If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"Marty" wrote in message ... In most cases the Display Operator contacts the controlling facility and works out any details during the permit application process. In the case of a display being conducted within an airports' controlled airspace, The operator contacts the control tower just prior to the beginning of the show and after the conclusion. It is up to the controlling facility whether the airport is closed, traffic rerouted, or no change of operation. That decision is based on weather, the proximity of the display site and the location of the display site in regards to runway approaches/departures in use. Many displays are conducted on the city airport property and are closed when the fireworks arrive on field. NOTAMs would be put out in this case. I have done several displays at Kemper arena in downtown Kansas City and worked with the KC Downtown tower many times and we handled traffic differently at different times but never closed the airport. Usually it was up to me to stop the display if a plane was on approach. The ultimate authority/responsibility is on the shoulders of the Display Operator. So, if your buddy gets to close to the display, the show will be halted till he leaves. It is that simple. I have had to stop a number of them for this reason. The issue of being to low over an open assembly of people is someone else's problem. IMHO, an airplane is about the worst place to watch and take pictures of fireworks, the effects are generally washed out by the contrasting city lights. Most fireworks only go a few hundred feet. OTOH, it is neat to go up and watch all the displays going on in the distance but you might be disappointed with any photos you take. Been there. The biggest concern to me would be how many other folks are flying and watching fireworks ;-) I live in De Pere, Wisconsin, a nice little city that holds an annual festival over Memorial Day weekend. Part of the celebration is a fireworks display at a large municipal park on the river that splits the city. I am an air traffic controller, the park is in a Class C surface area, and I was working the night of the fireworks display. A small airplane departed the airport on a sightseeing flight shortly before the fireworks began, he was going to watch the display from a vantage point right over the park, which is about 3.4 miles from the airport. A short time after the display began I received a phone call from the Brown County Sheriff. They had received a call from the De Pere Police Department who wanted to know if I was communicating with an airplane that was circling over the fireworks display. I told them I was, and then they told me that I was to ORDER the airplane out of the area. I replied that the De Pere Police Department had no jurisdiction over any airspace, and suggested that if they believed the fireworks display posed a hazard to air navigation they should halt the fireworks activity. I also told them I would relay the REQUEST of the De Pere Police Department to the pilot. I did so, and the pilot elected to return to the airport. Now I knew about the upcoming fireworks display because I am a De Pere resident, but nobody else in the facility did. Class C airspace extends to the surface within a five mile radius of the airport, the fireworks display was well within that area, and there was no notification given to the air traffic control facility prior to the display. I would think that some type of notification/approval would be required when this type of activity is conducted near an airport. Since the federal government regulates airspace, I'd expect it to be a federal requirement. I did a text search of the FARs, the word "firework" appears only in Part 101, and only once: Sec. 101.1 Applicability. (a) This part prescribes rules governing the operation in the United States, of the following: (1) Except as provided for in Sec. 101.7, any balloon that is moored to the surface of the earth or an object thereon and that has a diameter of more than 6 feet or a gas capacity of more than 115 cubic feet. (2) Except as provided for in Sec. 101.7, any kite that weighs more than 5 pounds and is intended to be flown at the end of a rope or cable. (3) Any unmanned rocket except: (i) Aerial firework displays; and, (ii) Model rockets: (a) Using not more than four ounces of propellant; (b) Using a slow-burning propellant; (c) Made of paper, wood, or breakable plastic, containing no substantial metal parts and weighing not more than 16 ounces, including the propellant; and (d) Operated in a manner that does not create a hazard to persons, property, or other aircraft. (4) Except as provided for in Sec. 101.7, any unmanned free balloon that-- (i) Carries a payload package that weighs more than four pounds and has a weight/size ratio of more than three ounces per square inch on any surface of the package, determined by dividing the total weight in ounces of the payload package by the area in square inches of its smallest surface; (ii) Carries a payload package that weighs more than six pounds; (iii) Carries a payload, of two or more packages, that weighs more than 12 pounds; or (iv) Uses a rope or other device for suspension of the payload that requires an impact force of more than 50 pounds to separate the suspended payload from the balloon. (b) For the purposes of this part, a "gyroglider" attached to a vehicle on the surface of the earth is considered to be a kite. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|