Peter Miller Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 The Situation: A local modeller flies .049 powered gliders at the bottom of the field in front of my house. Has done for years. 400 yards away is a small caravan park. Army helicopters practice in the area. They know the modeller and have been known to hover and watch his models. The modeller phoned me yesterday. He had been flying and an army helicopter had been in the area but not close. A little later the police helicopter arrived and hovered over him watching. Shortly afterwards a police car cruised past very slowly and then drove on. This had never happened before. We can only assume some pillock at the caravan park wanted to cause trouble. The modeller concerned was worried that he might be breaking some law about altitude. Told him that under the rules only models over 7 1/5 kilos were limited in height. As a point of interest our club flying site is about a mile away but we informed the Army at Wattisham when we started flying and they issued a NOTAM to the effect that model flying took place at our site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Laughton Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 It never ceases to amaze me how much some Jobsworths want to interfere in our harmless hobby.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 There are no real legal controls that the police can get involved with over model flying from anywhere unless it is over 7 kg (not 7.5) unless you actually hazard an aircraft or somebody by doing so. Edited By Martin Harris on 13/04/2012 09:55:35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 1984, George Orwell's is already come to our flying strips...... note: "For the Love of Big Brother".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Sorry, thanks for the correction. As I never build a model heavier than 3 kilos I don't really look into the weight factor too deeply. As the chap doesn't build models tha that weigh a kilo it doesn't affect him I know that there are only the rules about endangering other aircraft. The modeller concerned really doesn't know anything about it, he is just a lone wolf chap who enjoys his type of flying by himself. I was tempted to take one of my models down there and fly it but decided that I couldn't be bothered and there was not point in aggravating the situation. The idiot will be gone by the weekend. Edited By Peter Miller on 13/04/2012 10:46:40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klippy Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Usual story, 50% of the people acting as Fun Police over the other half! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Wattisham eh! That takes me back to 1976 - 1978. I was stationed there when it was an RAF station with 23 & 56 Squadrons flying F4 Phantoms. From there I got posted to Germany where I got back into model aircraft again and took my first venture into RC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Was this the reason for the fighters being scrambled yesterday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly P Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Royal Flying Corps.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly boy3 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Just for info, our club flies near a RAF bombing range.It is used by BA Hawks, and Army helicopters. We are always in contact with the RAF before flying to see if all is well, and we inform them when our flying is complete.We have a good relationship with them ,and the system works well. Due to this I think we are limited to around 400 ft, which does not cause many problems. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 ...and if the government has its way we'll soon have the same capabilities/firepower as we had in 1913! Edited By Martin Harris on 13/04/2012 14:37:01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Posted by Olly P on 13/04/2012 14:31:55: yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Royal Flying Corps.... Yesterday 2 fighters were scrambled after a false signal from a helicopter, and flew over the sound barrier. I heard the boom and went upstairs to make sure it was what I thought it was, and nobody had fallen. I don't think they would get away with going supersonic for an anniversary, but you never know, it my just be a story to cover the truth. But I could just imagine a police helicopter radioing in a terrorist attack with an 049 powered model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 we had a 'call' off the local police......they were answering an emergency call a couple of fields away from our strip.....one of the cars pulled in to admire our models and had a chat.......the police helicopter was aprox 1/2 a mile away from where we were also...he called in/and landed and gave one of our members a 'verbal' warning/took his name and address-- for flying the same time as him...even though they were well apart ...after which he also enquired after the models... ken anderson...ne...1 ....heli dept... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 One of the bases for the Merseyside Constabulary helicopter seems to be Woodvale - I remember seeing them (the bobbies) flying what I would describe as "very close" during one of the Woodvale shows a few years back. Didn't seem to bother him! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chambers Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 My local club is north of Filton airfield in Bristol, so we often get the Police flying over. Usually they fly at height, but occasionally they can come low. Often our procedure is to shout fullsize and where its coming from to allow the flyers to keep low and out of the way. The police helicopter once even stopped, did a twirl and then gave a blast of their horn! I knew they had a mega phone style unit on the bottom of the Heli, but I never knew it operated as a standard issue police siren! From: http://www.westerncounties.org.uk/gallery/ Edited By Simon Chambers on 13/04/2012 16:56:23 Edited By Simon Chambers on 13/04/2012 16:57:34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Posted by ken anderson. on 13/04/2012 16:17:04: we had a 'call' off the local police......they were answering an emergency call a couple of fields away from our strip.....one of the cars pulled in to admire our models and had a chat.......the police helicopter was aprox 1/2 a mile away from where we were also...he called in/and landed and gave one of our members a 'verbal' warning/took his name and address-- for flying the same time as him...even though they were well apart ...after which he also enquired after the models... ken anderson...ne...1 ....heli dept... My understanding is that they have the same duty to avoid endangering your aircraft as you have theirs. I suspect that the verbal warning should have been given to them if you were already flying, although no-one would argue that it isn't sensible and good airmanship for us to keep well out of their way. I wouldn't like to receive an official warning unneccessarily. One of our contributors has inside knowledge of police helicopter activities - perhaps he could confirm/deny this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 i was running a model flightline with our large scale aerobatic flyers. on southport beach, before the airshow, when an army gazelle just breezed in, right through our guys, who just climbed and scattered, i aproached him for a chat, most ignorant full of hiself arrogant so-and-so i have ever talked to, i registered this as a near miss with the CAA, sent letters off and everything, didnt even get an reply Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 13/04/2012 18:56:17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 We were holding the RAF Germany Championships at Laarbruch in Germany one Sunday in 1965 or6. WE were at one end of a massive runway. Just after lunch a small German Airforce liason aircraft landined right at out end of the runway while the contest was in full swing. He then taxied all the way to the tower. The offcer in charge went to the tower and told them what had happened. The German pilot arrived back at the tower a few minutes later and said he was ready to go. The air traffic control finally let him take off when the competition was over, about 6 pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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