OK. I admit I am guilty as charged - I made a sweeping generalisation. I did not set out to offend those pilots who observe good airmanship and are sensible enough to prepare themselves for the unexpected.
However, I make no apology for offending those pilots who view their licence as a God given right to strap on a plane/helcopter and fly without an appreciation of what they are doing and what risks they expose themselves and others to.
Unfortunately there seems to be a significant proportion of General Aviation who seem to be either completely ignorant of good airmanship or choose to ignore it. We have all seen them/heard them or read about them on our travels. We all (PPL, CPL, ATPL) operate in a very regulated environment and most pride themselves on their good airmanship and respect flying as a privilage. It is very frustrating when someone takes it upon themselves to make such a public demonstration of bad airmanship, thereby deriding the effort and professionalism that most pilots put into their flying.
Flying Lawyer,
I am not against low flying at all - that would make me a hypocrite. But as I eluded to in my earlier post, there is a time and a place for this sort of thing. There is a big difference between quiet US beaches and a crowded East Anglian beach. I reserve the “Tosser Label” for those that dogde kites over crouded beaches and fly under bridges in Scottish Lochs.
Englishal,
I don’t know what your evidence for those stories are (cone planting and totty hunters), but I have heard them too. It would not surprise me if they are true. But are they really flying dangerously (or for that matter illegally)? A twin engined police/coastguard/navy helicopter is very different from a small SE fixed wing.
COD