25FT Lowflying Helo
Join Date: Feb 2003
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Please don't get so emotional, Hugh Been'ad. Nobody is detracting from the job done by the RAF nor is anybody questioning the validity of the use made by the RAF of those assets provided for it. But some posters here - notably FATTER GATOR, need to remember to treat those who complain with respect.
As for realistic training - yes, the general public (many of whom are ex-military and probably know better than you how important that training is) know that is necessary. However, so far, the MOD have not convinced the horse riding fraternity in the Market Rasen area that they have adequate measures in place to avoid repeating the tragic accident still so fresh in their minds. That the recent complaints come from this area is evidence that the MOD needs to show more sensitivity to their perception that nothing has changed.
We should also be aware that Teflon Tony has not made the military flavour of the decade - even in Lincolnshire. His adventures in foreign lands that were excluded from our defence budget and planning years ago have not only over-stretched our forces but also created a growing perception that somehow associates the military with this issue. We need to tread carefully if we want the full support of the civilian population.
As for realistic training - yes, the general public (many of whom are ex-military and probably know better than you how important that training is) know that is necessary. However, so far, the MOD have not convinced the horse riding fraternity in the Market Rasen area that they have adequate measures in place to avoid repeating the tragic accident still so fresh in their minds. That the recent complaints come from this area is evidence that the MOD needs to show more sensitivity to their perception that nothing has changed.
We should also be aware that Teflon Tony has not made the military flavour of the decade - even in Lincolnshire. His adventures in foreign lands that were excluded from our defence budget and planning years ago have not only over-stretched our forces but also created a growing perception that somehow associates the military with this issue. We need to tread carefully if we want the full support of the civilian population.
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Watch the interview again.They don't say that a complaint has been made to the MOD by anyone about the ac low flying. They were not shown riding at Market Rasen but at Thorpe-le-Vale which is not in the avoid area. (I know the fishery too well!)This looks like the Market Rasen crowd trying to be clever and the BBC going along with them.
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Unfortunately the 'Market Rasen crowd' are giving the wider horse riding fraternity a bad name.
I ride horses and also work at the home of the noisiest of helicopters. The school where I ride has a land away area (is that what they called?) within 1/4 of a mile of it which is quite heavily used yet when I asked at the school if they have any trouble with helicopters they told me they weren't a problem.
Yes it was tragic that someone was apparently (I say apparently because I believe the RAF were entirely a scapegoat) killed by a low-flying helicopter spooking their horse but as already mentioned horses can be spooked by such things as carrier bags flapping on some barbed wire. As a rider you should always be both appropriately dressed to take the fall from a horse and also on your guard for the big, powerful animal you are riding doing something unexpected.
I ride horses and also work at the home of the noisiest of helicopters. The school where I ride has a land away area (is that what they called?) within 1/4 of a mile of it which is quite heavily used yet when I asked at the school if they have any trouble with helicopters they told me they weren't a problem.
Yes it was tragic that someone was apparently (I say apparently because I believe the RAF were entirely a scapegoat) killed by a low-flying helicopter spooking their horse but as already mentioned horses can be spooked by such things as carrier bags flapping on some barbed wire. As a rider you should always be both appropriately dressed to take the fall from a horse and also on your guard for the big, powerful animal you are riding doing something unexpected.
