Message posted by Gordy on August 13, 2008 at 0:28:01 PST:

OK, I may be crazy for saying this, but I did post something in the past about taking pictures of Groom from a balloon, so I looked into it. While it is difficult to get any FAA types to make an "official" comment on Area 51, this is what I gleaned.

According to the FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations) and the AIM (Airman's Information Manual) VFR flight into a MOA (Military Operations Area) recommends, but does not require contact with the controlling agency.
IFR traffic is required to and will probably be denied entry, especially if the area is hot (active).

The boundary between the Desert MOA and Restricted Area 4808-N (where Groom is) is approximately 11 miles from Hangar 18. Compare that with Tikaboo, which is approximately 26 miles from same.

In other words, according to the FAA, you could operate an aircraft up to 18000 feet within that area without talking to anyone. A balloon is no exception.

Now, is operating within an active MOA safe without traffic advisories from ATC? Absolutely not. Could an "accident" occur within that area, should someone be careless enough to try it? Certainly.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should be well within your legal rights to end up in a tragic "accident", so make sure those pictures are really good. And make sure you transmit them via satellite to someone on the ground, just in case. OK?

In Reply to: Re: Up Up and Away... On the lighter side posted by 9th life on August 06, 2008 at 10:43:32 PST:

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