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From: robie@umbc1.umbc.edu (Mr. William Robie; POSI (GRAD))
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Re: FARs
Message-ID: <1991May31.234447.1721@umbc3.umbc.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 91 00:36:32 GMT
References: <2968.283E7157@ehsnet.fidonet.org> <1991May31.164014.27267@aeras.uucp>
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In article <1991May31.164014.27267@aeras.uucp>, tneale@aeras.uucp (Tom Neale) writes...
> 
>I'm just not sure what "an open air assembly of person" is   :-)  Must
>be a typo in my copy of the FARs.
> 
It used to be printed as personS, but what it is, by FAA definition, is even
more interesting than the typo.  This came up in an issue with ultralights
once in my past and I asked a friend (read: someone who will speak clearly,
but unofficially) in the FAA to give me an exact definition of who, where,
how many, etc., constitutes an "open air assembly of persons."  His answer
was approximately this.

Basically, if there are two people and one bitc**s to the FAA, then it is
an "open air assembly."  By the same token, there can be 4,000 people, and
it nobody bitc**s to us, it was not.  The law is not intended to be so
specific that we can convict someone with a violation, but vague enough that
we can CHARGE someone with a violation if we have to.  (This particular guy
was not "into" violating flyers of any kind unless they went out of their
way to be stupid, or unless there was a serious safety issue that came to
the attention of the public)