Originally Posted by
SLXOwft
Odiham's finest fly over or near me a lot of the time. I agree they can be heard a long way off, but picking the actual track can be difficult (possibly due to reflection of buildings). I even find the infrequent 2300ish night flying quite soothing
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I have to say I find the noise of passing 'executive' helicopters far more disturbing / irritating.
Yesterday afternoon I thought a nearby neighbour was using very noisy garden machinery until I realized the noise was constant and gradually getting louder. It was a considerable time before I at last saw a light helicopter flying directly towards me and as it passed overhead it looked like a Bell 206 LongRanger. A check on Flightradar 24 showed it to be G-RAZE, apparently a Bell 407 which was doing an clockwise trip around London and passed overhead at about 1500ft AGL and 130kts. It was by far the noisiest helicopter I have ever heard yet the LongRanger was such a smooth quiet aircraft albeit some15-20kts slower. I guess outside noise considerations come pretty low on the manufacturer's list.
(There is a short YouTube video of the same aircraft overflying Farnborough a year ago so I guess it's not just me)