Question ??

[Thomas Buyea]

Do people flying small aircraft like a veterinarians for farm animals
that covers large areas in their work, Land on roads out in the country
?
Is it legal and do they normally do it legal or not.
When they can see there are no cars for miles.

[BT]

State your country or location... in most parts of the USofA, it is not
legal to use a public highway for a runway. The local "State" Dept of
Transportation" may deem it an emergency landing and could impound the
aircraft for the safety investigation, bringing in their state dept of
aviation and could restrict your departure from the roadway.

Some local constabularies, after allowing an aircraft to take on fuel after
a landing forced by lack of fuel or a "precautionary landing for a rough
engine", have blocked the roadway to allow a departure, only to have the
hapless pilot strike a roadside obstruction with the wing and have a worse
crash than the first "safe" landing.

JMHO
BT

"Thomas Buyea" > wrote in message
...
>
> Do people flying small aircraft like a veterinarians for farm animals
> that covers large areas in their work, Land on roads out in the country
> ?
> Is it legal and do they normally do it legal or not.
> When they can see there are no cars for miles.
>

[C J Campbell[_1_]]

On 2007-06-19 21:11:49 -0700, (Thomas Buyea) said:

>
> Do people flying small aircraft like a veterinarians for farm animals
> that covers large areas in their work, Land on roads out in the country
> ?
> Is it legal and do they normally do it legal or not.
> When they can see there are no cars for miles.

It depends on local laws. Aircraft are generally not legal to use as
automobiles: no tail lights, horn, etc., plus they are too wide to fit
in a single lane. I know one aircraft owner who had been landing near
his home way out in the desert for years. Nobody ever complained (heck,
hardly anyone even knew about it) until a local sheriff finally gave
him a ticket for no tail lights. Other issues, of course, would be
speed limits on the local roads, etc. But basically, the FAA does not
care where you land your plane as long as you do it safely and within
the limitations of both you and the aircraft.

There are places around the country where sections of roads have been
designated as runways. Some roads have actually been built over the top
of old runways and planes continue to use them. Also, whether it is
legal or not, in some local areas the authorities are likely to ignore
it. After all, if you prevent a veterinarian from landing his plane on
a road in order to treat some rancher's prize bull, both the rancher
and the vet are less likely to be available if you ever need their
help. What goes around comes around.

Of course, you can do anything you like on a private road on your own ranch.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

[Matt Barrow[_4_]]

"C J Campbell" > wrote in message
news:2007062007413316807-christophercampbell@hotmailcom...
> On 2007-06-19 21:11:49 -0700, (Thomas Buyea) said:
>
>>
>> Do people flying small aircraft like a veterinarians for farm animals
>> that covers large areas in their work, Land on roads out in the country
>> ?
>> Is it legal and do they normally do it legal or not.
>> When they can see there are no cars for miles.
>
> It depends on local laws. Aircraft are generally not legal to use as
> automobiles: no tail lights, horn, etc., plus they are too wide to fit in
> a single lane. I know one aircraft owner who had been landing near his
> home way out in the desert for years. Nobody ever complained (heck, hardly
> anyone even knew about it) until a local sheriff finally gave him a ticket
> for no tail lights.

One of my project supervisors grew up on a ranch in the Texas panhandle
(Paducah, TX), so I asked him about it.

He stated that most ranches and farms were bordered by public roads, but
they were often so far away (the ranch he grew up on was 66,000 acres) thay
would just land in the fields if need be.

Nowadays, they use helicopters as much as they do horses.
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

[JGalban via AviationKB.com]

Thomas Buyea wrote:
>Do people flying small aircraft like a veterinarians for farm animals
>that covers large areas in their work, Land on roads out in the country
>?
> Is it legal and do they normally do it legal or not.
> When they can see there are no cars for miles.

As stated above, the FAA doesn't care. State and local laws will apply.
I know that Alaska allows aircraft to land on public roads, and I've done it
a few times there.

I know a veterinarian that used to fly out to remote ranches in NM and TX.
Most ranches had a strip carved out somewhere on the property. If there was
none, he would use one of the private roads on the ranch property.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
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