Law breaker?

[nhk750]

Here I go again on another trip with my float plane. This time to Sun Lakes State park in Washington. I plan on flying on the lake which is not entirely a State park. I will be standing on State park land but will take off from a body of water that is not State park (Sun Lake). I'm thinking this is ok, but I could drive down the road further to make sure too. Comments? From my research it seems they dont want you flying in a State park, but I will be on floats.

 

[PsyBorg]

The biggest thing I learned about state parks in my life time was to NOT poke the bears. They don't play well with others and have no qualms of slapping handcuffs on you then dragging you outta the park tied to the bumper of the 4 wheel drive K5 blazer with the 400 big block that has been blown and injected.

These days it is even worse as they are not so much park enforcement as a money MAKING entity out to fine as many people as humanly possible. Their fine structure is no joke. Sort of like an organic version of TSA with their new found powers boosting their egos up like they are not general humans like the rest of us.

Best not to leave location issues up to "Perception" of the bear.

 

[nhk750]

Ya, after getting home from work and looking at the map closer, all I have to do is drive a short ways from the campground and I will be out of State park boundaries. I will probably do that just to be on the safe side. The lake is called Park Lake (in the Sun Lakes area), but only a part of it is State Park territory. Maybe I can buzz the bears and it will scare them away?

 

[PsyBorg]

That or you will be the feature pilot on the next episode of Guns Vs Drones...

 

[Craftydan]

Dunno about bears, but . . .

The observant among us, might notice the big brown signs right at the beginning of the vid that might mark a park boundary, the Gator typical of park rangers parked just the other side of the sign and the direction of the plane over strangely untouched beach-like ground.

One might make assumptions about a park ranger who has seemingly Mod like powers here skirting the rules by not launching and landing within park boundaries . . .

. . . but of coarse, those would just be assumptions . . .

. . . and skirting the rules isn't breaking them . . . or so he says . . .

 

[FlyingMonkey]

The rule is no launching or landing within the boundary!

There's nothing about using the airspace above the property!!!

 

[PsyBorg]

Well all I know is the sheriff that came over the hill on horseback that caused me to do 300+ dollars in damage to a nitro heli I was learning to fly back in the 90's was serious about makin me carry all my stuff back to his car in handcuffs if I did not land it right then and there when it was ~ 50 yards across a field shaped like a bowl way in the back of the park away from everyone. Would not even let me fly it back to where all my gear was next to me.

He did not even apologize or say anything after that bull frog committed suicide into my tail rotor sending the heli into a death spin that caused a boom strike that shattered both main blades, cut the aluminum boom in half, shredded the belt drive, cracked the bearing housing for the tail rotor assembly, launched the tail rotor shaft and blades somewhere never to be found again and clogged the motors exhaust port with mud.

 

[JimCR120]

Rules and attitudes, I would recommend keeping both of these in mind. My experience has been that when you show a respectful and compliant attitude, law enforcement is more apt to allow wiggle room, not so much when their authority is being challenged.

If driving a bit extra is easy, I would do that and later attempt to greet a park ranger and let hom know what you did. Hopefully the interaction will spark some curiosity and might open opportunities for positive impressions, a demo, for example.

 

[Balu]

Why don't people just ask the people responsible? The worst that can happen is that whoever is in charge stops you from doing so when you weren't going to do it anyway without asking?

Your best option is to ask nicely, explain what you are going to do, make sure they get the feeling you know what you are doing and if they have questions, answer them. You can also suggest that they can stay around and watch your actions a bit or try flying whatever you are flying themselves (in case of an easy multicopter that is ).

If you are lucky they might just say yes.

 

[nhk750]

Why don't people just ask the people responsible? The worst that can happen is that whoever is in charge stops you from doing so when you weren't going to do it anyway without asking?

Your best option is to ask nicely, explain what you are going to do, make sure they get the feeling you know what you are doing and if they have questions, answer them. You can also suggest that they can stay around and watch your actions a bit or try flying whatever you are flying themselves (in case of an easy multicopter that is ).

If you are lucky they might just say yes.

Unfortunately, our bureaucrats dont function that way. They have blinders on and only see the rules and are ready to write a ticket as soon as they get a chance. I have studied the park boundries and will stay well away from the area. As a pilot we are responsible to know ahead of time before you fly. But, sometimes the rules are hard to find, they dont make it easy and there is not a book or list to be found anywhere. In the GA world we have the AIM which has all the rules to be found. In the rc world we have forums and the internet (like this website) to ask questions and find the answers before we fly and thats what I'm doing here. My luck I would ask the cop the question and he would whip out his ticket book saying where is your uav you cant have those here!

 

[PsyBorg]

Worse then the blinders is when the one cool guy says yes and then the NOT cool guys come around and you are now in deep dookie. That would be why I don't bother asking any more. I just make every effort to not be in a situation that would be questionable.

 

[nhk750]

I couldn't get out of the park as the road was closed permanently on that side of the lake, so I just flew in the park on the far side of the beach. After taxing the Tundra out of the park boundries I lifted off for a spectacular fligth in smooth calm air and got some great video. The flight occurred early in the morning so we didn't disturbed any swimmers and no park rangers came around for inspections. I will post a video later, tired now...

 

[nhk750]

Pic

Here is a screen shot from the video, now you can see why I wanted to float fly there, SPECTACULAR!!!

 

[FlyMike]

Aparently im late to the conversation, but anywho..

I would check the states .gov site. Here in CT any rc planes, drones or uav flying is not allowed in any form at state parks. The whole landing takeoff thing may be a loop hole if your not in the park yourself, but I doubt any ranger here would care or know the difference...

ct.gov{The use of remote controlled model aircraft or “drones” is prohibited at Connecticut State Parks, State Forests or other lands under the control of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, unless specifically authorized by the Commissioner in a Special Use License.}

But for your trip heres the Washington info.
http://parks.state.wa.us/1080/Remote-Controlled-Aircraft
It looks like they allow it as long as you have bought a permit for the day. $25 to apply, and may have other fee's. apparently there is also a separate permit if you want to film, or take aerial photos...

I would love to see an episode of FliteTest for new pilots that discusses finding places to fly. Whats legal or not, advice on finding or even starting a club, stuff like that. I'm new to this, and theirs not many clubs in my state, and only one within acceptable driving distance, though when I went out to the air field it was down a dirt road, and at one point crossed a 20 foot wide stream with an incredibly unstable looking plywood bridge. Considering I am not sure if the club is active since their website looks ancient, I decided to reverse back out to the dirt road and headed home. Personally I have been flying (learning to fly) at city parks at odd hours when there is no one around, as far as I can tell that shouldn't be illegal here... not really sure..

 

[nhk750]

OMG, I looked everywhere to try and find this info. Thanks! I just read through the application process and it is maximum bureaucracy. Basically it looks pretty difficult to legally fly in a State park, but possible if you have lots of patients and have everything planned out including a flight plan. Its also subject to further review and studies that you may have to pay for by the hour! Long story short, dont fly in the State park.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Hi, I'm Fred... I'm both an RC Pilot and a Park Ranger.

(I do have to ask guests not to fly RC within the park, but I do not write tickets.)

 

[FlyMike]

OMG, I looked everywhere to try and find this info. Thanks! I just read through the application process and it is maximum bureaucracy. Basically it looks pretty difficult to legally fly in a State park, but possible if you have lots of patients and have everything planned out including a flight plan. Its also subject to further review and studies that you may have to pay for by the hour! Long story short, dont fly in the State park.

Glad it was still useful, and yeah that's my take on it in general. Not worth dealing with the Vogons. Shame since some of my favorite parks up here are state.

Hi, I'm Fred... I'm both an RC Pilot and a Park Ranger.

(I do have to ask guests not to fly RC within the park, but I do not write tickets.)

I would imagine most rangers probably give a verbal warning before handing out a ticket unless the situation warrants one right off.

But what you need to do as a rc pilot and a ranger, is push to get a park drone, only for security purposes obviously.