I'm surprised....The only one who seemed not to be bothered by the heat tis summer was the mutt. When everyone else was sweltering in the shade, he was laying in the sun soaking it up - black fur and everything.
-------
From: SkyBird
To: nntp://fen.rocketscience.amateur
Time: 11:57 MST (Mars Standard)
Date: January 10, 2016
Subject: RE: Avoiding the FAA's wrath
Handwaved cars are old hat these days.
The thing with FAA regulations is that they came about for a reason. Somebody did something, and that something got people killed. These rules exist for a reason; gravity is the most unforgiving son of a bitch there is.
The rules for experimental homebuilt and amateur aircraft are fairly relaxed (compared to what's normal for aviation). There're some hoops to jump through regarding specification and the like, but if you're actually building a craft rather than handwaving something already built it's relatively easy. You can use a car or motorcycle engine - there're no real limitations really beyond some workmanship/design/stress analysis requirements to make sure it's not going to fall apart in mid air and land on someone's house. Read up on them - they're publicly available. You're building something you're going to have to trust your life to here. Best do it to the standards that people have been trusting their lives too for a century, without the benefit of a handwaved safety net.
Jumping through these hoops makes life a hell of a lot easier. The good thing about them is that they make no real provision or exception for handwavium. If a handwaved part or material is clearly up to the job, and you can demonstrate that to an inspector - you're OK to go. It is, after all, an 'experimental' aircraft. (I think, technically, it doesn't even need to have wings...someone built and handwaved an AC Cobra Coupe kitcar as an experimental aircraft once.) If you're just building a single seater, take the time to do it right and you'll never have to worry about not being allowed anywhere again. Within reason. It's a big payoff, and you know you have something built right that you can trust your lives to, as does anyone coming along to buy it off you when you're looking for a trade-up. Also. If you can, invest in a PCAS system. It's expensive, but It's a lifesaver. Or, you can trust in your ability to see and avoid that old 747 in a hazy sky. That's a lot harder to do than you think. The open sky is a very crowded place.
You used to need a full Private Pilot's License - and some parts of the world still require one. If you go through the effort of getting one, congratulations, you can fly your homebuilt spaceship effectively anywhere. An instrument rating is also worth getting - it opens up a lot more airspace and weather conditions and teaches a few skills that're useful even in space. Going the full license route also gives you a few skills of airmanship that're handy in planets which tend to have things like weather. All these skills keep you alive.
If all these hoops seem too daunting, however, there is a quick route. For pilots, the FAA offers a transit competency cert - all you need to do is prove you know where you're not allowed go, are capable of avoiding other air traffic and sticking to dedicated orbital launch/landing corridors to dedicated aerospaceports and you're allowed launch and land from the ground. Just learn to read an airman's map, know what airspace you're not allowed in and how to talk to ATC to request landing or take-off, or report a problem. There are sections of airspace set aside for non-compliant craft such as fencars and the like. Stuff that's unregistered or flown by people who aren't effectively licensed. It was easier to just give them a lawful space to operate away from any other craft or civilisation on the ground, than try and police the entire sky. In these corridors, the rules are a lot more basic. You talk to Heuston, get your clearance and down you go to land (or up to space). You can do nothing else but take off and land, and because all these aerospaceports are pretty far away from civilisation you've got a long, ground-bound trek to get where you want to go. And there's customs and immigration to worry about. Airfare to other airports from these locations can be pricy, as can the bus service.
My recommendation however is, that if you're considering that route, stick to a starline or airline instead after you've initially launched your ship. It works out a lot more convenient because most airlines go to the major cities. (If you're being cynical.... that might be the real reason)
You can ignore all these FAA regulations if you want - and you might get away with it for a time because the sky is just far too big to police. (Unless you're like that power armoured idiot from Europe a few years back who managed to annoy the authorities into action) Just remember that the ultimate penalty for doing so is, quite often, death. Either yours, or whomever your wreckage lands on. And if you managed to survive that accident you just caused, you may wish you didn't. If you kill somebody because you weren't following the rules, several large books will be thrown at you in court and most people will be glad they were.
Once you're Up, basic Convention Law gives everyone the right to mobility in open space. Basically, you're allowed fly your own spaceship without license or qualification so long as it belongs to you. It can be a leaking, rustbucket of a thing but if it's yours and you're willing to risk flying in it, happy days. If someone gets killed as a result of you fucking up, then it's on your head. Money. Prison time. It all comes out of your arse. Idiocy in an aerospace is usually a self-correcting problem. Unfortunately, the process tends to take out a few innocents aswell so there are now Rules up here too. Some stations take gleeful joy in banning idiots from their Space..... and will enforce that with fines and liens against the Spacecraft owner, which the Space Patrol will enforce. (There're some settlements with quite a line in seized spacecraft, and arguably some that're imposing overly-onerous regulations just to rack-up fines and seizures, ***cough*Island One *cough***)
At the same time, if you fuck it up, you're often on your own. Space is big and empty and a very lonely place when you're looking at an empty fuel gauge, two hours from anywhere that can bring help and with just an hour left in your oxygen tank.
-Happy Flying
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
-------
From: SkyBird
To: nntp://fen.rocketscience.amateur
Time: 11:57 MST (Mars Standard)
Date: January 10, 2016
Subject: RE: Avoiding the FAA's wrath
Handwaved cars are old hat these days.
The thing with FAA regulations is that they came about for a reason. Somebody did something, and that something got people killed. These rules exist for a reason; gravity is the most unforgiving son of a bitch there is.
The rules for experimental homebuilt and amateur aircraft are fairly relaxed (compared to what's normal for aviation). There're some hoops to jump through regarding specification and the like, but if you're actually building a craft rather than handwaving something already built it's relatively easy. You can use a car or motorcycle engine - there're no real limitations really beyond some workmanship/design/stress analysis requirements to make sure it's not going to fall apart in mid air and land on someone's house. Read up on them - they're publicly available. You're building something you're going to have to trust your life to here. Best do it to the standards that people have been trusting their lives too for a century, without the benefit of a handwaved safety net.
Jumping through these hoops makes life a hell of a lot easier. The good thing about them is that they make no real provision or exception for handwavium. If a handwaved part or material is clearly up to the job, and you can demonstrate that to an inspector - you're OK to go. It is, after all, an 'experimental' aircraft. (I think, technically, it doesn't even need to have wings...someone built and handwaved an AC Cobra Coupe kitcar as an experimental aircraft once.) If you're just building a single seater, take the time to do it right and you'll never have to worry about not being allowed anywhere again. Within reason. It's a big payoff, and you know you have something built right that you can trust your lives to, as does anyone coming along to buy it off you when you're looking for a trade-up. Also. If you can, invest in a PCAS system. It's expensive, but It's a lifesaver. Or, you can trust in your ability to see and avoid that old 747 in a hazy sky. That's a lot harder to do than you think. The open sky is a very crowded place.
You used to need a full Private Pilot's License - and some parts of the world still require one. If you go through the effort of getting one, congratulations, you can fly your homebuilt spaceship effectively anywhere. An instrument rating is also worth getting - it opens up a lot more airspace and weather conditions and teaches a few skills that're useful even in space. Going the full license route also gives you a few skills of airmanship that're handy in planets which tend to have things like weather. All these skills keep you alive.
If all these hoops seem too daunting, however, there is a quick route. For pilots, the FAA offers a transit competency cert - all you need to do is prove you know where you're not allowed go, are capable of avoiding other air traffic and sticking to dedicated orbital launch/landing corridors to dedicated aerospaceports and you're allowed launch and land from the ground. Just learn to read an airman's map, know what airspace you're not allowed in and how to talk to ATC to request landing or take-off, or report a problem. There are sections of airspace set aside for non-compliant craft such as fencars and the like. Stuff that's unregistered or flown by people who aren't effectively licensed. It was easier to just give them a lawful space to operate away from any other craft or civilisation on the ground, than try and police the entire sky. In these corridors, the rules are a lot more basic. You talk to Heuston, get your clearance and down you go to land (or up to space). You can do nothing else but take off and land, and because all these aerospaceports are pretty far away from civilisation you've got a long, ground-bound trek to get where you want to go. And there's customs and immigration to worry about. Airfare to other airports from these locations can be pricy, as can the bus service.
My recommendation however is, that if you're considering that route, stick to a starline or airline instead after you've initially launched your ship. It works out a lot more convenient because most airlines go to the major cities. (If you're being cynical.... that might be the real reason)
You can ignore all these FAA regulations if you want - and you might get away with it for a time because the sky is just far too big to police. (Unless you're like that power armoured idiot from Europe a few years back who managed to annoy the authorities into action) Just remember that the ultimate penalty for doing so is, quite often, death. Either yours, or whomever your wreckage lands on. And if you managed to survive that accident you just caused, you may wish you didn't. If you kill somebody because you weren't following the rules, several large books will be thrown at you in court and most people will be glad they were.
Once you're Up, basic Convention Law gives everyone the right to mobility in open space. Basically, you're allowed fly your own spaceship without license or qualification so long as it belongs to you. It can be a leaking, rustbucket of a thing but if it's yours and you're willing to risk flying in it, happy days. If someone gets killed as a result of you fucking up, then it's on your head. Money. Prison time. It all comes out of your arse. Idiocy in an aerospace is usually a self-correcting problem. Unfortunately, the process tends to take out a few innocents aswell so there are now Rules up here too. Some stations take gleeful joy in banning idiots from their Space..... and will enforce that with fines and liens against the Spacecraft owner, which the Space Patrol will enforce. (There're some settlements with quite a line in seized spacecraft, and arguably some that're imposing overly-onerous regulations just to rack-up fines and seizures, ***cough*Island One *cough***)
At the same time, if you fuck it up, you're often on your own. Space is big and empty and a very lonely place when you're looking at an empty fuel gauge, two hours from anywhere that can bring help and with just an hour left in your oxygen tank.
-Happy Flying
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?