Bolt head 25 may
 

To the idiot in the Grumman AA5 that did a low pass at bolt head in the afternoon, not listening or transmitting on the safetycom, who then overshot and disappeared down the estuary via salcombe, next time l will get your registration. Look at the website you ferkwit!

I was on my boat in Start Bay on Saturday and noticed a light aircraft that could well be the same AA5. He flew south parallel to the beach but offshore. Unusually low, as he flew around the point I could see the lighthouse above him. It's height is given as 200' asl.

Offshore? So not breaking the 500' rule, then, even assuming there were people on the beach?

Yes, well clear of the beach.

I was concerned that he may have had a problem and kept an eye on him until he disappeared behind Start Point. Given the fantastic conditions that day I reckon the view was stunning from low down.

I don't recall seeing other light aircraft in that area at similar altitude which is what got my attention.

I don't get this. The guy was 500' from anything. If I was going to fly low along the coast, I'd check NOTAMs, but not nutter's websites.

Wasn't me (I fly an AA5, but wasn't airborne that day, or anywhere near Devon), but what website? I can't see anything on the chart or today's NOTAMs that would make low flying worse than at any other time.

G

Here's the Bolt Head website.
Bolt Head Airfield |
Like a lot of places, they only exist by keeping the neighbours placated, this ties in neatly with the 'why PPR' thread elsewhere. Hardly a nutter's website!
Good airmanship dictates that flight within the traffic pattern of an aerodrome be avoided unless intending to land there. In this case, this is only possible by prior permission. The OP wasn't objecting to the aircraft flying low over the sea, but flying too close to their aerodrome and upsetting the neighbours ( and potentially coming into conflict with local traffic without ascertaining via the radio if there was any such).
I would suggest that flight below 2,000' and within 2NM of ALL aerodromes on the 1/2 mil chart be avoided unless prior contact with them has been made.

TOO

Wasn't me either...!..but in the old days,Millward and myself used to stay very low,often due to weather,kept the circuit very tight,to keep out of the footprint of local dwellings and few even knew the Bolt was an active strip!!

Typed Bolt Head into SD. Nothing found. Are they sneakily calling it something else?

Salcombe..........

So are we talking about a low pass over the airfield (Bolt Head aka Salcombe on SD) or a low pass over the landmark known as Bolt Head?

The pilot may have been lost and looking for a landmark or may have thought he was making an approach to another airfield (been there, done that).

But as for "no-fly" zones, this is something I have had heated arguments about before with so-called "controllers" at remote grass strips. By the look of your website, these are areas subject to a local agreement to placate your neighbours who don't want low flying aircraft over their houses every 5 minutes. Theses areas are not mandatory, they are not marked on the charts. The only sanction you have is to insist that the zone must be avoided otherwise you will not allow an aircraft to land.

As for the feckwit in a C130 at 300 ft that flew through the circuit of my local grass strip (also marked on the charts), no-one would even acknowledge it happened when I phoned around to complain.

You guys are just stick in the muds. This guy was just following the sentiment so well articulated in the Ulswater thread

:rolleyes: