[TowerTalk] Obstruction Lighting

[Doug Rehman]

Roger:

I'm about 1900 feet due north of the runway for Mid-Florida Airport
(Eustis); the runway is north-south and planes pass directly over my
property. It is a 3500' or so grass strip in what used to be a rural area.
There are only a couple of single engine planes based there and only about a
total of 15 or so takeoffs or landings per week there. It is, however,
listed with the FAA as a public access airport. 

The area around the airport is being built up with expensive homes in gated
communities. I suspect its days are numbered- the land is worth far more for
development than as a grass strip. There's a nice paved airport about 6
miles northwest owned by the city of Umatilla. They've done a lot of work at
it in the last couple of years and I suspect that some of the planes that
were kept in Eustis in the past are now there. The amount of traffic at the
airport is probably only 35% of what it was ten years ago.

I filed with the FAA for two towers: the one next to the house (54' Tri-Ex)
and a second tower in the pasture. I received my determinations from the FAA
on Friday and spoke with the person issuing them this morning. He said I
could go to 40' without lighting either tower. I sought approval for 90' (to
the tip of the top antenna) for the tower beside the house and 200' in the
pasture. (I asked for 90' for the tower beside the house as I didn't have
the Tri-Ex when I filed and was planning on different steel there.) The 90'
was approved (ruled not a hazard) with the condition of red lighting at
night; the 200' was denied (ruled a hazard), but included a note that it
would be approved (ruled not a hazard) with a reduction to 102' and the
addition of red lighting at night.

It is not uncommon for some of the pilots to be at about 80'-90' when they
pass over my property, even though there are mature 40'-60' oaks (and a 70'
pine) between here and the end of the runway. The towers may result in these
pilots flying a little higher. Of course, they'll still be able to fly in
from the south at treetop level over the $.5-1.2 million+ houses at that end
of the runway.

One good thing about the Tri-Ex tower is that if the lighting were to fail,
I can crank it down in the evening. (Nothing was required by the FAA for
daytime.

I'd prefer not to have to hassle with lights, but from a safety standpoint,
I have an even greater preference for a pilot not to hit a tower beside my
house at night. (Yes, the airport has radio activated lights on the runway
for night landings and there are a few takeoffs and landings each month at
night.)

To close up a couple of the other replies- 

1) Homeowners here (Lake County Florida) can do their own electrical work.
All work must be done to applicable code. (Actually, I believe Florida law
allows for any property owner to do work on their own property that THEY
occupy.)

2) Yes, I am aware of the lighting requirements of FAA AC 70/7460-1K. The
Dialight part number I gave meets the FAA's L-810 spec; in fact it is the
first such certified 12 VDC LED light.

Doug
K4DDR