Hypothetical Q:

[DaveO'Leary]

We all know there are drivers on the road who have never passed a driving test. Is/are heli pilots who might be in this category?
eg. I come into a few £££ buy a R22 have a few lessons/nav, learn 'radio' speak and decide, ok I'm just going to fly, stuff the bit of paper that says I can.

Is there a traffic Taliban for flyers? Has anyone been 'done' what would be the result of a conviction? Please be aware of the title of my post.
Dave

[Lightning_Boy]

I flew a few times with no licence........however, it was qualifying for a PPL :ok:

[BRASSEMUP]

I don't know of any but i bet there are!!!!!!!! And also the hours cheats too.:uhoh:

[CGWRA]

If you were to hypothetically do that I cincerely hope you never take anyone in the helicopter with you because without that little piece of paper you can't safely fly it. If you want to kill yourself thats evolution but I certainly hope you don't take anyone with you.

[DaveO'Leary]

Thanks for your reply CGWRA.
Thing is, to my original post, how would one get ones 'hand slapped' if flying with no paper? IN THE UK?

I recall Mike Smith had no insurance when he landed on a roof circa 70/80s (without predudice)
Dave

[jeepys]

I knew a chap who flew for years with no license and did exactly what you said. Did some training lessons never got the paper bought a heli and flew without any questions ever being asked. He had enough money to not worry about a insurance payout should he smash it.

[Helinut]

There is at least one case of a PPL representing himself as a commercial hele pilot in the UK. He got found out before too much damage was done, but there were some red faces from the operator he tried to hoodwink. In essence, he got some free training, before he was found out.

[DaveO'Leary]

Thanks for posts so far, thing is, has anyone been brought to court flying without a licence?

Dave

[old heliman]

I seem to recall a PPL(H) holder in Wales doing pleasure flying in a Hughes 300 a number of years ago and going to jail for it. Mind you he did have unstrapped babes in arms in the front seat too. (No rear seat I know)

[TheMonk]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s9RhyZeg7Y0

"Hog are you alright? Hog get away from that thing, just get away mfrom it!"

Monk

[HeloCaptain]

In the U.S., public agency pilots are not required (by the FAA) to be certificated.:confused:

Bad policy IMHO.:eek:

See http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20040519X00615&key=1

[Revolutionary]

HeloCaptain, funny, that was exactly the case I was thinking of when I read this thread. See also:

http://http://www.wrallocaltechwire.com/news/local/story/110904/ (http://www.wrallocaltechwire.com/news/local/story/110904/)

and

http://http://www.localtechwire.com/news/local/story/117820/ (http://www.localtechwire.com/news/local/story/117820/)

To be fair, this kind of on-the-fly arrangement between two good-'ol-boys in a rural county is the exception rather than the rule. Most larger law enforcement agencies use N-registered aircraft and commercially rated pilots.

On the other hand, quite a few smaller rural agencies operate public use aircraft that are flown by low-time pilots, usually cops who went and got a private license on their own dime. The helicopters themselves are often OH-58, OH-6 or UH-1 models, given away for free by the military. You have to get a half dozen of them to make one operable aircraft and even then there are usually gaps in the service history of many components. But these smalltown agencies just love the machismo of piling out of a Huey on a dawn raid of the local meth lab.

I remember a small Mississippi county sherrif's office once practicing 'SWAT team insertions' with their surplus OH-58. Four cops standing on the skids; two on either side and the pilot tells them: "when I come into a hover I'll count to three and you all jump off". Sure enough, the two cops on one side jump off too soon and over goes the helicopter.

Luckily these aircraft are mostly operated in remote areas where they can't do much harm.

[JHR]

Thousands of military pilots with no civil certification sharing the airspace with us everyday. I knew a few guys in military flight school who washed out late in the program who probably had better basic flying skills than many PPL's.
No military certification and no civil certification. Could they be out there flying?

[mylesdw]

I did hear tell of a chap who flew/flies a Cessna out of a farm strip near Reading, Berkshire. No licence of any kind, just reckoned not to get in anybody's way and not to use the radio at all! Purely hearsay.

[mini]

Incident around these parts 20 odd yrs ago, unlicensed, uninsured chap flew a helo into wires, helo belonged to his licensed, insured brother.

Apparently had been going on for a while. :suspect: