I assume you turned the comments off in the last video as you knew you would get a shit load of people commenting about flying low around an airfield, and flying head on into a plane that had just landed.

@fly1956

Ай бұрын

Hi. I never turn comments off on any of my videos as long as they are respectful and I assumed that some people with a sharp eye would have noticed the other aircraft taxiing in to the airport, still on the runway. I make no excuses but I can do some explaining. First off the airport is a very small, uncontrolled airport. Which means that see and avoid is the SOP. I saw him and avoided in the most expedient method I know. Second, it was like 0630 in the morning on a Tuesday and I assumed I was the only one in the pattern (bad assumption). Third, after takeoff my hands were starting to freeze up being out in the 28 degree air at 35 knots airspeed. Rather than go up to pattern altitude and fly the entire pattern I decided to do a U turn, land and switch to my warmer gloves. (Probably not my smartest move ever.) Upon final approach I spotted the other aircraft and saw he was slow taxiing to park on the transient parking. For maximum safety I cleared his flight path immediately, in case he decided on a touch and go at the last minute. My radio was not working so I had no way to convey my intentions so I did the logical thing and dove out of his way, just in case. As for flying low near an airport, if you watched the entire video you saw that I never once entered the traffic pattern (not even close) and all low flight maneuvers were over an empty farmers field, well outside the traffic pattern which is on the opposite side of the runway. The only time I was low over the airport was for about 3 seconds while I was safely avoiding another aircraft. This airport hosts many, many Part 103 ultralights (Powered paragliders and trikes) and they even have the Moonshiners PPG Fly In each year when Part 103 PPGs come from all over the world to fly low and slow at this airport. The local pilots are quite accustomed to flying with paragliders doing 30 knots at 10 feet off the ground (outside the pattern). I have a family waiting for me at home and a 5 year old just starting Kindergarten this fall. I can assure you that, yes I am human and have made a few bad decisions, but my NUMBER 1 goal while flying is the safety of not only me, but all other pilots in the air with me. Honestly, I considered not posting the video, knowing that someone with a sharp eye would see what you saw. Then I thought it might be worth something as a "what if scenario" video. I thank you for watching my videos and hope this cleared up any worries you might have had. Have a nice day.

@fly1956

Ай бұрын

My bad! The video you speak of was one of my first attempts to switch from "Not made for kids" to "Made for kids" video on KZread and after some research I find that the KZread Algorithm automatically switches off comments when you say it is OK for kids to watch it. Not sure why they do that but they do. I will see what I can do to turn them back on. Thanks for noticing, I learned something today...

@Nicky_Nacky_Nooo

Ай бұрын

@@fly1956 Yes, the other aircraft was taxiing into the airport as it had just landed. You took off on RWY 25 and the other aircraft landed on RWY 25, so I suspect this was the heading in use at that time, on that day. The size of the airport makes no difference, all grass strips, airfields, airports etc should be treated the same, and should definitely not have aircraft flying around the immediate area at stupidly low altitude, skimming the ground, hedge hopping, flying too close to roads, and flying down the runway in the opposite direction that is currently in use. Just because it's early hours, you should not assume you're the only person in the pattern. And let's face it, you should have spotted that plane landing way before you did. Another thing to think about is, if that plane had to go around for some reason, it would have been approaching you at least 4x the speed it was taxiing and by the time you would have seen it, it would have been too late for any avoiding action. I have no issue with any aircraft flying low, as long as it's at a safe distance away from the public, which in this case was not, as you kept flying too close to the main road which had lots of vehicles using it. The safety is not just in case you have an engine failure and need to find a safe place to land. You are being a distraction to people on the ground. Flying as low as you were, would cause people to look up and distract them from driving, putting their lives and other lives in danger. I used to run a paramotor school, so I am fully aware how fun it can be flying low and slow. However, there is a time and a place for it. My motto was if you want to fly low and slow........."Take off and f**k off". Go and fly low and slow away from your launch site, or you risk having complaints which will end up ruining it for everyone else who uses the site. Hopefully you can take some of this negativity and turn it into something positive.