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New London, Wisconsin | No question, the drone needs to yield to any other aircraft.
The old 500 foot rule changed quite a few years ago. There are airspace classes now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace_class_(United_States)
A is above 18000 feet
B is BIG airport, think Boeings. O hare, Miami, NY, DC, LA, etc.
C is a bit smaller but still busy airports Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison are the only three in Wisconsin
D is a step smaller airports, often with control towers
E is everything else, except G
G is below E to the ground and is found in rural areas where most of us live. You can fly under 500 feet in a class G airspace. In doing so there are still rules about staying a safe distance from concentrations of people. Few pilots I know fly that low. Cell towers are a really good reason not to. Besides, showing off is considered bad form, and creates a bad image for other pilots.
The helicopter can fly lower than 500. He can even do it in quite limited visibility.
As far as the question, "Would a drone damage a helicopter?" Simply put yes. Would it crash? Hard to say, but it depends on where it hits. Those flight for life choppers are going over 100 mph, many are well over that. You hit anything at that speed and it's gonna leave a mark. Considering how many millions a flight for life helicopter costs, and your responsibility to stay out of the way, the cheapest plan may well be to let your drone fall out of the sky as fast as possible.
Edited by 150pilot 9/13/2016 10:15
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Sharing Airspace with Cropdusters/Planes
