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See also Indians Declare Airspace war
Can't we all just get along? Of course not, but we oughtta try.
There is no law that says you can't fly over tribal lands. We
can't trespass but court cases have well-established federal
control over all airspace which, naturally, includes us ultralights.
Ergo, we're completely legal to fly over indian land. Other laws may
apply, much like they do in state parks such as those prohibiting anyone
from disturbing certain protected species.
So you're allowed to take off from outside Indian land, fly over it
while following all FAR 103 rules, not disturb the wildlife and be
completely legal. But would that help? Probably not.
In an effort to better equip pilots with information on their flying
sites, I'm including a kmz (Google Earth) file that has most U.S. Indian
lands as of 2009-Mar-23. Thanks to Adam Bell (Aerosmack.com)
for letting me know about this which originally appeared on a Google
earth forum. And thanks, of course, to its creator who made it
available.
Fly knowingly, fly respectfully. Staying high is no guarantee, as as
Lionel found, but in most cases it's all you need to do.
Here is the KMZ file. You
must have Google Earth installed for it to load.
Here is another, much smaller
file.
Legal Dispute Settled
Apr 1, 2009
On March 17, 2009, Lionel was able to recover his remaining gear:
$10,000 worth the paramotor and photography equipment. The Hualapai’s
attorney (based in Phoenix) met him in Flagstaff, AZ where he was forced
to sign a new settlement agreement if he wanted his gear back. The two
"violations" were for “trespassing,” a $100 fine, and another for
“endangering other aircraft”; a $400 fine.
The “trespassing” charge is, of course, a joke, a travesty of justice
and essentially legal extortion by the Indians. So, too, is the charge
of endangering other aircraft since the Indians simply have no
jurisdiction.
Lionel tells us that he needed his gear and, at least didn't have to
fight their $25,000 fine for “theft of property and infringement
copyrights”.
Lionel plans on a website that we'll be sure to include when it's up
and running. He and other tourguides have always felt that Skywalk was
an expensive disappointment for tourists.
He observed that we (ultralights) can’t fly the Grand Canyon because
of Special Air Traffic Rules excepting the little stretch of the Grand
Canyon above Hualapai's Reservation where we can legally fly. So
the Hualapais essentially extort money for anyone to fly this FAA
airspace. If you want to take a picture for Paramotormag, for example,
they want you to buy their "required" $25,000 permit. Even, if you take
a non-commercial picture of their Grand Canyon on your leisure flight
you still have to pay the requisite permit. Without a permit, they call
it “theft of property”. What a ridiculous sham. shame. Apparently they
actually sucker some into paying it, given their illegal behavior with
Lionel.
Lionel also has a current website,
www.theamericanwest.org.
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When on Google Earth, right clicking in the bullseye
links to information on the web about that tribe.
You may not want to have an engine-out over some of
these lands. Your welcome may be studded with thorns.
Exceptions exist, of course, but be careful.
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