Would you report a low flying aircraft?

[Fonsini]

We were visiting my elderly mother-in-law who lives in a cottage out in the Cheshire countryside when a piston single beat up the field at the bottom of her garden while we were all sat there drinking G&Ts. I would estimate he was at 70 to 80 feet AGL and about 30 yards from the end of her garden, very close to us and very low. He applied power and bobbed up to miss the trees at the edge of the field, flew a couple of higher circuits and disappeared. His serial was reach out and touch it visible.

Worthy of a report or just go and make another gin and tonic?

[Brookmans Park]

500 feet from a person or structure so probably legal but with no reg nothing you can do

[B2N2]

We weren’t there.
If you considered it unsafe you could get in touch with the operator and voice your concern.
Could be a renter buzzing around in which case the operator will want a word with him.
If they tell you to stuff it then maybe consider a next step.
I know of a school that uses a very recognizable paint scheme on their trainers just for this reason :}

[Jack D]

Option two with less tonic would be my suggestion , after all it was entertaining I should think .

[H Peacock]

30 yards away = 90ft
Height = 80ft.
So distance = 121ft away!! 🤔

Perhaps a tad further away if you factor in the length of the garden, but still less than 500ft!

[Fonsini]

Very close, almost as close as this………yesterday……oddly similar aircraft too……


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1280x872/image_7b92be8036acd4e815791d8527478a4d21d6f844.jpeg

[sycamore]

You can try for a replay on FR24 or ADS-B EXCHANGE to find his destination,and operator on G-INFO..Was your MiL disturbed ,or enjoyed it..?...no camera or CCTV...? perhaps it was a local `display`...in the wrong place....?...unless it was a Spitfire/Hurricane/F-35,i`d be inclined to go to `Option2`.....call owner/operator.....

[Tay Cough]

Can’t be that one. He said it was near. That one is Farr.

I’ll get my coat….

[sagan]

That was funny :D.

[First_Principal]

Well done TC :ok:

A third option of course is to follow the aircraft, hop the fence, and make yourself known.

Last time some like this happened to me that's what I did. It led to me meeting new people, having a convivial chat about all things aviation (and VW Beetle!) related, and finding out that what intially looked like someone beating up the place was actually just them doing a few circuits and approaching to land in a nearby field that wasn't obviously a strip from where I was situated. Had I gone in all guns blazing, or made some sort of report, there'd have been - rightfully - a ton of egg dropped from a great height on my face.

So, as in many things, it's best to know the answer to a question already before you ask it - why not just make a gently enquiry of the owner from afarr afar, and see what result you get? Something like 'saw you on xx and it looked like you were trying to get into a field - is there a strip nearby I don't know about?' etc etc.

If after that you feel there's a safety issue I guess there are several further options to follow, but at least you'd be able to make that decision better informed than now. Better still one might learn something new, and maybe make new friends...

[Peter Fanelli]

Have no experience with British training, but any possibility it was a student demonstrating an engine failure forced landing on a flight test?

[Fonsini]

Tay Cough - a well earned 👏

Good advice all, I’ll let sleeping dogs lie unless he makes a nuisance of himself. Wish I had snapped a photo though, it was quite the fly-by.

[topradio]

40 years ago I reported an aircraft for low/dangerous flying. At the time I was living in the village of Bar Hill 5 miles north of Cambridge. The pilot was repeatedly spinning the aircraft and pulling out about 200ft above the houses. It's a long time ago now and the details are sketchy but I can tell you that I was scared as one of the houses he was stunting directly above was mine and he conducted the manoeuvre perhaps half a dozen times. At one point he flew along the line of the perimeter road which was about 200 yards from my house and I couldn't actually see the aircraft as he was hidden behind the trees!

Later that day a police officer came to take a statement & thinking that perhaps I had overreacted I asked if anybody else had complained, he produced a list of about 50 names and he was going to have to interview them all. He said that the pilot had been traced and there had been a wedding on at the local hotel and the display was for that.

I never did hear the outcome but I can't believe that he wasn't prosecuted.

[ETOPS]

Hello Fonsini

The aircraft involved - I'm guessing as pictured - is based on an unmarked strip close to your location. Basically takes off or lands on open farm land. If you PM me the exact location I could check and maybe confirm that you happen to be close to the strip?

[Fonsini]

Hello Fonsini

The aircraft involved - I'm guessing as pictured - is based on an unmarked strip close to your location. Basically takes off or lands on open farm land. If you PM me the exact location I could check and maybe confirm that you happen to be close to the strip?

Thanks ETOPS I’ll shoot you some coordinates.

[B2N2]

Have no experience with British training, but any possibility it was a student demonstrating an engine failure forced landing on a flight test?

In which case that would be a FAIL.

[ShyTorque]

Yes, the 500 foot rule still applies.

[Heston]

In which case that would be a FAIL.
No it wouldn't, not if it was a test. But the examiner should have said,"ok you can go around now" before the 500' rule was breached. The examinee has to do exactly what they would do in a real engine failure which means ignoring the 500' rule. It's the examiners job to see it isn't broken.
if necessary the examiner might then have wanted another one so they could go lower.