Should we be allowed to enjoy our hobbies whilst on or near a site?

[ProfJohnL]

I don't think it matters whether you are at home or on holiday, the pursuit of any activity requires the same degree of care and consideration towards others and safety.

Just being away from home does not mean you can be more cavalier about safety or contingencies, the main difference is you may not know the sensitivities of your fellow holiday makers.

With some hobbies such as flying you may not be aware of all the local effects of wind etc, so extra care may need to be exercised.

With activities where noise or other emissions are involved it may be wise to check with the site operator as there may be by-laws or other constraints.

Just being considerate can avoid loads of problems and keep your holiday relatively stress-less.

Enjoy

 

[LMH]

big field, (away from the caravans. 3 acres plus) fly your toys till your heart's content. Wouldn't bother me but some grumpy old gits will still object no doubt.

And, even if you did fly near my van and hit it (not possible because you already said you wouldn't do that), you wouldn't get any grief, solicitors letters, threats of violence, a letter to the Caravan Club magazine, complaint to have you shot, to the Caravan Club, Watchdog, Cops on Camera, or a thread on here, from us.

As stated previously, there's some right uptight people who go caravanning. Thank god we only actually take it to a site once a year, the rest of the time, it's on a glorious private place.

Lisa

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Just being away from home does not mean you can be more cavalier about safety or contingencies, the main difference is you may not know the sensitivities of your fellow holiday makers.

I see where you're coming from Prof and agree to a certain extent but I think others will have to agree that some peoples sensitivities are bordering on paranoia and really they shouldn't be allowed past their front gate let alone onto a caravan site looking for things to moan about. No doubt their neighbours are glad of the respite though

 

[Steve L]

Hi Lb.
You took the words right out of my mouth on neighbours.

I did a dormer loft conversion on my semi detatched bungalow a few years ago. As you do trying to add value to your resale price. I did my homework with buiding control and fully complied with the party wall act. Consulted Herefordshire council and found I didn't need planning permission. Even spoke to my 70 year old neighbour to explain to her what I was doing and about all the relavent legalities. I even got acceptance on hours of work (just trying to be polite).
Then on the day we took half the roof off to do the dormer. she came out and tried to insist we stopped work and even called the police. But it was her comment that got me! She screemed at the top of her voice to me and the copper "what if I want to do nude sunbathing? They will be able to see me!" We had a hell of a job not to burst out laughing and not to make some sarcastic comment about dried fruit.
Needless to say the police reminded her about behavior in a public open space of a housing estate of both bungalows and houses and the fact that a 5 storey comprehensive school with 1'000 school kids all getting the teenage erge was only 300 metres from her back garden.

Nowt so quear as folk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ProfAlGoogle]

Any one out there willing to give me flying instructions on my model RC helicopter the wife bought me two Christmases ago? only tried it the once and it almost took me bo*dy fingers off

now resides in the bottom of the wardrobe so no annoyance from me

Wouldn't mind trying one of them electric bikes next, mmmmmmmmmmmm ............................... Men we never grow up lol, swap any one.

Why do I keep getting Word verification every time I post? never used to!

 

[Parksy]

No to worry Allan, I'll ask the tech guys to sort out the word verificaction for you.

 

[Philspadders]

cookieones , where are you and what are the models ? make, i/c , electric, etc. If you are s yorks i may be able to help.

3 to 4 years ago a guy un the US died after a carbon blade detached from the head of his .30 size heli. The blade hit his neck and he bled to death.

A flyer in the UK required emergency hospital treatment after a blade snapped , hit him and passed through his clothes and then through him. He survived as he was a member of a club and other members were with him.

I know 2 guys who spent 4 hours in surgery having tendons reconnected and one finger re attatched after putting there hands in to the proc arc of a fixed wing aircraft.
its great fun but very dangerous..... at times.
Some r/c aeroplanes are worth many thousands and can be very large, there was a scale b52 but this crashed , 8 jet engines( £1k each) and 40' span.

If anyone is interested take a look at www.bmfa.org and http://www.largemodelassociation.com

 

[Big S]

If you took that attitude Philspadders you would never do anything in life.
In 2007, 650 pedestrians were killed in the UK. Does that mean that the risks are so high that you should never walk on a pavement again or cross a road. Of course not that would be ridiculous.
There are risks in all walks of life, the main aspect is how you minimse those risks to not only yourslf but to others as well. If a RC aircraft/helicopter was off site and away from people then this reduced the risks significantly. In addition being a member of a recognised club should ensure that carrtying out such a hobby is carried out responsibly.

 

[Surfer]

I was looking at a PP that I received the other week and the guys in Dubai are big into this as soem the model aircraft were almost the size of a smll plane, i.e. a model of a 747 etc. Also saw anothe one of a Super fortress with 4 prop engines. Absolutely massive. Pity we can't post it on this forum as it is interesting but if any one has a spare email address I can forward it on.

There is some footage of a radio controlled model B29 Superfortress
Here

Yep the same one. The other one I have is a PP show. I will see if I cna dig it and send it on.

 

[Philspadders]

Big S, what are you on about. I fly model aircraft, i fly very large ones. I fly very large i/c helis. I know how dangerous they are.I was simply relating how a passive hobby can be very dangerous.
These are not toys and need to be treated with respect.
http://www.largemodelassociation.com/davie_mathews_c17.htm

In most of middle east just about all forms of radio control modelling is prohibted in law unless you are a member of the Royal famillies or have special permission.
The latest development in r/c flying is PVF or point of view flying using and onboard camera , transmitter, a ground based reciever projecting the image to a pair of glasses. Its almost military , but on small models and the kit is oonly a few hundred pounds to buy. However it has become a rather contentious issue as we can now have publicly operated ROV's possibly intent on doing harm. But it is not illegal.......... yet.

 

[Philspadders]

Ps Big S.. forgot to mention.... i helped from and run an r/c flying club, affilited to the BMFA. I have my A and B certs. I have a garage with , lets see , an Ultimate Bipe with a 22c 4stroke geared engine driving a 20" x 16" prop. You wuld not want to put your hand in that prop arc. And then there is the Bf109 80" span full house with scale retracts etc. And then there... i could go on but wont, you may think i have some sort of attitude against model flying.

Some models and the skill levels of the pilots mean they they should not fly near a caravan site or near groups of people. The first question a pilot should ask is " is it safe to fly". However some think they are so good that they think it is safe to fly.

6 years ago a youngster was killed in a public place by a model arcraft, quite a small one. The fin failed in flight due to the builder making a beginners mistake. The builder lost of control and it ened up with the tragic death of a young child.

Flying in a club environment is one thing but flying elsewhere is a different matter- , you dont know who built the model, how skilled they are, have they range checked , are the tx and rx batteries fully charged etc.

I take small models with and never fly them on site and always chose a safe area. I make sure i have a spotter to warn me of anyone appproaching and ensure they remain behind me. I have an "escape" plane and will always crash a model, no matter the cost to prevent damge or injury. I always aks "is it safe to fly" and if in doubt... dont.

People can be very stupid at times. Last year i stopped a woman trying to fly a kite.... under soome power lines. I caught one fella 2 years ago , trying to learn to flly a heli on a site .It was .30 size so if it hit you it woould require a hospital visit or worse.... he had never been to a club, he did not follow any BMFA safety protocols,had no insurance and the heli was simply not set up. I set up his pitch / throttle mix , expo, set the HH gyro gain, head speed, even his tail rotor servo was reversed... in short he was nasty accident waiting to happen. I took him off site, got it set up to hover and flew some lazy eights for him. He then realised how hard it was,put it away and promised to join a club..... i hope he did.

The attitude Big S comes from not suffering a personall injury but from PREVENTING inury to someone else or much worse.

If you want to see model fllying at its best there are a numbert of shows around the country, Theres HOP farm in kent, Wings and Wheels near Yate, There is one in July at Weston Pak near Telford but for the best one go to RAF Barkston Heath August bank holiday weekend.