Rules for park flying in NSW?

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Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby tgdavies » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:57 pm

I'm interested in getting a smallish electric aircraft. I'd like to fly it at my local park, which has a fairly large, lightly used oval. What are the laws/bylaws regarding this? Is there personal liability insurance I can/should buy? I'm in Marrickville municipality if that makes any difference.
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby RCModelReviews » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:00 am

Have you tried contacting your local municipality to ask them?

I checked their website and saw nothing restricting the flying of model aircraft -- in fact there's no mention of flying models at all.
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby tgdavies » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:27 am

I emailed the Council three weeks ago, but didn't get a reply, other than an automated acknowledgement. I'll try telephoning them instead.

As you say, there's no mention on their website of anything relevant at all...
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby tgdavies » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:01 am

Having spoken to the council I'm none the wiser -- the person I spoke to said that he felt that the parks in this municipality were too small to fly model aircraft, but he couldn't tell me whether there were any regulations which applied, one way or the other, and I don't think he knew anything about modern electric aircraft.

The park around the corner from me has a 130m diameter oval which is often deserted and quite sheltered. What sort of aircraft can you fly in that sort of area?
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby RCModelReviews » Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:15 am

Have you seen my AXN low and slow video? :-)
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby tgdavies » Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:14 pm

I hadn't -- what's the distance from the road to the sheds? (or give me the Google Earth link and I'll measure it myself :-))
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby RCModelReviews » Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:14 pm

I can fly the AXN within a 30m radius circle and land at my feet. You'll probably find our airfield if you go to Tokoroa on Google Earth. The airfield is to the ESE of the town.
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby Hallmark » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:01 am

Please note: THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE

There are many rules about model aircraft in public parks and some are governed by State and local laws, while others are Federal. Probably common sense is the best rule though. I understand it is illegal to fly within the proximity of 30 metres of another person and/or to the annoyance of another person (the latter relates to kite laws in WA). So I suggest you go to the Civil Aviation and Saftey Authority (CASA) and see what is there. Many RC clubs have their rules posted online too so a search for these might help...
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby rogueqd » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:15 pm

The Australian rules I've learned so far...

Must not fly within 3 nautical miles of an airfield.
Must not fly within 30m of a "built up area". This is roughly defined as any building or road.
Must not fly within 30m of another person.
Must fly under 400ft (120m) in controlled airspace. If you're near a city or town, assume you're in controlled airspace.
Must not fly in a park displaying a no model planes sign.

I think there's also a rule saying your plane must be under 1kg AUW to fly in a public place.


All that said, when I first started flying I expected a ranger to jump out from behind a bush as soon as I connected my battery. Since then I've flown in parks with people walking their dogs and things and had many people come and ask me questions about my planes. I've never had anyone act negatively towards my flying, but I've also never hit anyone with my plane either, lol.
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Re: Rules for park flying in NSW?

Postby pldb64 » Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:05 am

but I've also never hit anyone with my plane either, lol.


Good to know! ... Not such a rogue after all :lol:
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