skeptical about your claim of the high-powered binoculars. Just to keep a model airplane at 18,000 feet in sight would be an amazing feat. To judge its position and movement relative to other aircraft would be impossible. Never mind the possibility of clouds, glare, haze, etc.Anyway Giorgio, I apologized for using the term "idiot" and I apologize again. On second thought, I do not hope the FAA shuts you down, but I do hope a way can be found for you to pursue your hobby safely.

Lee, I think your analogy with skydiving is apt. Maybe there would be some way to deal with this with Notams or even designated RC flying areas that are marked on charts.If only we could get most VFR pilots to check Notams each time they fly!

"Tell me what I have to do other that start fling with a simulator!"Hopefully you'll see my reply... Went away for a few hours, and the thread just exploded in size....My suggestion--don't trust that just because the FAA says it's OK, it's OK. Get something--anything--in writing from them that makes it clear what you are doing, and what their response is. Even if the odds are one in a million of an incident, that's a huge risk for you and I think it can be reduced with good documentation from the FAA and with my next few suggestions...Contact the control towers of all civil airports in the area you are flying within twenty miles or so of your location. I would even contact them on a cell phone, just so you have proof you called in case some pilot files a complaint.Looking at your videos, you fly a pretty tight pattern and seem to stay confined to small area. I don't know what weather data you gather prior to your flights, but be sure to study winds aloft closely when you get into the flight levels. They can pick up in unpredictable ways and carry your aircraft out of range quite quickly.I would have been labled an idiot for my stunts back in the early 70's. Heck, I am labeled that often even today, but my wife is allowed to do that :) I took one of those inexpensive Gayla Delta kites with a five foot wingspan, went to a dept. store, and purchased 5000 ft. of 35 lb test fishing line. I had regularly been flying it with 20 lb test fishing line to 2000 ft....just about the fringe of being able to see it with the naked eye.On the day I decided to try out my new spool of fishing line, winds at ground level were around 15 knots. All seemed pretty good until I was about 3/4 ths done. Considering the angle of the kite...about 45 degrees, plus the sag in the line, I put the kite's altitude somewhere between 2800 and 3200 ft. AGL. All of a sudden, it was as if an SUV came up and rammed my arm...my kite caught winds aloft once it cleared the range of 2500 ft. hills that framed our valley. It was no match vs. the 35 lb test line.... I never saw the kite again, although when I went overseas many years later I joked with my brother--who had been in on my flights--that I half expected to see my 'ol kite somewhere in the Alps....What I didn't take into consideration, is I was less than ten miles from a busy, controlled GA airport with jet traffic. And, a kite if it gets caught in a dive may weigh mere ounces--but speeds can reach close to 100mph. Those Gayla kites were nearly indestructible. One dive on one of my 2000 ft. flights I couldn't recover from, my brother found the thing half buried in a vineyard about 500 yards from my house--nose down.Another tidbit of my 5000 ft. flight--the next morning, my other brother came to me and said he'd seen the funniest thing. Fishing line, he said, was draped over all the streets and telephone lines between our house and the high school a mile away. "Imagine that" I said...

Just to add a couple of little things about "It'll NEVER happen"I cant remember the link but there was a story on the forums a couple of years ago about some poor guy that was quietly swimming in a lake and a "water bomber" came in to scoop up a "load" - they found him a few days later speared in a fir tree in the middle of a fire zoneNow what would those "odds" have been???? - And I wonder how much money thatlawyers made out of the insurance issuesThe 2nd one actually happened to ME about 10 years ago - I was quietly driving home on the freeway when my windshield "expoded" covering me in glass and S_H_I_T and toilet paper - I actually mean S_H_I_TIt seems that some pilot of an airliner decided to "empty" his lavatory tanks out to sea to save the ground crew the troubleEven after the car was "repaired" - I could NEVER get the smell out of it and sold it to the wreckersThe odds against that also must have been fairly high and I guess I was just "unlucky"

Nice try Ozzie...I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on the potty bomb run story, but the other story regarding the scooped up swimmer/diver is one of the more famous urban legends... This is a rather cute article on urban legends:http://www.detnews.com/2000/technology/0003/21/E03-17067.htmAlso, no matter how you spell it, watch your language here. No reason you couldn't have worded your potty story another way, even if it would have sounded a bit less cute....

I have read both sides of the issue and can see both points. However, one thing glares out at me.The fact that certain airspace is uncontrolled at below 18000 does not relieve the RC Pilot of responsibility, should something occur.Now we can all debate, until we turn blue in the face whether or not this is reckless, or a mountain made from a mole hill.But the fact of the matter remains, If an accident does occur with the RC aircraft, the RC pilot will be liable.Should Georgio call the FAA and make arrangements? sure. Just like any GA pilot who is smart should file a flight plan.I honestly believe that if this were a big concern to the FAA, there would be tighter restrictions on RC models, and where, when and how high they can be flown.And Georgio is right to become sarcastic about Flight Sim. Until 9/11, intentionally flying an actual aircraft was unthinkable. Overnight, our hobby became an unfair example of a "terrorist weapon".I agree, Georgio should make every effort to stay out of published airways, make arrangements with local ATC and do everything possible to avoid a collision. He should do these things, not only because they are the "responsible" thing to do, but because without doing them, he will be held "responsible" for any damage or loss of life.But some of you so-called "real" pilots are reacting to this topic with the same paranoia that the public showed when they realized that thousands of us were using a "terrorist training aid" daily. Georgio, to protect your self and others, you should make every effort to avoid any possible collisions. Perhaps there is a device that could be attached to your model so that it has larger radar cross-section so it can be "seen" on radar.Everyone else. The dangers of his "hobby" are not on the FAA's top 10 of concerns and for good reason. We can never protect against every eventuality.If the FAA attempts to crack down on Mr. RC pilot, then perhaps they should require Flight Following and flight plans to be filed for every GA flight that goes up in the air. Although the vast majority of GA pilots are very safe, the numbers speak for themselves. The number of GA accidents that are attributed to pilot error, far exceed the number attributed to "collision with RC aircraft"

Let me tell you a real story and not an urban legend.In my home town Turin Italy there was an aero club back on late 70

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Pretty amazing Giorgio. Congratulations on your accomplishment.Just for the record, I think that irresponsible GA pilots (which I hope are very few) pose a bigger threat to aviation than your RC plane, but please be careful and mindful of others.