Maverick3n1
Senior Heliman
Location: San Diego, CA
| Call the police and report an assault with a deadly weapon and attemptive murder. They'll be out there real quick. A helicopter with blades spinning 1500+ RPM within 10 feet of you is a deadly weapon, and a person spinning up blades like that in that environment is attempting to murder someone.. whether it be themselves or you.. =P
If they lip off, call the cops. I'm sure the cops would be more then happy to tell the guy to find somewhere else to fly... People like him are going to make it to the point where even RC pilots will have to get a RC pilots license from the FAA... While in a way it's not a bad idea, it kinda sucks too.
Our club has many rules in place specifically for this situation. Piliots must have AMA to fly at our field. If a Pilot wishes to fly at our field and is not a member of our field, they must be a guest of one of the members, and they can only be a guest once or twice per year without having to sign up for a membership. Those who sign up for a membership get a "student" membership (even if they are already experienced pilots) until they fly in front of our president or a few of the other instructors in our club that can certify you. In the mean time, you are only allowed to fly buddy boxed with an instructor.
This way those who "know how to fly" but can't seem to keep the helicopter from hovering over their own head/the pit area can't fly without an instructor, and the instructor can take the heli out of harms way before it gets dangerously close. Those who know how to fly but don't do proper inspections of their equipment (which is part of our standard safety rules) will not be rewarded a solo membership either, and will need instructors to go over their setup with them, until they learn to follow those procedures.
Student cards and solo/instructor cards are each a different color, so a student's card stands out, and before you turn on your radio, you need to hang that club card on our frequency board wall in the frequency slot you are using so that it is reserved for you and you don't turn on when someone else is using it or visa versa. It stands out when someone is using a student card, so if someone notices a member with a student card about to go to solo, they can question the person etc...
Regardless of a setup like that, everyone at your field should be in essense a safety officer. If you see someone doing something that's unsafe, bring it to their attention. Some people don't realize how dangerous some of this stuff is. Educate them. In the situation you had, obviously they didn't give a rats ass otherwise, and that's when they become a safety issue for themselves, you, and everyone around you. I'd say that's a good time to call the police. People like that are usually the same kind of people that will come to the field drunk and try flying their helicopter while drinking.
While confrontations aren't always the greatest idea's, you gotta do what you gotta do, and if they are putting people at risk, something needs to be done about it. Not only that, but if they do hit someone/something with their helicopter, they can get your club shut down. We have some power lines at our field that have been hit twice so far that I know of. $10,000 fine each time they are hit. We are very conciencious about those power lines as you can imagine. If you are a member and hit those lines, your membership is revoked for a full year, and your insurance/you need to pay for the replacement of those lines. We have to show the company that owns those power lines proof that the person has been removed from the club as they want to know on paper that action was taken, or they could have our club shut down with ease. |
