On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:24:04 -0800, "NW_PILOT"
wrote:


"NW_PILOT" wrote in message
...
Wonder if AOPA has somthing burried in their site. I have sent an e-mail
to
them.

AOPA was not much help when asked the same question!

Response:

The landing of an airplane on anything other than a public use airport is at
the discretion of the owner of the land. Public roads are state owned. You
would have to check with the individual state highway commissions to states
you plan on traveling to. Unfortunately we do not have a list of states
that have provisions in their law for such activity.

This is not a complete answer and it is not completely correct...

Not all public roads are state, or federal roads. There are also
county roads which fall under county and possibly township, and
municipal laws. So, at least in Michigan you may land on a road way
out in the country with no problem. You taxi past a cross road to
take off and are ticketed as you just crossed into a county or
township that has a regulation against landing on the roads. OTOH
several times they have stopped traffic on the interstates so pilots
who had to land due to an emergency could take off. In other areas
the planes had to be trucked out. In one case the pilot said he
called airport to send out a truck, the authorities left, and he took
off with no one the wiser.

So, in many parts of the country you never know if it's legal to land
on the road or not, but it will be a local regulation unless a state
has a blanket rule against it.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
If you have any further questions feel free to contact us at 1-800-872-2672.

Best Regards,

Nathan Rohrbaugh
Aviation Technical Specialist
Aviation Services Department
Fax 301-695-2375
www.aopa.org