Outdoor Scanning & Aviation Laws in the UK

[liteworx]

Hi guys, just wondering if any one this side of the water (UK) has had much experience scanning in air atmospherics outdoors and what procedures should be followed
I found a link to this form

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.asp...detail&id=4366

Im only using a 532nm 1200mw but theres recently been a couple of incidents of planes being targeted by laser pointers, one incident very close to me, and I really dont fancy being jailed for negligence ! and if the procedures are fairly straight forward then I'd probably be up for doubling up the power on my system by adding another 1000w 532nm and PBS cube (think this is possible, need to do some more research thou)

I guess I'd be best to play safe and fill in the form and send off before the event

Im only really intending on scanning outdoors but would be nice to do some straight beam shots, but really dont want to upset any pilots or cause any catastrophies !

Any thoughts would be much appreciated ! thanks in advance

[stanwax]

Fill out the form 28 days in advance and ring them to check all is ok near to the date. Power is irrelevant. Also tell you local police and depending on the location you may be well advised to talk to the local council. It's not essential to talk to these but it will earn you tons of brownie points if you include them in whats going on. The police especially. If they are aware of what your intentions are they will not be arsed when people start ringing them saying they have seen a UFO.
Caa are pretty easy as long as you are not on a direct flight path. Get the old for CAP736 (if I remembered right) and read it. Nothing earth shattering but it does show a diagram of the areas around a runways centre line that you must stay out of. AUSOPS will check your application against local traffic and sometimes will issue a NOTAM, I have had occasions where I have made identical applications for the same location with the same laser and had a yes each time but not always a NOTAM.
Rob

[liteworx]

thanks Rob, so is it neccessary to carry this out for ANY outdoor display or just displays in the vicinity of the aerodrome ?

[stanwax]

Any outdoor display with un-terminated beams.
If you are terminating on a building or trees - no CAA but again consider your location. If it can be seen by traffic make sure the police AND council are happy for you to go ahead
Rob

[WookieBoy]

Hi Liteworx.

I think I have a copy of the document Rob(StanWax) mentioned... I'll have a dig and post it later.

That is if I can find it! ;o)

[stanwax]

you can still download it from the caa - http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP736.PDF

Rob

[WookieBoy]

@ stanwax : Yup, that's the one I was on about )

Glad you know where it is... I've got a copy here somewhere in my 'useful things' folder, but I really need to start catagorising my useful things I think! ;o)