Using lasers near airports

[ZEOXEO]

So, to start off I'm relatively new to laser pointers, i've only been collecting them since about december but already have a decent color selection (405, 445, 473, and 532) but I live near an airport and the planes coming in to land go nearly directly over my house at only 800-1000 feet elevation. Should I just plain not use lasers outside during the night, should I just scan the sky before using my lasers, or can I be pretty free with how I use my lasers until an aircraft is actually heading towards my house?

From what I understand it's not illegal if it's not intentional and they would have to prove that I shone it at an aircraft on purpose.

My second question, my dad seems to be paranoid about lasers and thinks I shouldn't ever shine them in the sky for any reason because it could hit a plane I don't see. And he thinks any plane that sees a beam will radio the tower to have police dispatched. Are his concerns reasonable or is he just plain paranoid?

I look forward to your thoughts and input on this topic though I will not be back online for 2 days due to a camping trip.

 

[astroidninja]

It's always a good idea to scan the sky multiple times before you turn your laser on. I know sometimes I will shine mine and then realize that there is a plane that I am almost hitting. I would say that as long as you super duper extra careful then you should be ok.

As far as not getting in trouble just because it was unintentional... That's just not the case. Even if it truly was you will still be in big trouble and will at least receive a huge fine.

If you were to end up glancing of a plane, which I hope never happens to you. Go inside and put all your lasers up. The last thing you want is to keep shining them in the sky.

 

[ZEOXEO]

So my dads idea that the police will get dispatched if a plane even sees a beam is completely unreasonable?

 

[astroidninja]

Fairly unreasonable, yes. If they just see it shining into the sky and it doesn't hit them then the only reason that they would do anything like that is because the people flying were being jerks. I don't know how powerful your lasers are (I assume your 445 is high powered.) so I don't know how bright they are. It takes a fair amount of power to see a lasers beam from 90° at a distance.

 

[danefex]

I have planes flying over my house waay up in the sky & often cannot hear them until they've already passed & I dont live near the airport. I spent days studying & writing down how often planes flew over and in what direction as a precaution to lasing at night. I don't know the exact patterns & I know they're not consistant, but I did learn that I have a 10 minute window during weeknights between airplanes passing.

My advice would be to do the same thing, you can't be too careful because you live close to the airport. Intentional or not, I'm sure the authorities would love to jump all over any laser related harassment report from someone near an airport. They'd probably call it terrorism & this is not how you want to be on the news

 

[ZEOXEO]

Most of the time I am using my 300mW 532 and sometimes a 15mW 532 or my 30mW 473. My 445 is actually only ~5mW.

I have always thought that if i just keep it away from the general direction of the aircraft that it would be pretty hard to get in trouble.

 

[RA_pierce]

So my dads idea that the police will get dispatched if a plane even sees a beam is completely unreasonable?

From the articles I have read, the people getting busted are caught because they shined their laser at the aircraft multiple times.
I think that as long as the pilot does not feel threatened he/she would not be likely to radio the authorities.

I live about 15 miles away from an AFB and there are always planes coming and going. I'm sure that on some occasions a pilot has seen a bright blue or green beam shooting into the sky from my house but I've never had the police show up. Just keep an eye and ear open for planes and don't leave your lasers on unattended. If you are not pointing in the direction of a plane I doubt they would notice the beam amongst all the other lights from the city.

Just my $0.02.

Have fun on your camping trip!

 

[ZEOXEO]

Lucky for me I live in montana, so there isn't a lot of air traffic. The north side of my house almost never has any planes, yet my dad has gotten to the point that he raises his voice and yells at me for using it outside. Is there any way to educate him on how un-reasonable he's being?

 

[danefex]

Check this link for more information. You can search your area for specific local laws that penalize misusing a laser pointer. Also it's important to know that it doesn't matter what color or how bright of a laser you're using, if someone reports it & you get caught - you're busted. Even if the laser you have is less than 5mW, it's still 'misusing' or 'harassing' & you'll probably get slapped with a misdemeanor

EDIT:

Lucky for me I live in montana, so there isn't a lot of air traffic.

You're sort of contradicting yourself now from your OP, when you said you live near the airport & the planes came directly over your house to land - I assumed it was more than once every few hours. If you're out in the sticks but near an airport & there's hardly any air traffic then you dont have much to worry about, just use common sense & dont mess with any of them when they're flying around :beer:

 

[astroidninja]

Lucky for me I live in montana, so there isn't a lot of air traffic. The north side of my house almost never has any planes, yet my dad has gotten to the point that he raises his voice and yells at me for using it outside. Is there any way to educate him on how un-reasonable he's being?

You could show him this thread.

 

[ZEOXEO]

I think if I show him this thread he will be mad at me :/

 

[ZEOXEO]

Chapter 29. Outdoor Laser Operations

1. Laser Free Zone (LFZ). Airspace in the immediate proximity of the airport, up to and including 2,000 feet AGL, extending 2 NM in all directions measured from the runway centerline. Additionally, the LFZ includes a 3 NM extension, 2,500 feet each side of the extended runway centerline, of each usable runway surface, up to 2,000' AGL of each useable runway surface. The effective irradiance of a visible laser beam is restricted to a level that should not cause any visual distraction or disruption.

2. Critical Flight Zone (CFZ). Airspace within a 10 NM radius of the airport reference point, up to and including 10,000 feet AGL. The effective irradiance of a visible laser beam is restricted to a level that should not cause transient visual effects (e.g., glare, flashblindness, or afterimage).

3. Sensitive Flight Zone (SFZ). Airspace outside the critical flight zones that authorities (e.g., FAA, local departments of aviation, military) identify to be protected from the potential visual effects of laser beams.

4. Normal Flight Zones (NFZ). Airspace not defined by the Laser Free, Critical, or Sensitive Flight Zones. As with all the above zones, the NFZ must be protected from a visible or invisible laser beam that exceeds the MPE.

FIG 29-1-3
Airspace Flight Zones

Hmm, that kind of brings a whole new perspective on things. I live about 3-4 miles from the end of the runway.

 

[RA_pierce]

Note that any laser beam visible by a pilot during flight can and will be reported as a “laser incident”, regardless of whether it is an actual hazard or not, nor whether it is logical or reasonable for the FAA to track it as a valid aircraft “laser incident”

LOL
Man I love modern legislation. Long live the USA!

 

[Clay Westin]

DAMN! I just checked google earth and I'm well within 2 NM of the centerpoint of one of the runways at a close airport. And I'm guessing this is standard for my area too, considering it's the FEDERAL Aviation Administration. I still use my lasers outside, just very very responsibly. The landing patterns of these planes is very predictable though and I have them all visualized out so those are the areas I watch out for first, the ones I have my eyes on at all times. And whenever I see a plane or hear a plane I dont even lase into the sky, even in the opposite direction, I don't wanna take a chance of them freaking out seeing a beam of blue or green light firing up from the ground and think "Oh damn is this punk going to try and lase my plane?"

 

[ZEOXEO]

You're sort of contradicting yourself now from your OP, when you said you live near the airport & the planes came directly over your house to land - I assumed it was more than once every few hours. If you're out in the sticks but near an airport & there's hardly any air traffic then you dont have much to worry about, just use common sense & dont mess with any of them when they're flying around :beer:[/QUOTE]

I live near the airport, so planes that are coming in to land go rite over my house (well, a little in front of it) but aside from the 3-4 planes an hour flying over my house, there isn't really very much more air traffic. And planes coming in to land are very easy to see due to their landing lights. So it's easy for me to see them 5 minutes in advance and just go inside until they pass over, but my dad doesn't want me pointing them in the sky ever because he thinks the pilot will radio the cops and have a swat team send to my house (he actually said that this weekend while we were camping) If I'm not shining it at an aircraft, and not even using it when they are coming in for a landing, I shouldn't have any problems rite?

 

[Clay Westin]

Seems to me that even if a dick pilot were to file a report with the FAA, and in turn the police were sent out to the general area that the the beam was seen coming from (maybe a group of 2-3 houses depending on the terrain/weather, just seeing the beam come from that general area wouldn't be enough probable cause for the cops to just barge into your house and search for a laser. unless of course you accidentally lase a plane or come damn close and then insist on staying outside and jackin around, then the cops see you with the laser, that's a different story. Then again, I have seen some videos that pilots post of people lasing their planes where when they point the camera at the location it's pretty easy to see exactly where it's coming from. of course then if they got probable cause and were granted a warrant to enter the house to search for the laser and the pilot got it wrong then they got some legal issues.