CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The pilots at the Butler Farm Show Airport have concerns about unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) enthusiasts pursuing their hobby in airspace shared by planes, but they admit the crafts could have worthwhile applications.

The use of UAVs, or drones, is increasing nationwide.

Larry Jack, assistant manager at the airport since 1992, said ultralight aircraft are not allowed at the farm show air strip because they could pose a collision hazard to the airplanes taking off and landing there. He can imagine other airport officials disallowing UAVs as well.

“Unless they’re well regulated, they could be a hazard to our airspace,” Jack said. “Anything small, we probably wouldn’t allow them.”

Jack said he doesn’t know anyone with a UAV, including the pilots at the airport.

“Typically, pilots like to be in the aircraft they’re flying,” Jack said.

Dick McCormick, who began flying small planes in 1957 and has been using the farm show air strip for 20 years, said he imagines the UAVs would be hard for a pilot to see. He said helicopters could be at particular risk because they routinely fly low.

“We had an airplane hit a goose one time,” McCormick said. “It did $3,000 damage to the airplane.”

Jack said an airplane taking a UAV strike to its propeller or windshield would be the most dangerous to the pilot. He said a collapsed windshield with the plane flying at 100 mph could spell havoc.

However, McCormick said the UAV crafts could be useful in various industries that need photographs or video from overhead.

“They have their place, like on construction jobs,” McCormick said.

Jack said the topic of UAVs has not come up at the quarterly meetings of the Butler County Pilots Association, which are at the farm show airport.