It has begun.... my local park where I learned to fly has banned flying

electrotor · April 28, 2016, 05:08:19 PM

In recent years I have twice had encounters with Mr Angry.
First was a taxi driver who believed that he was the Police and objected to me parking in an unmarked space which he incorrectly regarded as his. ironically it was next to a Police car. I simply stared at him, through my side window as he ranted for a minute or two, definitely causing a breach of the peace. Giving him no ammunition he had no words left after the rant and no argument took place. It was a blissful moment watching him walk off defeated by silence.
The second time was an objector to me flying (legally) in his village. He stuck a camera in my face and was purple with rage. I went overboard to explain that I understood his concerns and I was happy to show him all my gear and explain what I had been doing. He wasn't expecting such cooperation and didn't know how to cope so could only deflate his sails and walk off.
I understand that sometimes the very obvious use of a recorder discourages people from venting their spleens, as they say. They later can't easily deny what they said, if recorded.

BigT · April 28, 2016, 07:12:33 PM

It gets worse than that. 4 weeks ago I was flying my MTD at a club site LOS. I had my ground station on as I was trying out the new mfd AAT which had a möbius mounted next to the antenna to capture the AAT pointing at the plane. The monitor was on and recording the video stream from the model. I had no gogs on or even out. I became aware of a full size Heli very near and in the hover somewhere behind me. So I doing a quick landing I turned and saw a police Heli doing an obvious search at about 600 feet over a nearby country house estate about 1 mile away. Not wanting to fly with that around I grabbed a coffee and waited for about 20 mins for it to leave, which it did. I powered up and launched and was flying for about 3 mins when the bloody thing came back and went into the hover behind me in the next field at well below (my guess) 400 ft. Again I quickly landed and this time just turned and watched as the Heli shot off again south.

Can you guess what happened next?

As I started to pack up a police "interceptor" turned into the track leading to the patch and one of the most nerve wracking 60 minutes of my life ensued. I had been reported acting suspiciously and with the intent of causing injury to people and property whilst flying a model airplane and these 2 had been dispatched to take a look.
All my gear was photographed and the van was searched and pnc checked, my ID was taken, I had to explain what I was doing and asked why I was flying a "drone" without a spotter, was I insured, did I have permission to be on the land, could prove it, did I know that I was flying near a police helicopter and could have caused a serious incident etc etc. Eventually I managed to explain that I was flying los and the monitor was on to provide a recording of the picture from the plane with the data displayed, the tracker was filming the plane, I am insured, I am a registered competent person with a CAA approved body, and I was operating within the ANO and CAP directive, I have video to prove I was not flying FPV but los which will be confirmed by the video taken by the Heli etc etc. At which point I produced a printed hard copy of said ANO and CAP. Plus I always carry a air navigation map that shows the controlled airspace so this was also shown. I also explained that as the model is under 7kg I can fly as high as I can see los as I am not near active airport. ( nearest is 7 miles away) All of this was done calm and collected by me, not stroppy, not cross, but very nervous!

These 2 had been at a briefing by county police HQ and new enough to spot that my vtx was possibly overpowered and even asked me what frequency my UHF was on (459 phew).

I fully expected the kit to be confiscated and me taken down the Nick but all I got was the " you will be reported to the inspector for further action if needed, we know who you are now so we know where to look if we need to" chat.

So forget parks and common land with public access. Private land is bad enough.

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Cockney Boy · April 28, 2016, 10:00:33 PM

You must have caught the juicy stuff on your möbius :) go on post it :)

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Warrior · April 28, 2016, 10:31:17 PM

Big T if that would have been me I would have sh@t myself :toiletbang:

FPVSteve · April 28, 2016, 10:42:48 PM

Yep - not a good situation. THankfully you had video backup. I usually keep a gopro running in the car watching me so I can catch people letting their dog piss right next to me...

\0/

dogzilla · April 28, 2016, 11:58:31 PM

What a piss take BigT. Flying at a club field LOS and having the police get involved with a helicopter no less.

Is this the level of intelligence of the Police force now? That would piss me right off, probably get myself arrested with the level of swearing I'd be doing.

The last thing we need are coppers getting the idea that anyone with a drone is suspicious and needs checking on.

Warrior · April 29, 2016, 08:16:53 AM

Quote from: dogzilla on April 28, 2016, 11:58:31 PM
What a piss take BigT. Flying at a club field LOS and having the police get involved with a helicopter no less.

Is this the level of intelligence of the Police force now? That would piss me right off, probably get myself arrested with the level of swearing I'd be doing.

The last thing we need are coppers getting the idea that anyone with a drone is suspicious and needs checking on.

Plus all the tax payers money they wasted chasing a fpv,er. :busted:

Brucey · April 29, 2016, 08:25:47 AM

I think someone has grassed you up there. You weren't even flying a traditional 'drone'. How would they know if you had a camera on the plane or not.

BigT · April 29, 2016, 10:16:56 AM

I think the Heli had seen the monitor and other kit, he was in a stationary hover and less than 1000 m away scoping me out with the big camera. I had the ground station on a tripod plus the AAT on a tripod, and all my other kit and planes in the pits. This is a flying site registered with nats so it's not as if I was going commando. I think this is more an example of the chief Constable flexing muscle. Where I live there are 15 or so model clubs all of which are within 10 miles of Luton airport and quite a few airstrips as the model flies.
To me it's just an indicator that I need to re think whether I want to do this now or not in this very crowded part of the U.K.
For the record, all of the local parks and council controlled open spaces in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (that I know of) specifically ban radio controlled airborne models, except an area know as Nomansland Common, where RC is allowed and is posted up on signs saying beware to the general public. Personally I would never fly there as it is much to busy with horses and dog walkers, ( nearly said doggers).

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FPVSteve · April 29, 2016, 11:32:35 AM

I know it's never going to wash in court, but since your aircraft is classed as .. an aircraft .. doesn't the helicopter have a duty to stay out of the way once they know your plane is in the air?

How come our gear is classed as an aircraft, but is also given less priority? The bags of meat inside the full-size? But I thought it was easier for them to avoid conflict due to their better situational awareness...............

:)

dogzilla · April 29, 2016, 01:02:36 PM

It smacks of stupidity to me. Any police chopper pilot should be fully aware of the model flying clubs in the area.

1. See a man flying a model aircraft
2. Notice he is flying from a designated flying club
3. Realise there is nothing out of the ordinary, move on and catch some real criminals.

vanmantony · April 29, 2016, 02:50:58 PM

Wonder what the park keeper would say about this

https://youtu.be/eCZfL29aorU

be fun trying to fpv it

Cockney Boy · April 29, 2016, 04:27:13 PM

Take my money now :)

Gundummy · April 29, 2016, 07:04:16 PM

Quote from: Steve W on April 28, 2016, 10:42:48 PM
Yep - not a good situation. THankfully you had video backup. I usually keep a gopro running in the car watching me so I can catch people letting their dog piss right next to me...

\0/

:rofl: :haha: That's epic Steve lol

BigT · April 30, 2016, 01:50:20 PM

On advice I won't be posting those videos or for that matter any other airborne videos for the foreseeable future. Too many nosey parkers around my area with too much time and too much money. The 2 police officers had cameras strapped to their shoulders, each camera had a sticker saying video recorded on this device may be used as evidence. I have no idea if that is admissible as evidence or not.
It is my belief that police helicopters can operate outside normal separation regulations if they are " on a job" same as the military. They often bomb over my house at stupid low heights, in fact we had one circling last week looking for a burglar so low I could clearly see the camera turning. My guess is he was at 400 to 500 feet, although it is very hard to tell accurately.

Anyway I don't want to get into a pissing contest with the police or the CAA.