Seen Over Your House Today

[kitnut617]

While at some friends' place in Beaminster, Dorset, we were deafened by an FAA Merlin (ex-RAF version) that decided to try and trim their hedge for them. I don't think I've ever seen a helicopter so low that wasn't landing! 

I wasn't so much looking UP at it as I was looking sideways at it! 

Seems to be a favorite spot for them to do that Kit, one time I was riding my motorcycle along the A35 just south of Beaminster, two Harriers came whizzing in from the sea barely above my head, I saw them at the last second out of the corner of my eye just as they were almost on top of me. It still startled me, I nearly fell off my bike ---

I can just imagine the pilot going "rat-a-tat-tat"

[NARSES2]

Couple of helicopters quite low over Croydon town centre yesterday lunchtime. One might have been the air ambulance off to Mayday, but no idea what the other was. Unusual to see a couple of them

[Rheged]

Absolutely NOTHING AT ALL today.  No helicopters from Shawbury,  no light aircraft from Shobden, no Typhoons disturbing the tranquillity of  rural Herefordshire...............not even a Hercules trying to knock off one of our chimney pots.    I wonder where they are all hiding?

[kitnut617]

Absolutely NOTHING AT ALL today.  No helicopters from Shawbury,  no light aircraft from Shobden, no Typhoons disturbing the tranquillity of  rural Herefordshire...............not even a Hercules trying to knock off one of our chimney pots.    I wonder where they are all hiding?

It's Friday, they've knocked off early and are down the pub -----

[Rheged]

Absolutely NOTHING AT ALL today.  No helicopters from Shawbury,  no light aircraft from Shobden, no Typhoons disturbing the tranquillity of  rural Herefordshire...............not even a Hercules trying to knock off one of our chimney pots.    I wonder where they are all hiding?

It's Friday, they've knocked off early and are down the pub -----

Ah, yes!  POETS day.....Pxxx Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday

[scooter]

Absolutely NOTHING AT ALL today.  No helicopters from Shawbury,  no light aircraft from Shobden, no Typhoons disturbing the tranquillity of  rural Herefordshire...............not even a Hercules trying to knock off one of our chimney pots.    I wonder where they are all hiding?

It's Friday, they've knocked off early and are down the pub -----

Ah, yes!  POETS day.....Pxxx Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday

Or, in the case of the RAF, they've blown the fuel budget for the year already.

[Rheged]

Yesterday I noted an absence of flying machines in my area.  The blighters at ?Shobden?  are making up for it this afternoon, with a positive infestation of  microlights. Every one of them low, noisy and obtrusive!!

[PR19_Kit]

While cruising northward up the M5 an Auster Autocrat came in from the east, and turned along the M5 too, and with the sunroof open it was almost like being in a vertical formation for some miles. 

[kitnut617]

While cruising northward up the M5 an Auster Autocrat came in from the east, and turned along the M5 too, and with the sunroof open it was almost like being in a vertical formation for some miles. 

Speed Cops      ------  whenever a light plane does that around here, bet your bottom dollar just over the next rise there's a cop car waiting in a turn-off.

[PR19_Kit]

I think the cops in these parts have given up on that idea in recent years. They used to have speed trap helicopters over the M5, measuring times between marker spots painted on the road, but they've all worn away now.

I rather doubt they'd be using an Autocrat anyway, it'd probably be SLOWER than some of the gawps around here.

[JayBee]

I had a friend in the Northern Constabulary who, one day, was doing speed checks, using one of the speed guns, near the Tain Bombing range not far from Lossiemouth. He saw a Buccaneer exiting the range and just for fun he zapped it with the speed gun. It broke the speed gun !

[PR19_Kit]

He was lucky the Bucc didn't retaliate by using his Boz pod! The entire cop car would have been disabled. 

[rickshaw]

Downunder, only the New South Wales rozzers used to use aircraft to check speeds between marks on the road.  Now they just their radar systems on their cars.  That is despite the radar guns being found to be grossly inaccurate - up 40 km/h.   I remember reading about a court case with a priest who was supposedly caught speeding.  He swore he wasn't and when the case went to court the judge threw the case out on the basis that it would be impossible to prove that the priest was speeding after he had sworn he wasn't on a stack of Bibles.  No jury would believe the coppers...

[kerick]

I had a friend in the Northern Constabulary who, one day, was doing speed checks, using one of the speed guns, near the Tain Bombing range not far from Lossiemouth. He saw a Buccaneer exiting the range and just for fun he zapped it with the speed gun. It broke the speed gun !

I vaguely recall reading about similar situations with Arizona highway patrol and Marine F-18s.

[PR19_Kit]

I've had two run-ins with cops over 'speeding' in my time.

One ages ago using the VASCAR system (measuring time between two index marks) where the cop blatantly lied as he couldn't even SEE the first index mark from the second, which I proved by taking pics of exactly that situation.

The second cop had omitted to do an on site calibration of his radar gun, and at the time I was Calibration Manager at work so I knew all the requirements. 

Both ended up with the proverbial egg on their faces.