stuartasutherland Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Bit of a dilema at the moment. Myself and a couple of friends have secured the use of a small field belonging to a nice chap who keeps it like a big garden. Next door is his farmer neighbour who has a livery doesn't like it much. He has a real problem with our landowner in that they have a long running problem with each other and it seems we are being brought into it. Anyway, we only fly there on average once a month. We and the landowner have filmed the horses and to be honest they dont seem bothered. We never fly over the farm and take of and land at the furthest away end of our field. We were practicing forward launches in nil wind today and he came over and started ranting about his horses shaking from the sight of our wings (which were about 250 metres away). Bear in mind there is a high speed railway track right next to both fields too. He called the Police today and they came and had a word with us. I told them we were completely within the law and even stil, if I believed we were scaring horses, I would walk away. After the Police left, we attempted a powered launch to show the farmer that he doesn't have a leg to stand on. We plan on using other sites too but it is cracking, especially seeing as it free draining. So, what would you do? Our field owner says we should just keep flying. I attach a pic to show where we are, and 9 times out of 10 we are in the NE side of the field, but legally we can fly closer that 500ft on take off and landing anyway. Ta Stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richwill15 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 personally? if the landowner is happy for you to use the field and he's happy to deal with the neighbour I'd keep using it. You're obviously aware the horses are there and I'm sure if you were genuinely frightening them you'd stop. But let's face it.. high speed trains are 200+ tons that are not only loud but shake the ground. I think the neighbour is just trying to spoil your fun. just my tuppenceworth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartasutherland Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Forgot to say, he was giving it all the "I'll fight you in court" rubbish. How can it get t court if we are doing nothing wrong/? Also, we take off and piss off, never hang about to annoy anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richwill15 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 he can't take you to court.. he can (though scottish law could be different i guess) lodge a civil action with his neighbour.. (remember, you've got the landowners permission to use his land). i don't know if the 28 day rule is applicable in Scotland but there could be a discussion about that. hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_b Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Keep an accurate log of times and dates you use the site, if he was to say you frightened his horse and it got injured then you may be able to show you weren't there at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartasutherland Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 I do have a log of all flights anyway. We do have the 28 day rule up here for change of planning but we would be lucky to use it 10 times a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob999 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 It sounds to me as if you're being used as a pawn in someone elses dispute. I hope the Police were ok with you. If you're within the law then I don't see as how he can stop you. He can claim you're having a detrimental effect to his horses, but that would be down to him to prove with evidence. Horses can be flighty critters, a one ton animal controlled with a brain the size of a walnut, its just asking for trouble !! When we first got our helicopter at work the surrounding horses were skittish, but we're talking a McDonnel Douglas 902 Explorer here, probably at 50 to 100 ft over the horses on take off and landing, but they soon settled down. Exactly the same as yours are used to the railway. I expect if you used the site more, they would settle quicker.. As belt and braces why not GoPro every flight, you don't have to store the images for long, maybe until your next flight. That way you can visually disprove or prove his allegations...our works helicopter has the camera on all the time for that very reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I would continue to use the land. Be polite at all times to the grumpy old sod. (Thanks for your advice, we will make sure that our flight plan avoids your horses when possible, even though we are not legally required to do so) He will soon get the message. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richwill15 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I think there's also the question of "what would be the best way for us to ensure you're skittish animals are not spooked?" and if he says to not fly at all, then you kinda know if he's prepared to be reasonable or not. I know quite a few microlight airfields with horses right next to them and after a littlewhile they just look over the fences to see what's going on. IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartasutherland Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 He is a grumpy sod. We told the ePolice the law around what we do and they seemed happy we know what we were talking about. They just wandered off to find something more interesting to do. Thanks for all the advise, I am trying to be as reasonable to this chap as possible but he doesn't seem to want to know. Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Remain pilote don't loose your rag.... It will make you the better man, and he will soon know that his ranting is not having the desired effect. IF he is still moaning in say... 3-4 years then tell him to F off This worked in my case very well indeed. What I dont know of course is what the effect of the F off would have been if used sooner. LOL SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spigot Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I would take the grumpy farmers phone number, and offer to ring a few hours before you plan to fly from the site. If he cares so much for the welfare of his horses perhaps he might like to move them to another field, or indoors during your flying hours. Bet the horses would soon get used to the nasty, noisy, big wingy things. Colin B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
druffuk Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Pretty much what everyone has said... but why not offer him a tandem flight, maybe if he experienced the fun of flying he might reconsider and even be a convert and start flying himself....?? Just an idea..... The RAF offer free helicopter rides to the farms around here where they fly...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 So thats where my tax goes !! SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 ... but why not offer him a tandem flight...... I thought it was the horses that were supposed to be frightened - maybe you should offer to take them on tandem flights? Pete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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