towering tower

Unit74 said:
I never see them.... They are very hard to see from 14k feet.
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AT 14K you might run into run of those DEA balloons down the east coast and in FL, probably other locations too. They're tethered by a cable and usually at 15,000'. They look like miniature airships but are pretty good size.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yup, there's a field of them in northern OKC, and a few barely under 2K' AGL in eastern Tulsa that definitely get your attention. It is an eerie feeling when you know you're above them and a mile or two away and they appear to be just under the wing.
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Damn, it appears I hit on something that we all agree on. That's a first here for sure! :cool:
 
Norman said:
5 NE of Mt Pleasant, SC there are two 2,00 ft towers that are not painted but have strobes. They are nearly impossible to see against the ocean background and are in a position to catch the unsuspecting on their way to LRO.
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Noted for future flight to LRO. Thanks!


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Sac Arrow said:
View attachment 45931
See this one right here? The red line is a typical VFR route one might take (or be given on FF) travelling from Santa Cruz inland. Particularly in that direction, that tower is invisible in the daylight until you're right next to it, since it blends in perfectly with the mountains. It almost took me out once. After that, I've given very wide berth to it.
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Who "gives" you routes on FF?

I've never had a close call with that one, but I do identify it every time I fly around there. Though it's only 1500 feet high, putting it on a 2500 foot mountaintop makes it really significant.

I had to dodge the TV towers south of SAC on my student night cross country. Fortunately, they are lit up like the 4th of July.
 
BigBadLou said:
I agree. What's up with that illusion?
I can be at 3,200' with the antenna topping at 3,097' but I feel it is above my wing tip when I am passing it with a 1/2 mile buffer. It even looks like it breaks upward through the horizon. Why is that?
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It's quite simply that since you're above the ground, you're looking down at the horizon. It is so ingrained in us as ground-dwellers that if something rises above the horizon, it must be higher than us, that the illusion still persists. Since we have no other references while airborne, we still use that horizon even though it's below us.
 
MAKG1 said:
Who "gives" you routes on FF?

I've never had a close call with that one, but I do identify it every time I fly around there. Though it's only 1500 feet high, putting it on a 2500 foot mountaintop makes it really significant.

I had to dodge the TV towers south of SAC on my student night cross country. Fortunately, they are lit up like the 4th of July.
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Norcal, when you're receiving Class C services in the outer area.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Norcal, when you're receiving Class C services in the outer area.
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I've never had them do it there. The most I've had is them controlling when I cross the extended centerline for SJC.

That tower is (barely) outside the SJC outer area. And it's a guarantee there is no IFR traffic near there below 6000.
 
I know we've got a few big ones around here so I had to look them up. Looks like they're only around the 1500' AGL range. Guess the flatlands of NE doesn't need the extra height. lol
 
mscard88 said:
AT 14K you might run into run of those DEA balloons down the east coast and in FL, probably other locations too. They're tethered by a cable and usually at 15,000'. They look like miniature airships but are pretty good size.
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Well as long as it keeps little Billy from getting reefer madness lol
 
eman1200 said:
don't forget to check your "things formerly known as sectionals" for stuff like this............

View attachment 45906

View attachment 45907

well, I guess even the FF/GP versions are still called sectionals, but, you get what I'm saying. and yes, we definitely knew about this one before we took off.
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Have you seen the ones up by Greensboro? 2000' AGL.
 
mscard88 said:
AT 14K you might run into run of those DEA balloons down the east coast and in FL, probably other locations too. They're tethered by a cable and usually at 15,000'. They look like miniature airships but are pretty good size.
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I bet that cable is really visible to a plane cruising at 5000, huh?
 
Looks like (5) 2000ft ones in Iowa. More than any state. Makes us # 1 in something??? ;)
 
PPC1052 said:
I bet that cable is really visible to a plane cruising at 5000, huh?
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Think the sectional has some type of warning on the chart. There's one just up from Key West and one around Perry FL. See if I can find a sectional and how it's displayed.
 
PPC1052 said:
I bet that cable is really visible to a plane cruising at 5000, huh?
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There's a restricted area around the one NE of Key West, stating on the chart the cable is up to 14,000'.
 
Should check out videos of engineers changing the light bulbs on these towers. Makes me queasy watching it.
 
And OSHA allows them to do it freehand!
 
Gucci Pilot said:
And OSHA allows them to do it freehand!
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The video claims that, but it's not true. 29 CFR 1926 governs fall protection. The video itself has been specifically called out for that statement:

http://ehstoday.com/blog/stairway-osha-citation

Also some info about halfway down this article:

https://www.propublica.org/article/osha-struggles-with-tower-climbing-deaths

People do it all the time because using fall protection takes more time and everybody's always under constant pressure to get the job done quickly. In that regard, there are many of the same concerns as in aviation - taking shortcuts due to external pressures.

I find it interesting that the face of the second climber is blurred out, and we can never see the face of the lead climber. Whereas in the "Stairway to Safety" video in the first link above, the faces are not only shown but the climbers are credited by name.
 
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