If you’re going to be daft enough...
 

...to blatantly breach the Covid restrictions, it’s probably best not to be filmed doing it:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...shire-56278463

Don’t believe everything that you read or see in the media........
It’s not always quite the way they portray it.............

That must of been one hell of a beef sandwich.

How about

Local businessman uses maintenance flight opportunity to help small local take away store promote their business during tough trading times.......

It looks Ok to me. They wore a mask and delivered the sarnie through the window I mean honestly. What is the point of being rich and owning a helicopter if the common people are just going to complain when you pop out for lunch!

.......just because you can, doesn't mean that you should...............

Blighty has been thoroughly useless at enforcing covid regulations, relying on the honour-system and failing to notice some people don't give a monkey's,
It is unsurprising that the elite have worked out it is far easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Brains seldom seems to come with cash and celebrity, so most don't bother with discretion and are then shocked when someone notices.
If Mr Ramsey can waft around ignoring rules, why not land your helicopter.
The fine is going to be less than the trip anyway.
Money well spent.

The problem with people who do this kind of thing is that to members of the general public it comes across that all members of the general aviation community are arrogant, wealthy, egocentric bellends. There are many within the GA world who fit this description perfectly some of whom I know however, the vast majority are normal people doing their thing while trying to adhere to the ANO, the Covid restrictions and rules in general. This kind of news story doesn't help when we are trying to restrict CAS or stop our airfields from becoming housing estates and trying to enlist the help of the public and local residents.

This may well have been legitimate use of a necessary flight and perfectly legal

But we must always assume we are being filmed or photographed, because we so often are, and must be mindful of how our actions will be portrayed. (I appreciate that the pilot may not have been aware that the cafe were going to publicise his visit - I would guess that he was not)

If this was a deliberate effort to publicise the cafe then both the pilot and the cafe were naive to the point of stupidity.

The Great British Public are fed up to the back teeth of Covid restrictions and are ready to lash out spectacularly at any perceived injustice or violation (Especially on the part of "the privileged" or by noisy helicopters that they love to complain about at the best of times). To give them ammunition such as this is a spectacular own goal for the industry.

OH

Unfortunately, in this country, our media tend to always find a negative spin on any story they find. Similarly the general public don’t applaud success they loathe and despise it.

This was a totally innocuous trip that usually wouldn’t merit any kind of media attention and not should it have done.

I know the circumstances here and the pilot wasn’t popping in for a butty by helicopter he was genuinely helping someone out . As a helicopter owner myself I do many trips a year helping people out as does the pilot/owner of this heli. Every now and then we pick up unwanted attention despite our intentions being totally innocent and usually very generous in nature .

I also don’t feel as if we have to go around worrying that someone may misconstrue our generally good intentions because they’re bitter enough to want to find fault in what we’re doing.

The amount of times someone says to me ‘don’t do that because of this, and don’t post that photograph here because of that’ infuriates me . No one should have to live their life worried that they’re a target for unjustified criticism.

The owner and pilot of this heli will be mortified at how his very generous and good intentions have been portrayed particularly as the reports are totally out of context - as usual .

Joel stop trying to defense the indefensible. When I take my aircraft out for a maintenance flight I take it for a 10 minute flight every 10 days or so, then land and put it away. Not that I couldn't do more but the optics are what matters.

As others have said, the green eyed monster will always look out for rich guys doing what they want. The pilot concerned has put us all in a worse place with the general public who are all fed up.

My reaction was "publicity stunt".
As to this being illegal my missus hit ther nail on the head when she said "he's not doing anything wrong. Travelling for food which is an essential item is permitted.".
You know, she has a point.
I guess the pilot could always claim he was "testing his eyes".

How many hours do you have to do, in what time period, to remain legal on his license?

But the current lockdown restrictions don’t apply to your mate?

206 Jock - I don’t want an argument but I’ll defend what and who I like. It’s no more your business to criticise than it’s mine to defend - except perhaps I know the pilot and the circumstances where you probably no neither. Quite frankly I know what its like to have been vilified in the press when no one but me and a select few know the exact truth and then have no real opportunity to reply.

The fact that we are even locked down is a national disgrace. The rules are a joke, the response to the pandemic are nationally, and globally, a gross over reaction and the fact that anyone’s civil liberties have been restricted in this way is beyond scandalous. Nevertheless it’s everyone’s choice what they do and if the pilot here wants to fly their aircraft in any manner whatsoever its their business and their business alone.

We’ve become a politically correct, left wing, prissy, woke and snowflake society, so scared of it’s own shadow that the unfounded fear of death has made people frightened to live.................

Bravo 73 - Whether they do, whether they don’t
Whether they were followed or whether they weren’t
its no one else’s business..........
and Don’t even get me started on wether or not we should even be in lockdown.......

Everyone is so quick to criticise these days
no one on this planet is a saint..................

That isn't up to you.
The world is in the same situation, as inconvenient as that may be for you.
That is the sort of selfish and entitled behaviour that deserves the sanction it gets.
No one with that attitude has any place in a cockpit.

Out of interest, what lockdown legislation (not guideline - but actual legislation) do you believe has been broken here?

Has anyone else noticed that bad behaviour in helicopters often seems to be type-specific?
I have two types in mind. (and Robinson isn't one of them)

ADS-B is not always your friend.