Gyro-copter mailman delivers protest letters to Capitol lawn...

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

I had no idea 103 was that old

It’s funny, right after i wrote my previous response i googled it also

i wanted to better understand once and for or all where did this come from;

it is a principle, not a mandated law!

Mt previous response in regards to the statement; was purely my own point of view,

i found out later I’m not the only one with this view; it is a very bad principle imo that doesn’t hold ground today; though it is still used as compass today,

this statement was actually overturned in this Texas state case example

https://adask.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/ignorance-of-the-law-is-no-excuse-except-when/

[allardjd 1,853]

It's become kind of moot at this point - the guy has publicly blown any opportunity to lie about not knowing what he did was illegal.

 

Regardless of what any of us think of the legal interpretation, in the vast majority of cases, anyone who hangs his hat on ignorance of the law as a defense is likely to be disappointed in the verdict he receives.

 

I wanted to get the Part 103 stuff posted to illustrate that what he did was in fact illegal and that there are some legal restrictions on the operation of those aircraft, most notably in officially designated Prohibited, Restricted and the more loosely defined "congested" areas or over other people. They are also prohibited from night operations and they are subject to visibility restrictions. It's a pretty unstructured and unfettered way to fly but their operation is not completely devoid of rules.

 

John

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

we did veered off a bit there

you can only imagine how stupid this guy is if he know what he was doing was illegal all along; then publicly blow his chance to bail out,

(he must have had a fork in his hands; the day brain was distributed!)

the issue with these kits is that there is no need to be certified to fly them at all, no education or anything, open the box, build, and fly!

the laws may be in place; but there is no law forcing you to become aware of these at that level,

run some YouTube search; you will be horrid to see how people learn to fly these in their back yards,

watching someone trying to take off for the first time after his build is ready;

is one of the best reality horror show out there; it is ridicules

[brett 2,316]

Just a funny side note to that 103 decision, someone told me our supreme court said that law enforcement do not fall under this rule when they make a mistake.  

[allardjd 1,853]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/gyrocopter-pilot-who-landed-at-us-capitol-to-be-sentenced/2016/04/20/3fe834ac-0703-11e6-bdcb-0133da18418d_story.html?utm_term=.72371bdc1fe2

 

Gyrocopter pilot who landed at U.S. Capitol sentenced to four months in prison

 

Old news, but the legal outcome never made it into this thread so when I saw it I thought I'd bring it in.

 

There are some interesting facts in the article, including that he had illegally modified the gyrocopter to double the legally allowed 5 gal. fuel capacity.  It also lists, at the end, a number of other charges that were dropped, presumably in a plea bargain for his guilty plea to "...one felony count of flying without an airman’s certificate..."   The tally of dropped charges is, "...a felony charge of operating without an aircraft registration, three misdemeanor counts of violating national defense airspace and one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle falsely labeled as a postal carrier."  

 

The judge, in the sentencing hearing, specifically mentioned the deterrent effect of not letting him off with probation, which he requested.

 

He was already a moron, but now he's also added being a convicted felon.  That means he has lost his voting rights, his gun possession rights and probably any hope of ever getting a pilot license or of getting a federal job again. I hope he thoroughly enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame.  They're over and he paid a pretty stiff price for them.

 

I think it's a fair outcome and about what I expected.

 

John

[brett 2,316]

In other words they are spanking him in public to make an example out of him. The prosecutor's reasoning is a bit silly but the law is the law, although I agree with his cause irresponsible actions like his actually override the message and he now has to pay the piper. On the bright side our prisons are overcrowded and out of the four months he will probably only have to serve half or less of that. As Red on That 70's Show would say, "Dumb ass".    

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

He's lucky, it was rather a foolish prank tbh. After all look what happened to Mathias Rust 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust

 

 

[brett 2,316]

Fours years in a labor camp? He wouldn't have been better of learning skywriting instead.