Hogster
04-09-2008, 01:24 PM
Hi all,
I went down to my local recreation ground today to give my heli a test flight in a large open space (rather than always flying in the garden). Unfortunately, I was so concentrated on thoughts of the heli that I forgot that the car park I had parked in was a 'Pay and Display' :o ..... So I merrily went off to the field, flew around for about 7 minutes, and after landing thought "ARRGHGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S A PAY AND DISPLAY!! RUN DAVID!!!!!!"
I got back to the car, and fortunately there was no ticket under the wipers or wheel-clamps on the wheels... phew! I bought a ticket to give me another half hour in the car park and just as I was walking back to the recreation ground I noticed a car park attendant walking amongst the cars!! :o BLIMEY! That was lucky ....
Anyway, I went back to the same spot on the field I had been flying from before and started setting up .... but my eye was soon drawn to a chap in a fluorescent yellow jacket and black trousers walking amongst the cars .... it was a policeman ..... *gulp* :o ..... could he have found out that I was parked there without displaying a ticket? ...... He then walked across the road, and started walking onto the green, where I was standing about 150m away. Next thought was "Oh no, he's walking straight for me! AHHHH!! What have I done?!! Was he going to tick me off about flying here? It's a massive field so I couldn't imagine that would be the reason" ... :confused: ... so, rather than ignoring him, I left my stuff and started walking towards him. My first greeting of "Hi there" was met by a quizzical "What is that thing?" (we were still some distance from my stuff) ..... "Um, it's a radio-controlled helicopter which carries a digital camera" .....
His face lit up! "Really?! Ah wow!" ............ (phew) :D
Turns out that crossing this field was a daily shortcut he took back to the police station after doing his rounds and he was just curious as to what it was :) Once I'd stopped shaking I offered to give him a demo - he was really impressed! He mentioned that he had a little helicopter (probably a PicooZ) which he'd been playing with, but this (mine) was a "serious helicopter" :D
After the demo I gave him my card. I think it must have made his day! And not being arrested certainly made mine :D
http://hogster.rchomepage.com/aerial_photos/hogster_and_copper.jpg
(capture from a video)
All's well that ends well, that's what I say!
Cheers!
David :)
I went down to my local recreation ground today to give my heli a test flight in a large open space (rather than always flying in the garden). Unfortunately, I was so concentrated on thoughts of the heli that I forgot that the car park I had parked in was a 'Pay and Display' :o ..... So I merrily went off to the field, flew around for about 7 minutes, and after landing thought "ARRGHGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S A PAY AND DISPLAY!! RUN DAVID!!!!!!"
I got back to the car, and fortunately there was no ticket under the wipers or wheel-clamps on the wheels... phew! I bought a ticket to give me another half hour in the car park and just as I was walking back to the recreation ground I noticed a car park attendant walking amongst the cars!! :o BLIMEY! That was lucky ....
Anyway, I went back to the same spot on the field I had been flying from before and started setting up .... but my eye was soon drawn to a chap in a fluorescent yellow jacket and black trousers walking amongst the cars .... it was a policeman ..... *gulp* :o ..... could he have found out that I was parked there without displaying a ticket? ...... He then walked across the road, and started walking onto the green, where I was standing about 150m away. Next thought was "Oh no, he's walking straight for me! AHHHH!! What have I done?!! Was he going to tick me off about flying here? It's a massive field so I couldn't imagine that would be the reason" ... :confused: ... so, rather than ignoring him, I left my stuff and started walking towards him. My first greeting of "Hi there" was met by a quizzical "What is that thing?" (we were still some distance from my stuff) ..... "Um, it's a radio-controlled helicopter which carries a digital camera" .....
His face lit up! "Really?! Ah wow!" ............ (phew) :D
Turns out that crossing this field was a daily shortcut he took back to the police station after doing his rounds and he was just curious as to what it was :) Once I'd stopped shaking I offered to give him a demo - he was really impressed! He mentioned that he had a little helicopter (probably a PicooZ) which he'd been playing with, but this (mine) was a "serious helicopter" :D
After the demo I gave him my card. I think it must have made his day! And not being arrested certainly made mine :D
http://hogster.rchomepage.com/aerial_photos/hogster_and_copper.jpg
(capture from a video)
All's well that ends well, that's what I say!
Cheers!
David :)