Good.. Enforcement from the Police

[Dave Hopkin]

I fully support the actions of the Police Helo Crew here but is the height limit for a Kite 240ft/73m? seems like an odd number to me

**LINK**

[Andy Meade]

And that was the best use of a Police helicopter? Good grief. Things have changed in Bristol since last I visited - all the crime has apparently been solved!

[Cuban8]

Kite flying rules and regs here **LINK**

Appears to be 60M max!

Edited By Cuban8 on 09/05/2016 10:14:18

[Dave Hopkin]

Posted by Andy Meade on 09/05/2016 10:09:28:

And that was the best use of a Police helicopter? Good grief. Things have changed in Bristol since last I visited - all the crime has apparently been solved!

And if he had ignored it and there had been some sort of incident later on?

[Andy Meade]

I'm not saying to ignore it - but perhaps a ground unit would have best been tasked to go there instead of FLYING into an area where there was a problem with kites? A helo is a high cost item for the force, and has a great envelope of crime-fighting ability. Landing in a field to tell someone off about a kite must be far down the list?

[The Wright Stuff]

Does that mean we have to re-write the lyrics to the Mary Poppins' song? By encouraging the listener: "Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height" appears to be attempting to incite illegal activity!

[Steve McIntosh]

Posted by Andy Meade on 09/05/2016 10:09:28:

And that was the best use of a Police helicopter? Good grief. Things have changed in Bristol since last I visited - all the crime has apparently been solved!

I rather suspect that that chopper was on its way back from another job when it came across this. It would not be tasked directly to deal with something like this

[Andy Meade]

A fair point Steve. Seems odd to me still to risk flying it in there when the cited cause of the kite flying is a danger to air traffic. I guess they may have a bull-horn type of loudspeaker they could shout from before landing?

[The Wright Stuff]

Isn't this one of those types of news stories that has a natural filtering effect, though? It was the helicopter landing that made it newsworthy. It is probably a very rare response. But the 99 out of 100 times they send a car instead would never make it to the news headlines, so we'd never hear about them...

[Steve McIntosh]

Posted by Andy Meade on 09/05/2016 10:56:57:

A fair point Steve. Seems odd to me still to risk flying it in there when the cited cause of the kite flying is a danger to air traffic. I guess they may have a bull-horn type of loudspeaker they could shout from before landing?

Its also a good PR opportunity. Look at the coverage. If they had used the skyshout imagine the awful PR.

"COPS SHOUT AT KIDS FROM ON HIGH" or words to that effect. Presumably the pilot had seen the kite was happy enough there was only one and landed well enough away for it not to be a danger. No matter the incident the pilot always has command over and above the cops.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Seems fair enough to me - the kite was reported at 1000 feet where it was a definite hazard to air traffic - should the police have ignored it or maybe tasked a car to attend from probably several miles away (if one was even available) with the possibility that by the time they got there the kite was back on the ground and on its way home?

I am assuming that they spotted the hazard while returning from an incident or routine task...I wonder if Ross Clarkson still frequents this forum - his comments would be worthwhile...

Edited By Martin Harris on 09/05/2016 13:10:20

[Steve McIntosh]

Whilst not an aircrew cop I have on numerous occaisons stopped to "have a word with" person(s) that had I been tasked to and had to travel to would have thought inconsequential

[Jon H]

It seems fair enough to me. They saw an issue, were able to deal with it and nip it in the bud and everyone moved on. I would hope that the shock factor of the heli landing nearby made the kite pilot (are they pilots??) more aware and also the fact that its been reported widely makes others aware too.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Posted by Cuban8 on 09/05/2016 10:10:52:

Kite flying rules and regs here **LINK**

Appears to be 60M max!

Edited By Cuban8 on 09/05/2016 10:14:18

Interesting. First the police (whilst correct in acting in my view) don't seem to know the law - bearing in mind he's a pilot and the law is the ANO! He cites 74 metres - wrong, its 60m.

Second if you follow the link in Cuban's post it takes you to "The British Kite Society" - now they say that the relavant regulation is article 97 of the ANO (follow the link "Rules of the Air" on the page Cuban linked to) and they are wrong too! Because its actually Article 164.

So, the two bodies directly involved and/or representing the activity have their facts wrong! Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it?!

BEB

[Pete B]

Great bit of PR - bet the kids (and adults) in the park loved it! They'll have told all their friends about the day the police helicopter landed - and you can be absolutely certain that they would not have landed had there been any risk at all.

Good opportunity to show that the helo is crewed by real people and a bit of advice given - job done

Pete

ps - You're all quoting a figure provided by a journalist - are you really going to take that at face value?

Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 09/05/2016 15:04:24

[kc]

Height limits are height above ground level aren't they? Maybe helicopters show height above sea level? So perhaps that accounts for the discrepancy?

[Don Fry]

As an ex copper of 30 years service, I and many of my (operational) colleagues regard helicopters, alongside dobbins, as an expensive waste of space. And dogs are not a whole lot better since the bosses started worrying about mutly biting people.

[Darrell Woodward]

Posted by kc on 09/05/2016 15:36:17:

Height limits are height above ground level aren't they? Maybe helicopters show height above sea level? So perhaps that accounts for the discrepancy?

My signed copy of Sqn Ldr Fred Priors* 'Aeolus' quotes 60m / 200ft above ground, all my other books -including a Dutch book - say 196ft.

I asked Fred about this many years ago and he said 'above sea or ground and it's been that way for a long time'.

I'm getting a feeling this is also the max model glider tow-line length for FIA classes as well?

I know from basic geometry that my 10ft Cody War (wood and ripstop) is safe in any wind on a combined bridle / line length AND line drag (500lb test) of 250 ft.

When the bridles incorrect, it's just as dangerous as a model plane or a badly flown stunt delta or foil.

Good on the pilot for using his brain, his actions have lead to more than one person being educated and inspired.

[Dave Bran]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 09/05/2016 15:00:08:

Interesting. First the police (whilst correct in acting in my view) don't seem to know the law - bearing in mind he's a pilot and the law is the ANO! He cites 74 metres - wrong, its 60m.

Well, It could not possibly be the BBC reporting the wrong numbers because the journalist was incapable of doing their job properly, could it?

[Chuck Plains]

Hmm, 1000ft is definitely over the top for a recreational kite.

That was at Durdham Down, (Bristol Kite Festival venue) which, although it's around 12 kilometers from Bristol Airport, it's already approx 300ft above sea level and, as we all know, an aircraft can't always follow the landscape elevation when on approach. We need to use a fairly straight glide path, other wise a sudden dive might be needed to get 'er down. But it's still quite a long way out from the runway. Maybe he would have been ignored if he was only using 400ft of string.