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FirstOtter,

I won’t dispute that aircraft fly low near your property. The point is that you and the pilot would have to coordinate with one another to deliberately target your property for overflight.

For someone to circle below 500 or 1000 feet for 30+ minutes on a frequent basis makes little sense, unless you live close enough to the airport to place you inside the traffic pattern. If that’s true, then it’s plausible that these aircraft are maneuvering to land. The perceived circling could be explained by those pilots conducting multiple circuits focused on the airport, not your house.

Here’s an excerpt from those FAA regulations (14 CFR §91.119):

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

There is some gray area hidden in there. The word “congested” is never defined in the regulations. It’s left to the pilot’s judgement; or perhaps the court’s if some incident is serious enough to warrant legal action. In either case, those restrictions do not apply to aircraft that are taking off or landing. So are all these pilots disregarding the rules? That’s possible, but unlikely.

Even a private pilot license takes a fair degree of effort, time and money to acquire. The threat of having it revoked or suspended is enough to keep the vast majority of pilots in compliance. For many of us, that license is our livelihood. Are there a few morons out there? Of course. That’s also true for any large group of people. The great thing about flying is that it’s self-critiquing if you’re stupid. If you don’t follow the rules, the FAA will take great joy and haste in removing you from the pool of otherwise prudent pilots.

Regarding your story of the rude pilot, it’s unfortunate that they wasted an opportunity to share information, choosing instead sour your opinion of general aviation. Let them not represent the greater community of decent people who use the airport. Generalizations are rarely helpful in finding common ground or actually solving problems. That pesky tribalism again, we are all wired for it and the internet perpetuates it.

It’s way better to look somebody in the eye and have a productive conversation. Tough to despise somebody who is willing to sit down with you and talk it out. You and I probably can’t stop planes from flying over your house. Perhaps we can come to some useful conclusions as to why it’s happening.

Cheers from a pilot who would really like to be wealthy some day.