polaris
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2013
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- 132
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polaris
I was driving on Lake Shore Drive today just north of Navy Pier and did a double take as I looked out toward the lake. What appeared to be a light sport aircraft was wobbling around over the water along the lake shore... couldn't have been higher than 100 AGL. It seemed as if the pilot was doing turns around an invisible point just north of the Navy Pier Ferris wheel. For a second, I thought he may be ditching in the water, so I pulled out my phone to call 911. But it turns out he was just chillin by the water filtration plant around 100 AGL.
This got me curious about the whole "open water" regulation. Is the Chicago lake shore "open water" or is it a "congested area"? What is "open" water? Is there "closed" water? If the FAA just meant "over water," why didn't it just write "water" and not "open water"?
If the lake shore is indeed open water, what is a structure/vessel/vehicle/person that you can't get closer than 500 feet from? Does the man-made sea wall about a quarter mile off the shore of Lake Michigan count as a "structure"?
When I fly the lake shore, I like to stay out over the water around 1400-1500 feet MSL minimum. If flying down the west side, I stick to about 1800-1900 feet MSL and try to stay over the West Loop to satisfy the 2000-feet horizontal requirement from the taller buildings in the Loop.
Speaking of the 2000-feet horizontal/1000-feet vertical requirement, this puzzles me as well. When does "horizontal" turn "vertical"? Since the FAA does not specify "diagonal" distance, do I have to convert my calculations to horizontal if I am not flying DIRECTLY over a building? For example, I can fly 1000 feet DIRECTLY above a building, but if I am not directly over it, I have to be 2000 feet horizontal from it? So if a building's height in MSL was 500 MSL and you flew DIRECTLY over it, you can be at 1500 MSL. But if you move slightly over (for sake of argument, say 1 foot away from being "directly over"), you would have to be 2500 MSL to satisfy the horizontal distance requirement?
This got me curious about the whole "open water" regulation. Is the Chicago lake shore "open water" or is it a "congested area"? What is "open" water? Is there "closed" water? If the FAA just meant "over water," why didn't it just write "water" and not "open water"?
If the lake shore is indeed open water, what is a structure/vessel/vehicle/person that you can't get closer than 500 feet from? Does the man-made sea wall about a quarter mile off the shore of Lake Michigan count as a "structure"?
When I fly the lake shore, I like to stay out over the water around 1400-1500 feet MSL minimum. If flying down the west side, I stick to about 1800-1900 feet MSL and try to stay over the West Loop to satisfy the 2000-feet horizontal requirement from the taller buildings in the Loop.
Speaking of the 2000-feet horizontal/1000-feet vertical requirement, this puzzles me as well. When does "horizontal" turn "vertical"? Since the FAA does not specify "diagonal" distance, do I have to convert my calculations to horizontal if I am not flying DIRECTLY over a building? For example, I can fly 1000 feet DIRECTLY above a building, but if I am not directly over it, I have to be 2000 feet horizontal from it? So if a building's height in MSL was 500 MSL and you flew DIRECTLY over it, you can be at 1500 MSL. But if you move slightly over (for sake of argument, say 1 foot away from being "directly over"), you would have to be 2500 MSL to satisfy the horizontal distance requirement?
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