The Sweet Home City Council adopted an ordinance during its regular meeting on Nov. 14 to ban the flying of model airplanes within the city limits.
City staff proposed the ordinance following complaints by residents living at the east end of Long Street next to Langmack Airport where several model aircraft enthusiasts would fly their remote-controlled models. Persons complaining were concerned about safety and noise.
The city council dropped an all-out ban on flying model aircraft to allow the flying of aircraft attached by a line to the controller.
“The safety issues that have been brought to the council by the public generally apply to radio-operated aircraft and not to line-operated aircraft,” City Attorney Robert Snyder said. “I have been told that a line is approximately 70 feet long. There is a safety line with it, and it by its nature, cannot fly over anything since the line is going to contact said object at some point.”
Snyder also said that line-operated craft do not fly at the speeds of radio-operated aircraft and the noise is usually less intense.
Under the ordinance, the line-operated craft are not allowed to fly within 100 feet of an electric power line or at any point in the flight be closer to an electric power line than to the controller.
The ordinance prevents the flight of all small-scale airplanes, gliders, helicopters, dirigibles or balloons that are controlled by radio, electronics or similar free-flight operation by a person on the ground.