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Does anyone know the rules or guidelines pilots have to follow when flying smaller planes or crop dusters in the local county area? There is some kind of smaller plane who, several times this summer, is flying only for fun in the area above our homes. He/she is like a 16-year old joyriding a car, I can't see him/her doing anything purposeful like spraying crops. This morning at 6:30AM the plane was at it again, flying low, circling/diving all over, truly it's like a child has control. My binoculars are crappy so I couldn't make out an ID number. The noise is ridiculous. Does one complain to the FAA? What do they do? Does anyone have any advice here, b/c this person is obnoxious! Thanks!
If it's not controlled air space nobody cares.
He's on his own. No louder than a noisey Harley showing off on main street.
There are Old Pilot's and Bold Pilot's
But there are no Old Bold pilot's
You might post a note on the board at the air port and ask him to knock it off until later in the day because it's scares your kids.. He might think twice...
Iv been flying for 9 years, since before I was driving a car (fifteen), and if the FARs havent changed in the last 2 years, the rules are as follows:
Part 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes:
Over water: 500ft vertical and horizontal from tallest obstacle
Rural: 500ft above tallest
City: 1000ft above tallest obstacle and 2000ft radius
In uninhabited areas, an altitude allowing an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on ground.
So if there wasnt anything around, he or she could fly as low as the grass if they wanted. And unless there is a noise abatement procedure in the area there is really nothing you can do other than call the airport and ask them to take it easy with the buzzing.
The location in your post is vague. If you could post a link to a google map, I could look at it and tell you with a certainty if they could fly "low" in that area. However, I dont know how low you think they are flying either.
P.S. If they are 16 and just learning to fly, and they are doing what you describe as circling and diving, then this is most likely the maneuvers that a student must practice to get his or her licence. i.e. turns around a point, a simulated engine failure, figure eights, etc. These are all done around 1,000 feet to just 50ft above the ground. They usually do this in open fields close to the airport or town that have points of reference.
I'd Contact a Seasoned Crop Duster who is Now a Mayor
Western Gal,
You said over Bingham/Bonneville Counties. I'm not saying he will know the pilot, but one contact you may want to contact is Shelley's mayor, Eric "Swede" Christensen. Being a former crop duster he has a lot of connections to local air strips and fuel suppliers etc. for small airplanes. He may have some advice or thoughts for you. I'll bet he knows who is currently doing crop dusting in the area.
There is another way to track the info, if you think the plane took off from the Idaho Falls Regional Airport, or even Blackfoot or Pocatello. Are you confident of that time within 15-20 minutes?
It's bad enough to hear all the crop dusters, but to have people flying at that time who may not need to be........is hard, to say the least.
Any chance one of the local crop dusters may be teaching a child the "art" of crop dusting? It seems this is a business that tends to get handed down from generation to generation in some eastern ID families.
Feel free to DM me, if you have other info that might be useful to identify the plane/user.
Any chance one of the local crop dusters may be teaching a child the "art" of crop dusting? It seems this is a business that tends to get handed down from generation to generation in some eastern ID families.
MSR
Highly unlikely that if the plane is a crop duster that the pilot is a teenager. They would prob be a commerically rated pilot with a few hundred hours as tends to be the case with dusters starting out. Also crop dusting planes in my part of the country tend to be big, yellow and loud and do fly low, EVERYWHERE they go. They completley disregard the minimum altitudes because it would cost too much time and money for them to climb and descend to and from the fields. Either that or theyre too lazy. Also nobody really cares.
If it were a small cessna, I really wouldnt make a big deal of it unless they were clearly being reckless. However, it sounds like you may be overreacting a bit as people tend to do when it comes to small planes.
Highly unlikely that if the plane is a crop duster that the pilot is a teenager. They would prob be a commerically rated pilot with a few hundred hours as tends to be the case with dusters starting out. Also crop dusting planes in my part of the country tend to be big, yellow and loud and do fly low, EVERYWHERE they go. They completley disregard the minimum altitudes because it would cost too much time and money for them to climb and descend to and from the fields. Either that or theyre too lazy. Also nobody really cares.
If it were a small cessna, I really wouldnt make a big deal of it unless they were clearly being reckless. However, it sounds like you may be overreacting a bit as people tend to do when it comes to small planes.
Hope iv been some help!
NYSE,
Good point about how pilots get into crop dusting. However, it has been my personal experience at least two families have had pilots for generations. They would know the ropes to have their kids start in to get their various pilots' licenses. I'd be happy to DM you their names so you can check, if you'd like. And I do agree about the yellow planes.
I hope you don't think I"m over-reacting to this. It's hard to know what Western Gal's situation is at home. Maybe someone works all night and comes home to go to sleep at 6:15 a.m., or maybe there is a new baby or other factors we don't know. I was only trying to think of a couple of resources or ways to potentially help.
The reason I hope you don't think I'm over-reacting is I've seen this done before. If it is a teenager, school will eventually start, and hopefully the student will be in schoool. Besides, I happened to be the one passenger in a Cessna that flew quite low a few years ago in generally the same area, but maybe more toward the County Line Road and Taylor. The pilot decided it would be fun to buzz some people we both knew. I've never flown with him again, since that day. I wasn't made for the low altitude flying......... However, I'll never forget that particular day.
Good point about how pilots get into crop dusting. However, it has been my personal experience at least two families have had pilots for generations. They would know the ropes to have their kids start in to get their various pilots' licenses. I'd be happy to DM you their names so you can check, if you'd like. And I do agree about the yellow planes.
I hope you don't think I"m over-reacting to this. It's hard to know what Western Gal's situation is at home. Maybe someone works all night and comes home to go to sleep at 6:15 a.m., or maybe there is a new baby or other factors we don't know. I was only trying to think of a couple of resources or ways to potentially help.
The reason I hope you don't think I'm over-reacting is I've seen this done before. If it is a teenager, school will eventually start, and hopefully the student will be in schoool. Besides, I happened to be the one passenger in a Cessna that flew quite low a few years ago in generally the same area, but maybe more toward the County Line Road and Taylor. The pilot decided it would be fun to buzz some people we both knew. I've never flown with him again, since that day. I wasn't made for the low altitude flying......... However, I'll never forget that particular day.
I found your info interesting and helpful.
MSR
Oh no. I guess I should have made myself more clear. I wasnt saying that YOU were over-reacting, but that maybe the OP was. Iv seen a lot of people freak out over small planes. The simple fact is that it may not be an issue of doing something illegal, rather than just being discourteous. Reporting them to the FAA is not the way to go unless you are sure what they are doing is illegal and reckless. Simply flying "low" is not illegal depending on the case, and even then how low is the OP talking about? Can they see the tail number, the guys face..... with the naked eye. Id say if you could read the tail number and its over a populated area, THEN she might be able to report them, but if not, its a case of calling the airport and passing the word that youd appreciate it that they not fly so low in that area. Calling the local airport and the FAA are two very different things.
Thanks everyone for your responses and ideas. I do respect we live in an agricultural area, and training could be occurring, but how does one know? When I inquired of the Bingham SO, the dispatcher said to call the FAA. I didn't think I needed to do that yet. To answer a few questions, the general area (as far as my naked eye) extends from roughly 950 East in Bingham County, to 1300 South, over to at least 1100 East and as far up as 81st South in Bonneville County. I am quite certain of the time, 6:45 AM, b/c I was laying in bed listening to it for some time, watching the alarm clock. I figured our neighborhood was being dive bombed, and finally went out on the porch to see what was up. It was truly loud, but I am not a great judge of height. My contacts were not in yet to see details. After I put them in, he had moved one section - near the Jameston subdivision.
Pilots need training, yet I compare it to this: does a kid getting a driver's license necessarily have to drive up and down the same road 50 times, revving his engine and going at high and low speeds? Could there be another area less populated, or yes, (thanks MSR), a time of morning that doesn't wake up and scare sleeping children at the crack of dawn.....? You get my point.
Last summer it was a yellow airplane, this one is more neutral in color. I'm not going to do anything about it for now. I will keep all suggestions and ideas in mind. In the future, I hope pilots such as this one keep a few courtesies in mind about those on the ground. After Sept. 11, how do any of us really know a plane circling and dive-bombing neighborhoods and subdivisions or fields doesn't have another purpose in mind?
Last thought - do all planes/crop dusters have to be parked at the local airport? Are farmers able to keep them on their property, such as a very large field? Naive, I know, but I know nothing about it. Thanks to you all!
After Sept. 11, how do any of us really know a plane circling and dive-bombing neighborhoods and subdivisions or fields doesn't have another purpose in mind?
This is exactly what I was talking about when I say over-reacting. These planes weigh roughly 1,000 lbs and carry no more than 20 gallons of gas. Theres really not much you could do with one of these planes. A perfect example is right after 9/11 a kid crashed a cessna into a Florida office high rise. The crash killed the kid, but the only damage that was done was a broken window. There is no need to fear small planes being used by terrorists.
As far as your question goes, sure planes can be kept in your own private hanger in your backyard and take off if you have a strip long enough.
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I'd Contact a Seasoned Crop Duster who is Now a Mayor
. 
Been The Passenger in a "Low Flyer,"
I've never flown with him again, since that day.
. However, I'll never forget that particular day. 
