Conference vmszoo::rc

    I heard about it too. It was on the radio on Friday I think.
    
    There have been a couple of incidences in this country with people
    having a secret tx with 'n' crystals in the bottom of flight boxes. 
    One used to switch on when competitors were beating the guy. Nasty stuff.
    The MACI kicked him out and justly so. 
    
    Like yourself, when it came up over the weekend, I was suprised they let
    over 100 planes crash before sorting it out. 
    
    Another incident in my area was some guy letting off a shot-gun at an
    aircraft in the air. 
    
    Eric.

    There is a real case of getting "Shot Down".  I told my wife about the
    france thing and she thought that the guy was shooting them down with a
    gun.  She was disappointed when I told her that the guy used a
    transmitter.  She said that we always have "unexplained crashes".
    
    Charlie
    

    
    I'm missing something here.  What provoked this guy to do it in the
    first place?  Were people flying over his house?  If they were, they
    were begging for trouble.  Or was he just malicious?
    
    Ron

    The same situation occurred in my neck of the woods.  An adjacent
    farmer did not like the planes and was shooting at them with a gun.
    
    Later he was seen at the only hobby shop in our area talking
    with the proprieter about buying a "multi-frequency" radio.
    
    Apparently he did not like the noise.

    
    A UK paper has a section where you can write in and ask any question
    (Ask the Easynet for snailmail!). A while back a guy asked what would
    happen if he shot down an RC plane flying over his house. I think they
    only published one reply, which was in legalese, but basically said
    that he'd wind up in court before the plane hit the ground.
    
    I think people like this need to be hit as hard as possible, before it
    gets too much publicity, and more people think this might be "fun".
    
    Nigel
    

    Re: -1
    
    While I agree that shooting down an RC airplane either with a gun or
    a transmitter is malicious and probably illegal, I think the RC
    community needs to be proactive to prevent non-RC'ers from becoming
    this angry.
    
    I certainly would not like it if my immediate neighbors ran chainsaws
    from dawn til dusk, every weekend, 8 months a year.  This is not
    far from the situation that exists at some RC airfields.  With three to
    six poorly muffled two stroke engines running simultaneously, I can
    understand how non-flyers could get annoyed.
    
    Shooting down planes is not the answer, but many clubs run the real
    risk of losing their fields unless they deal seriously with the
    noise problem.
    
    The solution some clubs have taken in my area is to purchase their
    own fields of sufficient size to make noise to neighbors a non-issue.
    This can be very expensive, the club I am thinking of assessed all
    members $275 initially and I believe annual dues are $75.  They need
    175 members to pay for the field, so flying on weekends is very
    crowded.
    
    In contrast my club leases a field for $600 per year with annual dues
    of $30.  We typically have 40-50 members, and you can usually fly
    whenever you want(no crowds).  However, more and more new houses
    are being built closer to the field.  I hope our club has the foresight
    to get a handle on the noise problem before neighbors force the issue.
    The farmer we rent from certainly does not need the $600/year.  
    
    

    Even if you OWN the land, you could be shut down for noise if your
    neighbors go to court.  Noise and relatonship with neighbors is
    important whether you own, lease, or otherwise the flying field.  The
    best locations can go bad if someone decides to build next to them. 
    Separation is the best reducer of noise.  Flight patterns are just as
    important as better mufflers.
    
    Charlie
    

    When I was learning to fly, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent England, we
    had an old retired Colonel who took a few pot shots at our planes. We
    just kept out of range and all was relatively peacefull. He once called 
    the police who came out to see the offending noise source. They,
    incredibly only, found a glider flying!. Only a glider had flown that day 
    and yet this old coot had sensed the "noise". About a year later the guys 
    in white coats took him away but we lost the field in the meanwhile.
    
    As a footnote to the story I would add that we were lucky enough to get
    West Malling airfield. I mention that because I have just sadly read
    that the airfield has been sold for development and that is is being
    dug up as I write this note. :-(
    
    Regards and FYI,
    
    EVL-1.

    These guys letting of shotguns, as in my case, in built up areas is
    illegal. And the area in question could be a bird sanctuary. We must
    have some sort of comeback or right. I tried to determine who it was
    and who was flying, and only have my suspicions with regard to both. At
    the time I felt like reporting it. A call to the police and I could
    find out who has permits for guns in the area. In this country it is
    not all that common to have a gun. Anyway I left it alone, but I tell
    you if someone put extra lead into a pattern plane of mine, considering
    the time taken to finish them I would find it hard not to report it and
    like others said the lawyers would be on his door before the plane
    landed. 
    
    As you guys know, we get complaints all the time and we have generally
    have little to fight our corner. Noise and over flying of houses (or
    even near them) is never going to be acceptable. We have lost a number
    of flying sites due to noise or other typical complaints. Now a days we
    try to get them in writing on one of our club forms. Complaints usually
    come third or fourth hand etc, in an attempt to cut out the anonamous
    (?sp) aspect to it. People just don't like puting their name on a piece
    of paper !
    
    Back to the root of the problem - Just last sunday, one of members had
    an SC 40 engine out - and was it noisy. The manufacturer, who also
    makes ASP engines back in China seems to have little regard for the
    lowering of noise. Take as OS46SF engine - now thats a nice quiet
    engine. But then are the beginners going to shell out for the expense
    of an OS or similar. The noise reducing products are out there
    (mufflers, rubbder mounts etc) but they seldom appear. For instance I
    am the only one with rubber mounted engines in my club (~12 members).
    Some of the russian engines come with a type of rubber mount which is a
    more positive way of promoting noise reduction.
    
    Alt-E
    
    PS we might be replacing the flour in the bomb drops 8-).

re .1: The story is (as usual) a little bit more complicated than gets reported.

This guy's activities were know. It was ma;icious and documented. In order to 
get him to stop it was necessary to get 1: documented prrof. 2: a court order
then sue him in proper form.

The french law system is such that is you have no documented proof, you don't
even get a hearing. (they are punctilious about this). Once you have proff, the
system moves with ferocity. 

Also being a civil case, things have less priority thna criminal cases..



md