[TowerTalk] New FAA regulations affecting towers

[Al Kozakiewicz]

Which is pretty much what I thought and surmised in my previous reply.

See FAA rules Part 91 > Sec. 91.119 - Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Specifically:
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

This is what I recalled and it makes a precise definition of "adjacent" irrelevant since aircraft aren't allowed to operate under 500' altitude near people and structures anyway.

Which is why the law specifically states that it applies to towers in undeveloped or agricultural area.  Places where aircraft can legally operate at altitudes where short towers can present a hazard.

Agree with the overkill aspects of physical marking.

Al
AB2ZY

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bill Putney
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:17 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] New FAA regulations affecting towers

The problem that prompts this rule making is the towers that pop up in the middle of nowhere without warning. The ones that have killed people have been erected by cellular or wind surveyors so far. They put them up for a few days and they are gone. But a new ham or utility tower could be just as deadly. What has killed a few spray pilots is that they scout an area the are going to spray a few days in advance to make sure it's clear of obstructions. Then they get up at dawn to go spray an area in the dim light when the winds are calm. Then they find that there is a tower at the end of their spray run and don't see it in time to avoid it where there wasn't one a few days before.

It is a real problem but as usual the government has used a back hoe where a garden spade would have done. Simply registering the location of a tower accurately in a data base 30 days in advance of construction is all that is needed.

A free cellphone app that just lets you stand in the spot the tower is going to be built (or already exists in the case of preexisting towers) entering the tower height, type (guyed, freestanding or monopole), your contact email and a press the register button. You get a registration number back and the tower gets mapped on a Google Earth overlay for spray pilots to use in their planning. Problem over.

All the painting and lighting is just a waist of money. Just after dawn the tower lights are going to go off and the natural lighting will be bad enough or there will be just enough ground fog that a spray pilot won't see it unless they know it's there regardless of how it's painted. 
As far as I know all the deaths have been at dawn or dusk when the winds are calm.

Bill Putney - WB6RFW
Chief Engineer
KPTZ - Port Townsend, WA

PP-SEL/A&P-IA

"...you know me to be a very smart man. Don't you think if I were wrong, I'd know it?" -Sheldon Cooper


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