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profiting handsomely by disturbing the lives of people who get virtually NO benefit from the over flights
Exactly -- and in many cases, this is after already getting no benefit from County -- why I've suggested a "flight path tax" paid directly to those who live under it.
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It's all in the details MarkP. After many conversations with Aviation authorities I think I know what really happens. Helicopters launch from Hilo Airport which is at 38' elevation. Their altimeters would read 00038'. I live at 1500' in a 2 story house (so I'm already about 20' up in the air, higher if you count the roof), in a landscape that burned completely in the 80's.
I wish there were some 500' redwoods here because I can understand your point in that a responsible pilot would not purposely fly thru trees. There are no tall trees here. Only Ohias' which look like they grow about a foot a year. The biggest one's maybe 30'. I digress.
The helicopters launch at Hilo and fly all the way up to Volcano which is about 4,000'elevation. They are flying up the slope. I believe they fly between 1600-1900' ASL or above sea level over my house. This is only 100'-300' AGL here at my house. They should be flying at the minimum at 3,000' ASL or 1500' AGL. This is the elephant in the room. I believe if they followed this everyone would be better off.
Like rules of the road, there are rules of the sky. I'm having trouble downloading the manual but I have read it extensively.
I believe I live in a restricted flight area and by law they are required to fly at 1500' AGL So they think they are compliant because their altimeters read 1600-1900'. Even if you doubt my observations not a single thing flies thru this airspace without a radar track. There is a big difference between AGL and ASL.
I don't have the radar equipment at my house to do the tracking but I know that this documentation exist and that it can be subpoenaed and that it would be acceptable proof in a court of law to prove what an aircraft's elevation was at any time in the flight.
The attitude from the FAA is that I have to prove everything before I can file a compliant. This is a hot button issue with all the neighbors that I know and they are not favorable to helicopters. Wouldn't it be great if the pilots just flew a little higher or why aren't they based in the National Park? Save gas, lower greenhouse gases and prevent noise pollution.
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quote: Originally posted by MarkP
INO's characterization of pilots dragging their skids through the tree tops, apparently for the hell of it, where there are no particular sights to see, overcame my better judgement and led me to comment where there was obviously no hope of getting satisfaction.
I reread this whole thread and nowhere did anyone other than you claim that skids were being dragged through treetops.
Just chill with the hyperbole, misquotes, and claims that you know what every pilot here in Hawaii is doing when they fly, because you are a pilot too. I am a driver, but I know better than to claim I know what every other driver is thinking.
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Helicopters at 100' agl and sometimes less plus normal size trees in Puna = dragging skids through the treetops sometimes. I understand buyers remorse but come on. Time to own it.
I know it's nonsense. That's my point. Helicopters are not strafing his house at less than 100' agl. The FAA is not colluding with renegade pilots in the wholesale flaunting of the FARS. They are just tired of dealing with ridiculous allegations like this.
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If dishonest people didn't edit their posts after the fact no one would need to use the quote feature.
I use the "edit" feature after I've posted. It's been used to clarify, correct grammar...not for anything dishonest. That's why the feature is there. [ ]
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When I've called to complain, as I said the question of the weather came up every time. The pilots were at times flying lower during rainy and cloudy weather.
Our problem was with tour helicopters headed towards Kalapana and back. The FAA said that when you have poor weather conditions, the pilots tend to hug the coastline for visual guidance. In my situation, they weren't just hugging the coastline, they were flying right over Kaloli Point back and forth. My husband thinks a couple of those times, they may have been 800 ft. Close enough to be alarming. After telling the FAA this in my complaint, we haven't experienced that again.
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There are multiple tour packages, so they can be all over.
This recent news totally blows me away. I was thinking the Volcano tourist numbers of over 1 million per year was a good indicator. Turns out that is way off. Over 755,000 visitors over one month. And the air fare is going to begin decreasing along with the cost of fuel. Nobody ever seems to factor in the artificial population density of tourists.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/30136...-in-august
755,800 visitors
"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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The FAA is considered to be one of the government agencies that has been captured by industry. It's why the TSA was formed after 9/11 (lets keep this topic on helicopters, start your own thread for bitching about TSA):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
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quote: Originally posted by MarkP
Helicopters at 100' agl and sometimes less plus normal size trees in Puna = dragging skids through the treetops sometimes. I understand buyers remorse but come on. Time to own it.
I know it's nonsense. That's my point. Helicopters are not strafing his house at less than 100' agl. The FAA is not colluding with renegade pilots in the wholesale flaunting of the FARS. They are just tired of dealing with ridiculous allegations like this.
The only one making ridiculous allegations in this thread is you. You are putting words in people's mouths that they didn't say, and then claiming you know what they really meant. You are setting up straw men and then knocking them down, just own it and stick to countering what people actually said, not what you want to claim they said.
FYI: much of Puna does not have any trees over 30', especially mid and lower HPP which gets a lot of helicopter traffic. Ino said all the trees at their place burned years ago, so no, no one except you brought up skids being dragged in the treetops.
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quote: Originally posted by MarkP
Helicopters at 100' agl and sometimes less plus normal size trees in Puna = dragging skids through the treetops sometimes. I understand buyers remorse but come on. Time to own it.
I know it's nonsense. That's my point. Helicopters are not strafing his house at less than 100' agl. The FAA is not colluding with renegade pilots in the wholesale flaunting of the FARS. They are just tired of dealing with ridiculous allegations like this.
Amen! I can almost assure you the pilots of those heelos were not at 100-300 feet. I fly fixed wing (Jets and turboprop aircraft, not helos) but the feeling is the same amongst most commercial pilots. Your ticket is your bread and butter.
I fly in Alaska, home of the most rule falutten' pilots in the nation. Even here I can tell you, no sane pilot, flying for a reputable company like Blue Hawaiian, Paradise, etc.....is going to risk their jobs and their tickets for a buzz job over a Puna subdivision. Even if it's on the way to the Volcano.
May they do it over the coast? Yes, perhaps. Over water or "sparsely populated ares" the FAA allows a pilot to operate 500 linear feet from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
It's also a bit of a slap in the face to assume pilots don't know the difference between AGL and MSL...... I promise, we do. I am not trying to point fingers, shame anyone, or be a smart ass. I am just a pilot who makes her full time, honest to goodness, living in the sky, and I hate seeing my brethren dragged through the mud. We aren't all money grabbing, buzz-job happy A-holes who hate Puna. You'd be surprised how "low" 1500 agl really is.
Don't forget, Pilots need Aloha too.......
AKpilot
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
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