The story so far...
A local farm got sold to some rich bugger who believes himself personally entitled to limitless squandering of the Earth's resources, who seems to regard his time so much more valuable than the rest of humanity's, that he uses his helicopter to commute back and forth between his house in town and The Farm. A distance that takes under 30 minutes to drive, even sticking to the speed limits (which almost nobody does.)
Many local residents object to being flown over on a regular (or should I say irregular but frequent -- several times a week, at any rate) basis. Rich Guy has gone ahead and built himself a hangar for his little ego wank, signalling a Fuck You permanence to the existence of his Personal Airfield.
Eventually I wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority querying the status of this airfield and asking what regulations cover the operation of informal airfields. I got brushed off with a reply amounting to "Read the regulations on our website." No help at all. At least it established that nobody in the area has applied for a permit to operate an airfield. And they suggested that the Local Authority (the Muni) would be a better avenue for getting the airfield shut down.
Some while later I tried writing to the Municipality about the same business. After some to and fro on this, their reply amounted to "Sorry; Out of our jurisdiction. Try the CAA."
What's the hassle?
Several people think I'm just being cranky; that this guy flying in and out on his little chopper bicycle is not such a Big Deal1. I think it sets a precedent. Let's say we tolerate this. After all, it's not even that close to my property2. What happens when the guy next door sees all this and thinks, "That's pretty cool! I believe I'll also commute by helicopter." Where does it end? Where and when does somebody draw a line and say, "Here's where your impact on the other people around you has to be considered."
I choose to draw the line here and now.
I wrote again to the CAA and (surprise, surprise!) received a reply within a day from the gentleman I had emailed, saying that he's in the wrong department to take this up with, but that he'd forwarded my letter to the correct person who would contact me "soon".
Still waiting, a month and more later. I wrote to him again:
His immediate reply:
Well, at least there's one person on the ball at Civil Aviation. I'd like to thank him very much for taking care to respond so promptly and helpfully! Let's hope I hear from Mr Chiwandire, who I forwarded my complaint to. I'm not terribly optimistic, given that several of the CAA's role-based email addresses don't work (e.g. commisioner@caa.co.za) and based on the organisation's track-record to date. I guess the next step will be to phone the Commissioner directly. In fairness, though, let's give them a couple of weeks.
[1] Alright, maybe a little cranky.
[2] About 2.5km.
A local farm got sold to some rich bugger who believes himself personally entitled to limitless squandering of the Earth's resources, who seems to regard his time so much more valuable than the rest of humanity's, that he uses his helicopter to commute back and forth between his house in town and The Farm. A distance that takes under 30 minutes to drive, even sticking to the speed limits (which almost nobody does.)
Many local residents object to being flown over on a regular (or should I say irregular but frequent -- several times a week, at any rate) basis. Rich Guy has gone ahead and built himself a hangar for his little ego wank, signalling a Fuck You permanence to the existence of his Personal Airfield.
Eventually I wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority querying the status of this airfield and asking what regulations cover the operation of informal airfields. I got brushed off with a reply amounting to "Read the regulations on our website." No help at all. At least it established that nobody in the area has applied for a permit to operate an airfield. And they suggested that the Local Authority (the Muni) would be a better avenue for getting the airfield shut down.
Some while later I tried writing to the Municipality about the same business. After some to and fro on this, their reply amounted to "Sorry; Out of our jurisdiction. Try the CAA."
What's the hassle?
Several people think I'm just being cranky; that this guy flying in and out on his little chopper bicycle is not such a Big Deal1. I think it sets a precedent. Let's say we tolerate this. After all, it's not even that close to my property2. What happens when the guy next door sees all this and thinks, "That's pretty cool! I believe I'll also commute by helicopter." Where does it end? Where and when does somebody draw a line and say, "Here's where your impact on the other people around you has to be considered."
I choose to draw the line here and now.
I wrote again to the CAA and (surprise, surprise!) received a reply within a day from the gentleman I had emailed, saying that he's in the wrong department to take this up with, but that he'd forwarded my letter to the correct person who would contact me "soon".
Still waiting, a month and more later. I wrote to him again:
A month has now gone past since I first wrote to you concerning the
regular operation of a local farm field as a helicopter landing-field,
and your extremely prompt reply. As yet, however, I have received no
response from Mr Ramolefi in regard to this or the question regarding
noise emissions from helicopter.
Please let me know who I can escalate this query to.
I will also note that the farm-field mentioned in my first
correspondence is STILL being used with regularity for helicopter
operations, and the operator now seems to take a malicious delight in
flying directly over our community, going out of his way to annoy
residents by flying a path well outside of what he truly needs to
follow. Regardless, all helicopter operations in this area must stop
and stop immediately!
His immediate reply:
As I am not directly involved with Flight Operations, I would recommend that if you need to escalate this matter, you may direct it to the following:
Mr. Patrick Chiwandire (Senior Manager: Flight Operations)
Mr. Anton Richman (General Manager: Air Safety Operations)
I hope you will get a response from these two managers.
Well, at least there's one person on the ball at Civil Aviation. I'd like to thank him very much for taking care to respond so promptly and helpfully! Let's hope I hear from Mr Chiwandire, who I forwarded my complaint to. I'm not terribly optimistic, given that several of the CAA's role-based email addresses don't work (e.g. commisioner@caa.co.za) and based on the organisation's track-record to date. I guess the next step will be to phone the Commissioner directly. In fairness, though, let's give them a couple of weeks.
[1] Alright, maybe a little cranky.
[2] About 2.5km.
