dragon peaks
Hi Greg,
It's Kevin here, the other pilot at DPP.
Sorry to hear about your unplesant experience, you must be one of the first to complain. It's a pitty.
ANyway - regarding start up times, even us who operate from here on a full time basis, adhere to the "local" rules where possible. Not only for the respect of people in the resort, but also our neighbours. We fly from here ALL the time, and now we have 2 machines, meaning twice the noise twice as often. And, as said, we have 2 neighbours in particular that complain about the noise.
WRT the Heli school that was here for the weekend, of all of those machines that were here, one was a private, and as far as we knew, they were part of the school. The flying school, knows the rules. The private guy didn't. Maybe it's a credit to you that you had the courtesy to ask opposed to him, well done. To further the conversation, we also have a certain neighbour who has told me in no uncertain terms, that they don't mind the heli's at all, but the trikes are another story. Mmmm - OK.
WRT "the guy in charge" advising you of the freq's etc, you'd be surprised how many different freq's are in use. Did you have the military freq, did you have DPP general freq, and not to mention the gliders from El Mirrador. We'd rather tell everyone everything, instead of asking the person, "OK, so what do you know, and what do you not know about the area". You mentioned a heli flying over camp, right hand out, etc etc, breaking all the "rules". YEs, our phone has rung, twice with complaints about him, and as ALWAYS, it's us that gets the brunt of the complaint, not the actuall pilot concerned. Maybe we should keep a register of all aircraft in the area, and then wait for the calls, and pass the details onto the complainant, or, should we keep covering their arses, which in effect is what we are doing.
As cornell said, we are one of the only resorts in the berg, ( that I know of) that have a open runway. We are actually in the process of trying to get the field registered, so we can keep welcoming GA to the area, and be abit more "legal" in the complaints department. Untill then, we carry on.
Greg, maybe this is not a bitch session for you, maybe it is a general warning, but to everyone out there, you are welcome, just please understand the sometimes tricky position we are in, and how we try best to accomodate everyone,
Oh, and by the way, the "man in charge" is a trike instructor, and myself just a plain 'ol trike pilot, so please don't think that we hgave inferrior views towards microlight's.
Blue skies, keep safe.
It's Kevin here, the other pilot at DPP.
Sorry to hear about your unplesant experience, you must be one of the first to complain. It's a pitty.
ANyway - regarding start up times, even us who operate from here on a full time basis, adhere to the "local" rules where possible. Not only for the respect of people in the resort, but also our neighbours. We fly from here ALL the time, and now we have 2 machines, meaning twice the noise twice as often. And, as said, we have 2 neighbours in particular that complain about the noise.
WRT the Heli school that was here for the weekend, of all of those machines that were here, one was a private, and as far as we knew, they were part of the school. The flying school, knows the rules. The private guy didn't. Maybe it's a credit to you that you had the courtesy to ask opposed to him, well done. To further the conversation, we also have a certain neighbour who has told me in no uncertain terms, that they don't mind the heli's at all, but the trikes are another story. Mmmm - OK.
WRT "the guy in charge" advising you of the freq's etc, you'd be surprised how many different freq's are in use. Did you have the military freq, did you have DPP general freq, and not to mention the gliders from El Mirrador. We'd rather tell everyone everything, instead of asking the person, "OK, so what do you know, and what do you not know about the area". You mentioned a heli flying over camp, right hand out, etc etc, breaking all the "rules". YEs, our phone has rung, twice with complaints about him, and as ALWAYS, it's us that gets the brunt of the complaint, not the actuall pilot concerned. Maybe we should keep a register of all aircraft in the area, and then wait for the calls, and pass the details onto the complainant, or, should we keep covering their arses, which in effect is what we are doing.
As cornell said, we are one of the only resorts in the berg, ( that I know of) that have a open runway. We are actually in the process of trying to get the field registered, so we can keep welcoming GA to the area, and be abit more "legal" in the complaints department. Untill then, we carry on.
Greg, maybe this is not a bitch session for you, maybe it is a general warning, but to everyone out there, you are welcome, just please understand the sometimes tricky position we are in, and how we try best to accomodate everyone,
Oh, and by the way, the "man in charge" is a trike instructor, and myself just a plain 'ol trike pilot, so please don't think that we hgave inferrior views towards microlight's.
Blue skies, keep safe.
"The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest."
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Barnstormer
- Woohoo 100 posts - flying high
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- Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:21 pm
- Location: Polokwane
Hi Guys
I lived in the berg, a few hundred meters from Dragon Peaks, for five lovely years.
I have never flown from or at Dragon Peaks, and therefore do not know the rules. BUT, a very dear friend of mine and I used to look (stare) at, admire and visit the aviators and their machines who visited the airfield from time to time. From Microlighters to Airforce chopper pilots.
I know the choirmasters at the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School appreciate some silence during the two, one hour, choir practice sessions on weekdays. The times used to be from 8:45 - 9:45 and 17:00 - 18:00, but this might have changed since. But weekends used to be no issue.
I lived in the berg, a few hundred meters from Dragon Peaks, for five lovely years.
I have never flown from or at Dragon Peaks, and therefore do not know the rules. BUT, a very dear friend of mine and I used to look (stare) at, admire and visit the aviators and their machines who visited the airfield from time to time. From Microlighters to Airforce chopper pilots.
I know the choirmasters at the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School appreciate some silence during the two, one hour, choir practice sessions on weekdays. The times used to be from 8:45 - 9:45 and 17:00 - 18:00, but this might have changed since. But weekends used to be no issue.
Planeless...
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