For the people who are having to deal with restrictions imposed by HOA
organizations the requirement to paint a 50ft tower bright orange and white
will certainly cause more reasons to deny them permission to install towers.
For people who already have installed towers the requirement to paint them
for the benefit of crop dusters and news reporters is outrageous, why should
their desire to fly so close to the ground take precedence? As far as
medical helicopters needing everything to be clearly visible I would suggest
they install some form of radar because they are much more likely to hit a
tree or power line in the dark than they are a solitary tower in the middle
of a field, after all, some towers are self-supporting whereas others have
extensive guy ropes.perhaps they should have coloured lights to
differentiate them so that the pilots can fly really close...
I have quite a few towers which will almost certainly have to be painted if
this legislation in invoked..I think I will buy a few dog kennels and place
a tuner unit in each one right at the base of each tower...that will be much
cheaper than having to risk my life painting five 140ft towers just because
of a myopic helicopter pilot..I guess they can see the guy ropes in the
dark.
To what extent will "painting" a tower be defined, will it require every
surface to be covered to 100%, what about antennas that stick out 20 or 30
feet on each side and does the position of the antenna have to be declared
in some way? What will be the liability when the paint flakes off, will it
have to be done every year or just when the helicopter people say its'
getting hard to see?
I do not believe you can legislate safety into every aspect of our existence
but the bureaucrats obviously do. Sign me up if someone wants to take this
to the courts..
Dave
AA0RS
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