Gaseous, I think it is appalling that they intimidated you like that. If you are a whole mile outside the zone you are outside it, pure and simple, and they utterly exceeded their authority if they used coercion ot threats, real or implicit, to prevent you from doing what was legal. What would you make of a cop telling you not to even think of doing 20 in a 30 limit...You'd laugh in his face, wouldn't you! Having said that they clearly did intimidate you, and I think that is grounds for a formal complaint. I'm also a bit surprised at the suggestion someone made that they can "fit you up". How? If you've done nothing wrong they can't. The whole point is their threats were empty, and they knew it, they had no way of preventing you going flying at all.
I would be intercepted by Lancs ASU - or worse!
So what if the police helo "intercepts" you. What is it going to do, except take photos? It has no right or ability to force you down or divert your course. How could it if you are clear of the TRA? The "Or worse?" is more worrying, and I would take that as a direct threat to my physical safety, which is probably a criminal offence.
From their point of view I can only guess that the Gold Commander had seen how twitched the US security people got even when they saw anything in the sky at all, and knowing they pack tools that reach some way beyond a mere 3 mile exclusion zone decided to make sure no-one got an excuse to become a little over-zealous.
Makes you wonder why they didn't make it a 5 mile zone...
Slap in a formal complaint mate! It's a shameful state of affairs when an honest citizen is put in fear of his own police force by being threatened not to something that he is perfectly entitled to do.
relatively daft but honest
I loved that bit! And yes, they just go down from there.