Absolute lowest altitude you can fly (legally)

On Tue, 2 Jan 2007, Mxsmanic wrote:

BT writes:
if you would take a ground school course..
they would teach you the FARs

If you don't know the answer, you can save your time and not mine by
skipping the reply.

I think his point (or at least a corollarry to it) was, if you'd educate
yourself just a bit, you could save not only yourself, but a lot of
others, quite a bit of time and trouble. If your goal is just to learn
more about airplanes and flying, but not actually get a licence, then no
need to take ground school, just buy and read the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Priva.../dp/1560274492 ..or check
half.com for a cheaper outdated edition.

There. Now we'll see if your real interest is to learn, or just to harass
the aviation newsgroups.

-Dan
(Yes, I know the answer to your question, and so does BT.)

Above open water, you can fly as low as you want, as long as you don't
buzz a boat or swimmer, etc.

Bud

On Jan 2, 9:07 am, Mxsmanic wrote:
What regulations determine the absolute lowest altitude you can fly
above the ground in the U.S.? I understand that the area just above
the ground is usually Class G outside airports, and it only goes up to
700 or 1200 feet most of the time ... which implies that you can
actually fly at 500 feet AGL if you want. But is there some other
regulation that prohibits aircraft from flying this low, in general or
in certain conditions/areas?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

wrote:
Above open water, you can fly as low as you want, as long as you don't
buzz a boat or swimmer, etc.

That was always very frustrating for me when I was flying sea planes.
Even though technically for landing you can get closer our OPs Specs
required us to stay above 500feet w/i 1/2 mile of any person, structure
of vessel. That made it hard sometimes to land. We'd fly final weaving
around to avoid getting close to water skiiers. Sometimes they'd come
right up to us as we're taking off. Very frustrating. On a giant lake
these little skiiers would seek you out. Sometimes, flying between the
canyon walls setting up for landing, you'd come upon a boat sitting
there fishing. Nothing you can do about that.

-Robert

On 2 Jan 2007 10:36:53 -0800, "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:


wrote:
Above open water, you can fly as low as you want, as long as you don't
buzz a boat or swimmer, etc.

Same thing over land as long as you maintain the FAR clearances.


That was always very frustrating for me when I was flying sea planes.
Even though technically for landing you can get closer our OPs Specs
required us to stay above 500feet w/i 1/2 mile of any person, structure

Around here that'd be impossible. On top of that it's not just water
skiiers, but boats and jet skies(personal watercraft) try to see just
how close they can get.

of vessel. That made it hard sometimes to land. We'd fly final weaving
around to avoid getting close to water skiiers. Sometimes they'd come
right up to us as we're taking off. Very frustrating. On a giant lake
these little skiiers would seek you out. Sometimes, flying between the
canyon walls setting up for landing, you'd come upon a boat sitting
there fishing. Nothing you can do about that.

Yup! I loved that opening scene from "Always". :-))

-Robert
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Deja vu all over again.

The entire 14 CFR (better known as "the FARs) are online and
contain the answer to this question.

Basic rule of education
you remember 10% of what you hear
you remember 80% of what you discover yourself

Go forth and discover by reading the FARs.

ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14tab_02.tpl

searchable, too!

writes:

Above open water, you can fly as low as you want, as long as you don't
buzz a boat or swimmer, etc.

And over land?

Which FAR prohibits buzzing boats or swimmers?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

The minimum safe altitude is not dictated by the airspace, but by
whether you are VFR or IFR, and whether or not you are flying over
congested areas. For details see:

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov and go to 14CFR Part 91 section 119.



Mxsmanic wrote:
What regulations determine the absolute lowest altitude you can fly
above the ground in the U.S.? I understand that the area just above
the ground is usually Class G outside airports, and it only goes up to
700 or 1200 feet most of the time ... which implies that you can
actually fly at 500 feet AGL if you want. But is there some other
regulation that prohibits aircraft from flying this low, in general or
in certain conditions/areas?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

In article ,
says...
What regulations determine the absolute lowest altitude you can fly
above the ground in the U.S.? I understand that the area just above
the ground is usually Class G outside airports, and it only goes up to
700 or 1200 feet most of the time ... which implies that you can
actually fly at 500 feet AGL if you want. But is there some other
regulation that prohibits aircraft from flying this low, in general or
in certain conditions/areas?

Well... in New Zealand it's 500' - unless you're in an approved low
level (training) area, in which case it's as low a your intructor dares.

Over populated areas it's 1,000'

All AGL.

--
Duncan

On Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:08:40 +1300, Duncan (NZ) wrote:

In article ,
says...
What regulations determine the absolute lowest altitude you can fly
above the ground in the U.S.? I understand that the area just above
the ground is usually Class G outside airports, and it only goes up to
700 or 1200 feet most of the time ... which implies that you can
actually fly at 500 feet AGL if you want. But is there some other
regulation that prohibits aircraft from flying this low, in general or
in certain conditions/areas?

Well... in New Zealand it's 500' - unless you're in an approved low
level (training) area, in which case it's as low a your intructor dares.

Over populated areas it's 1,000'

All AGL.

So the instructor who took me down to 100ft over 70? mile beach,
whilst on vacation was just having fun?!!!!!

In article ,
says...
On Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:08:40 +1300, Duncan (NZ) wrote:

In article ,
says...
What regulations determine the absolute lowest altitude you can fly
above the ground in the U.S.? I understand that the area just above
the ground is usually Class G outside airports, and it only goes up to
700 or 1200 feet most of the time ... which implies that you can
actually fly at 500 feet AGL if you want. But is there some other
regulation that prohibits aircraft from flying this low, in general or
in certain conditions/areas?

Well... in New Zealand it's 500' - unless you're in an approved low
level (training) area, in which case it's as low a your intructor dares.

Over populated areas it's 1,000'

All AGL.

So the instructor who took me down to 100ft over 70? mile beach,
whilst on vacation was just having fun?!!!!!

- did you see your instructor switch the transponder to standby?

--
Duncan