Shot down by our own side

[poetpilot]

I dont wish to flame the same threads on every forum, BUT......
if you havent seen it, please check out

www.flyer.co.uk

in the GA discussion forum, thread "I Dont Believe It".

Essentially a supposed private pilot has publicly attacked local council permission to allow Sherlow strip operations to continue. Furthermore, he has misinformed the public re: aerobatic operations, inferring that the pilots there are not competent and the aircraft not suitable.

From a response further in the thread, he does appear to be a bona fide PPL. What a plonker !!!!!

web addresses of the newspaper involved, and email contacts are all on the thread. Just check it out to see what one of our own has done for GA (not). I'm very sad.:( :( :(

[Simon W]

Right, let's get him! (just joking if the person concerned reads this forum) If he really does have a PPL then he's showing a very odd way of supporting GA in the UK.

Simon

[Polar_stereographic]

And if as I suspect he does not hold a current PPL, then surely that should be used to discredit his evidence.

PS

[poetpilot]

Polar, that's what I attempted to do in my response letter sent to the Shropshire star (which is also in that thread somewhere. They havent printed my answering letter yet,(and I bet they wont, the b***ers.

With friends like these, who needs enemas?

[CirrusMe]

Hey folks, the poster's obviously not one of us. But I'm sure I recall seeing the following somewhere:

"As these are anonymous forums the origins of the contributions may be opposite to what may be apparent. In fact the press may use it, or the unscrupulous, to elicit certain reactions."

Sounds pprun-ish familiar......

[poetpilot]

If so, then it's a devilishly clever prank old boy.... apparently (according to another contributor who's been watching the Sherlowe scenario unfold) he is a bona fide pilot who previously supported the strip....

I wonder what turned him to say such silly things? I wonder if he now has a very red face?

[niknak]

Nothing suprises me anymore:rolleyes:
I recently took a noise complaint from someone objecting to circuit aircraft and helicopters, specifically flying over his house .
Normally this sort of thing would be handled by the duty manager, but I agreed to pass it on providing he followed his complaints up with a letter justifying his call.
when he wrote to the M.D, not only did he state that he was a 'PPL of over 1000 hours', but it was also established that he was one of the pilots whose actions had resulted in the banning of formation take offs, and the restriction on certain ex - milatary types of aircraft operating on a Sunday.:mad: :rolleyes: :mad:
W**kers, one and all.

[poetpilot]

Well folks, another episode to this story .... I'll assume you have read the foregoing threads (incl Flyer thread too)......if you havent, please take the time in order to set the scene.....

Graham Cox has now published a letter in answer to my letter defending Sherlowe & the operation there. I will be guarded in my comments on what he's written, 'cos I don't want to say something that could be considered libellous & slanderous.

However I can tell you that Graham Cox who wrote the letter is a "bona fide" PPL & IMC holder, who has previously flown from Sleap and is now based Wolverhampton.

The letter is what was published in a newspaper so it stands as public domain material.

My only comments on it are that I am as a PPL deeply offended at Mr Cox's implication that I or other pilots may have taken money for giving flights, and that as an aviator, I find it incredible that a "fellow" aviator is denouncing efforts to continue what is an environmentally sensitive, low density, recreational & social activity in a non-residential area of Shropshire. Anyone who knows Bob Pooler & the Sherlowe strip operation would I am sure back this view up.

Oh & by the way, the unlicensed strip is NOT being used for training, the a/c have public cat CofAs, Bob is a licensed instructor & examiner & aerobatics are generally performed well away from the strip environment itself.

Seems like Mr Cox may have just a tiny little chip on his shoulder......

--------------------------- letter begins (Shropshire Star 11/5/2002) ---------------------------------------

"Aerobatics are always noisier for all aircraft
--------------------------------------------------------

Having only just returned from a trip abroad I was unable to reply to (poetpilots) letter regarding the continuing dispute over Bob Poolers plans for Sherlowe airstrip.

I am fully aware that C152 Aerobats are approved for aerobatics, hence the name. However the C152 type of aircraft is primarily used to teach basic flying. Due to its inherent stability & its low engine power the performance of a C152 when carrying out aerobatics is hardly spectacular.

Irrespective of whether they are performed below or above 4000 feet, aerobatic manouevres generate far more noise, for any given type of ircraft, than does straight & level flight.

Contrary to what (poetpilot) states in his letter I have never professed to be an expert in aviation. Also I do not have anywhere near the flying experience or hold the number of additional ratings that Bob Pooler has.

It costs me over £1000 per year just to maintain my PPL (single engine) together with the additional IMC rating.
The rules relating to the use of light aircraft for hire and reward are quite rightly, very stringent & clearly defined. Unlike a lot of pilots I can truthfully say that I have never charged my pasengers a penny for taking them flying with me.

Mr Pooler originally implied that he merely wanted to make his airstrip available to a few friends on a more regular basis.

It has now become apparent that from the outset Mr Pooler intended to use his airstrip as a commercial venture. Mt Pooler is inviting people to pay a membership fee to join a flying club which is not even situated on a licensed aerodrome.

Although I'm no expert on the subject, I would have sought the advice of the CAA before attempting to submit the planning application to the Telford & Wrekin Council for approval.
Graham Cox
Wellington"
---------------- letter ends ---------------------------------------------------------------

[FlyingForFun]

Forgive me for going off on a slight tangent, especially since I'm not all that familiar with the details of this particular airfield, but:

It has now become apparent that from the outset Mr Pooler intended to use his airstrip as a commercial venture. Mr Pooler is inviting people to pay a membership fee to join a flying club which is not even situated on a licensed aerodrome

I didn't realise this wasn't allowed. An airfield doesn't have to be licensed to have a club based on it (Popham and North Weald immediately spring to mind). And as far as I'm aware, there are no specific pre-requisites for setting up a commercial venture such a flying club - I thought the restrictions on making money which apply to the PPL only apply to activities where the person concerned is actually flying??? :confused: :confused: :confused:

FFF
---------------

[poetpilot]

FFF

I think I agree with you. Unless anyone else can correct me, a club is not a commercial venture in the strict sense. And Bob Pooler isnt teaching flying. Anyone who flied from Sherlowe flies either as a qualified pilot or a pax.

As I said, I've withheld a lot of my immediate comments & reactions, in the interests of nailing down exactly what this chap is rambling on about and what we (the pilot community) could possibly do to limit the damage he is causing.

By the way, Bob Pooler has expressed a wish NOT to write to the paper concerned, as he wants the local furore to die down. My sole purpose is to determine whether anyone can talk some sense into this guy. I'm not sure that I could right now...

[PFLsAgain]

I'm starting to wonder what on earth's going on in the Telford area. A couple of days before Graham Cox's bizzare letter appeared, there was one from a resident in the Sherlowe area complaining that a light aircraft regularly flew low over his house and was obviously spying on him. The reason? Because every time he ran into his house to get his binoculars to read the registration the dastardly aircraft flew off!

A local pilot wrote in and quite rightly pointed out that if bincoluars were used to try (not to mention failing) to get the registration, low flying wasn't really an issue.

Then, in last Thursday's edition of the Telford Journal (a free rag that goes to all houses in the area) someone wrote in to complain. Specifically, he said that he had moved up from Heathrow to get away from aircraft noise, and it was actually worse in Telford. He complained that one local light aircraft regularly flies over the Ironbridge area - at least twice a day. Even with double glazing the noise in this guy's house was apparently intolerable and worse than Heathrow. He keeps a pair of binoculars handy to get the registration, but hasn't managed to do so yet.

The temptation to write in and say exactly what I think of these nutcases is very great indeed, but it won't achieve anything. However, they are managing to paint a consistently negative view of our activities. It really doesn't help when our own side join in with the abuse. How do we counter all of this rubbish in a constructive manner?

[FNG]

Any club can be a commercial venture, and most flying clubs are just that, but there's nothing wrong with this, and no need for the airfield to be licensed for various business activities to take place there. Instruction for the PPL cannot take place from an unlicensed field, but a suitably qualified instructor or commercial pilot could conduct other training or commercial activities, subject to the terms of his or her licence. A PPL cannot earn money from working as a pilot, but can own a flying business.

On this basis, the suggestion made in the published letter that there might be some regulatory problem with the airfield's activities is not easy to follow, as there's no reason to assume that the pilots concerned are not appropriately licensed for what they're doing.

[poetpilot]

I have a fair amount of information on Graham Cox already, but this is based purely on hearsay, so I will not divulge it or my opinion of him based upon what I know.

But if anyone knows FACTS arising from his past association with Sleap and his current association with Wolverhampton (which I believe he may have also written letters to the press about) it would be good to see them.... as long as they are only unassailable facts, not conjecture.

I have an opinion which may relate to any flying establishment wishing to take him as a customer or member, but of course, I will keep that to myself.

[poetpilot]

Oh by the way I live in Telford and there is NO aircraft noise problem. Very rare to see a (non-military) aircraft. Main noise comes from military (Shawbury) & police choppers.

Sherlowe's "local flying area" is to the west, beyond Shrewsbury.
Conditions permitting, aeros are conducted v. high - eg 8000 feet.

As a general, admittedly subjective observation (and as an "alien"), I tend to find the average local person round here a bit "yokelish". I'm sure this does not apply to the above-average people of the area though, amongst which I count anyone local reading this (though I reserve judgement on the aforementioned Mr Cox).:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[poetpilot]

Actually, there is a story I can release.......

There was a company called Cox Chemicals, situated at Overley Hill nr Wellington Shropshire (coincidentally quite close to where Mr Cox now lives) which had for many years suffered objections from its neighbours over safety fears. However, despite perceived safety issues, the chemical company continued to operate until it suffered a major explosion some years ago.....

...of course, Mr Cox may have absolutely no connection at all with this company.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[FFly]

If the person who complained about the aircraft crossing overhead Ironbridge "at least twice every day" looked to RAF C******d, he might find that the aircraft in question is not one but most of the Grobs used by the UAS and AEF.
I want to complain too. I am fed up with hearing and seeing them doing aeros over the area just to the South of Telford. They only do it just to annoy me on days when I am stuck at work with the window open.I can hear them but I can't see them from the office window so I have to stop work to go out into the car park to look up and admire.:) :)