So after testing my little 250 quad's range (about 3.5 miles), I was looking on Google Maps to see what would be covered by a 3.5 mile radius from home. To my surprise, I found a small airstrip just outside town. I had known about it years ago, but always thought it was further away. But that got me thinking, so I looked up all the nearby airports, and started plotting a 5 mile radius around each one.
To my very unpleasant surprise, a 5 mile radius would put literally every notable feature in my area off-limits - the majority of three local state parks and nature preserves totaling over 30,000 acres and including all their highlight ridge lines and mountain lakes, a local historic site with 250+ year old stone houses, two local golf courses, miles of a nice windy river, and all the local schools and the local fairgrounds. What's left is either private farmland, forests and housing developments which are, respectively, most likely off limits (the farms), pointless (forests) and potentially dangerous due to wifi congestion, most likely off limits and largely pointless (developments).
I really want to be a responsible flier, but to do so means literally 100% of the flying I've done so far has been against the proposed rules. I really hope whatever laws are created strike a balance between the interests of all involved. The one airport that covers the majority of the local attractions is a small private air strip with maybe 5 or 6 planes. It seems unfair that so much can presumably be restricted for 5 or 6 people who, if general aviation is the same as it was when my father had a plane, fly their planes maybe a dozen times a year at best. If mandatory geo-fencing comes to pass, I might as well just quit.
So, what are people's thoughts on the practicality of 100% adherence to the rules?
To my very unpleasant surprise, a 5 mile radius would put literally every notable feature in my area off-limits - the majority of three local state parks and nature preserves totaling over 30,000 acres and including all their highlight ridge lines and mountain lakes, a local historic site with 250+ year old stone houses, two local golf courses, miles of a nice windy river, and all the local schools and the local fairgrounds. What's left is either private farmland, forests and housing developments which are, respectively, most likely off limits (the farms), pointless (forests) and potentially dangerous due to wifi congestion, most likely off limits and largely pointless (developments).
I really want to be a responsible flier, but to do so means literally 100% of the flying I've done so far has been against the proposed rules. I really hope whatever laws are created strike a balance between the interests of all involved. The one airport that covers the majority of the local attractions is a small private air strip with maybe 5 or 6 planes. It seems unfair that so much can presumably be restricted for 5 or 6 people who, if general aviation is the same as it was when my father had a plane, fly their planes maybe a dozen times a year at best. If mandatory geo-fencing comes to pass, I might as well just quit.
So, what are people's thoughts on the practicality of 100% adherence to the rules?