Prison
 

I have been slightly confused for sometime as to the rules applying to fixed wing a/c flying over prisons.

If the minimum height is set on the chart as, say, 2000 ft and there is no note saying that it is helicopter applicable only, what are the authorities really afraid of?

Realistically, what are they expecting? I don't reckon the average spamcan pilot could drop a rope ladder out the door of his 172 as he flew over, pick up a man dressed in "arrow" style pyjamas and then whisk him off.:hmm: (If he managed it the poor prisoner would end up being a permanent knuckle dragger for the rest of his life as the slack was taken up)

Or are they concerned about people dropping hacksaws etc as they pass over? If so, I reckon I could get a hacksaw into the boundary fence from 2000 ft anyway so I'm a little thrown by the whole job really.


And before anyone asks if I'm planning to get a relative out of the nick......I'm not :\

photo-recce ?

sd

sd

I wondered that too but any kind of telephoto lens from 2000 ft would still give an excellent picture for escapees.

:confused:

Read the notes regarding the restricted area that are on the charts. Certainly the prison @ Milton Keynes, and the one in March, Cambs the restriction is for helicopters only.

just done a little homework

my nearest felons' rest camp on the Isle of Wight featured in an early jet-set-gettaway

curiously, they're currently happy for you to hover o/head at 501 feet all day if you wish (29th edition)

they are clearly quite content with their security, and don't mind prying eyes

sd

Didnt the IRA land a heli in a prison and make off with a few of their colleagues? (They also smashed through a wall in a cement truck another time ... )

Dunno if it was the IRA, but someone did. As a consequence, high security prisons like Whitemoor in March have high tension wires strung over the prison yard to prevent helicopters from landing...

High Tension or High Tensile ?

Not being earthed, I imagine the egg-beater would be fairly unfazed by any electrification (the radio might go a bit crackly).

Getting the wires tangled up in the whirly bit might be less convenient though....

Would certainly make the inmates hop about a bit on a rainy day if one of the wires broke and touched the floor of the patio or exercise yard or whatever.

I remember about a year or two ago a blonde female helicopter pilot landed in a prison and took off again with two well known naughty boys. Can't remember exactly where but it wasn't that long ago in the uk.

Sorry, didn't mean electrically charged cables, but cables stretched out across the yard basically so that aircraft can't land.

It was Gartree Prison just outside Market Harborough and the helicopter and pilot were hikacked. They landed in the excercise yard and two lags jumped on board and were "whisked" away.

They were both caught a few weeks later. Gave us locals a laugh though!!

Certainly did bose-x. I remember it well.:D

The restrictions are set by The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Prisons) Regulations 2001. They apply only to helicopters. See:

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/s...1/20011657.htm