be significantly higher than 500 feet or 1,000 feet. 500 ft rule An aircraft must maintain an altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. 1000 ft rule An aircraft must maintain an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons. Other aircraft, such as helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft, are not required to meet the FAR 91 minimums, so long as their operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface. Low flying rules in the EU In all EU Member states, the Standardised European Rules of the Air apply: these set out a minimum altitude of 150 m (500 ft) above any obstacle within a radius of 150 m (500 ft), except with permission, or when taking off or landing. If an aircraft is flying over a congested area (town, settlement, etc.) it must fly high enough so that in the case of an engine failure, it is able to land clear safely AND it must not fly less than 300 m (1000 ft) above the highest fixed object within 600 m of the aircraft. Member states are allowed to modify the low flying rule to suit their jurisdiction, for instance in the UK, the "500 ft Rule" allows pilots to fly below 500 ft as long as they are no closer than 500 ft to any person, vessel, vehicle, building or structure. The rules for flying near congested areas are the same in the UK as the rest of the EU Controlled visual flight rules CVFR flight is used in locations where aviation authorities have determined that VFR flight should be allowed, but that ATC separation and minimal guidance are necessary. In this respect, CVFR is similar to instrument flight rules (IFR) in that ATC will give pilots headings and altitudes at which to fly, and will provide separation and conflict resolution. However, pilots and aircraft do not need to be IFR rated to fly in CVFR areas, which is highly advantageous. An example of airspace where CVFR is common would be Canadian Class B airspace. The CVFR