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Old 11th Nov 2017, 08:53
  #48 (permalink)  
Ascend Charlie
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Great South East, tired and retired
Posts: 4,399
Received 237 Likes on 110 Posts
The world would be a static place if there were no dreamers. That is what fires up inventions. But you gotta temper your dreams with a little reality.

Landing anything on a sporting field is subject to a council, and needs to be covered by their public liability insurance. I have wasted too much time trying to get councils to approve helicopter landings. In some cases, they said yes, but changed their mind before we got to do the landing. In all other cases, it wasn't just "No" but "F**K NO!!!" Even telling them that we would have an area fenced off and have ground staff to keep lookers away.

Won't matter if Lord Vader was at the controls or if it was an Uuuber Spaceship with Big G himself as a passenger, some goose in council would still say no. Things were different in the 70s and 80s before the litigation society took hold, and we made plenty of landings on sports fields, even in the middle of a park in the Domain, and Sydney University, Cock-or-two Island, and Wentworth Park. But not any more.

Even a landing on a beach, below the high tide mark, in an area which is owned by nobody, can be banned by these stupid councils - first example that springs to mind is the Central Coast council. The Nepean council in Melbourne has declared itself a helicopter-free zone after some operators stood on the toes of some well-connected people.

And don't kid yourself that "these are not helicopters, they will be allowed to land anywhere."

I actually wish that the jetsons-style flying cars were a reality, I truly do, but 45 years in aviation has shown me otherwise. Sore head from the number of brick walls I have bumped into, and CA$A hasn't shown itself willing to knock some walls down, rather they want to build new ones.
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