For the people who are having to deal with restrictions imposed by HOA organizations the requirement to paint a 50ft tower bright orange and white will certainly cause more reasons to deny them permission to install towers. For people who already have installed towers the requirement to paint them for the benefit of crop dusters and news reporters is outrageous, why should their desire to fly so close to the ground take precedence? As far as medical helicopters needing everything to be clearly visible I would suggest they install some form of radar because they are much more likely to hit a tree or power line in the dark than they are a solitary tower in the middle of a field, after all, some towers are self-supporting whereas others have extensive guy ropes.perhaps they should have coloured lights to differentiate them so that the pilots can fly really close...
I have quite a few towers which will almost certainly have to be painted if this legislation in invoked..I think I will buy a few dog kennels and place a tuner unit in each one right at the base of each tower...that will be much cheaper than having to risk my life painting five 140ft towers just because of a myopic helicopter pilot..I guess they can see the guy ropes in the dark. To what extent will "painting" a tower be defined, will it require every surface to be covered to 100%, what about antennas that stick out 20 or 30 feet on each side and does the position of the antenna have to be declared in some way? What will be the liability when the paint flakes off, will it have to be done every year or just when the helicopter people say its' getting hard to see? I do not believe you can legislate safety into every aspect of our existence but the bureaucrats obviously do. Sign me up if someone wants to take this to the courts.. Dave AA0RS _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
