RAF low flying helicopters - experiences

[canteron]

They recently have taken to flying helicopters really low and fast over the wood next to us and the stables which are tucked up right next to the wood.
The poor farriers was put in a really dangerous position by them and I have had a few uncomfortable moments.
I have written (politely) to the RAF - do you think they will take any notice?

 

[Red-1]

I don't think they will stop flying over you, but I think you can get to find out when it will be, so you would have to schedule farrier around fly times.

I am ready to stand corrected though.

That would only be for training though, not anything live that happened.

On another point, I used to buy horses for an organisation so went out viewing quite a lot. I found a few air bases with horses for sale at the end of runways, and one where I was riding a very nice horse when the red arrows started practicing their display directly overhead, rather too low for my comfort. In each case though, the horses had become desensitised to it. So, if it has been a recent thing for your horses, I bet in a few months they won't raise their heads any more.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Is it a known flying area? I live in a training area so quite frequently have low flying aircraft but it’s never caused an issue so far. I do think that they will take it into consideration though!

 

[Flowerofthefen]

A friend had a no fly zone set up over her farm as a low flying aircraft put her life in danger. We have them around here and fortunately the horses dont bother. I can imagine holding a horses foot up trying to shoe and one going over wouldn't be a pleasant experience!

 

[canteron]

Red-1 I don’t mind the normal activity it’s just when they fly really low over the wood and stables - you can’t hear them coming until they are on top of the horses and that is basically dangerous - they make a hell of a booming noise with a down draft - and I have a duty of care to those working for me (farriers etc) - the forces mission after all is to protect not kill us? Will see their response and what I can do about it!

 

[SlinkyMinxy]

Back in February, my horse was spooked in her field by an extremely low-flying helicopter and broke her leg. Although she has recovered, she can no longer be ridden.

I contacted the RAF, who took the matter very seriously. They did a full investigation, identified the precise aircraft and spoke to the pilot. They also looked at the flight plans to check that the flight did not break any rules - if it had, they said the pilot would have been court-martialled. They have now flagged up my property as 'vulnerable' and advised that all future flights don't go directly overhead - however, this is voluntary only and up to the individual pilot. I've definitely seen helicopters avoiding us though, so it looks like most are sticking to this. They also sent a claim form for compensation for the vet's fees and loss of use.

Helicopters are legally allowed to fly very low pretty much anywhere, although there are some restrictions over built-up areas. If my horse's injury hadn't been so catastrophic, they probably wouldn't have done much about it except say sorry.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I get quite a few low flyers over here. Huge round bellied planes mostly, seem to skim the tops on the conifers then come right over my field. The horses don't even look up anymore. But they are much slower and quieter than you describe.

 

[canteron]

Back in February, my horse was spooked in her field by an extremely low-flying helicopter and broke her leg. Although she has recovered, she can no longer be ridden.

I contacted the RAF, who took the matter very seriously. They did a full investigation, identified the precise aircraft and spoke to the pilot. They also looked at the flight plans to check that the flight did not break any rules - if it had, they said the pilot would have been court-martialled. They have now flagged up my property as 'vulnerable' and advised that all future flights don't go directly overhead - however, this is voluntary only and up to the individual pilot. I've definitely seen helicopters avoiding us though, so it looks like most are sticking to this. They also sent a claim form for compensation for the vet's fees and loss of use.

Helicopters are legally allowed to fly very low pretty much anywhere, although there are some restrictions over built-up areas. If my horse's injury hadn't been so catastrophic, they probably wouldn't have done much about it except say sorry.

Oh no, that it a sad and traumatic tale - so sorry. How did you prove it was them? And thank you for the further information - interesting.

 

[canteron]

I get quite a few low flyers over here. Huge round bellied planes mostly, seem to skim the tops on the conifers then come right over my field. The horses don't even look up anymore. But they are much slower and quieter than you describe.

They are not normally too worried in the field or when I am riding - it’s just the stables and where the are positioned that seem to exacerbate the problem! They do fly low though!!

 

[SlinkyMinxy]

Oh no, that it a sad and traumatic tale - so sorry. How did you prove it was them? And thank you for the further information - interesting.

I was in the house when the helicopter went over - it was incredibly low and I could actually feel the whole house shaking. Almost immediately afterwards, I heard my horse start neighing from the field, which she never normally does. When I went out to see why, she was stood by the gate on three legs. Because I knew pretty much the precise time of the flight, the RAF could identify the exact aircraft.

The helicopter must have flown right over the top of my horse and when the flight records were checked, it was at a height of only 200 ft above ground level. It was also 'the largest and noisiest type of helicopter we own' according to the RAF - no wonder she was scared!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

You can report the incidents to the RAF via the BHS. They have a dedicated form for doing so. There was a high ranking RAF officer on FB the other day who is also a horse owner talking about rider and horse visibility and low flying helicopters so they do take the subject seriously. It shouldn’t make any difference whether the horse is being ridden or in the field they shouldn’t be doing it.

 

[SEL]

Which RAF station is it? I had to write to RAF Benson a couple of years ago when their Chinook came low enough to see me crossly waving at them with a high viz yellow jacket. We had horses on the horse walker who couldn't work out where the noise was coming from and a lesson going on in the school

Turns out the neighbouring farmer had given them permission to land in his set aside field and they had no idea there were horses next door. The pilot saw the mad blonde woman waving a yellow jacket furiously at him and took off again pronto and they responded very quickly to my email and said they'd mark it as as no fly zone. They do come low over our bridleways regularly though and the horses cope pretty well.

I grew up on military bases so now I'm in Benson's fly zone I wear my high viz even when riding in the field and I've seen them change direction when they are low flying. My freakiest moment was one of the Apache's in dense fog with what I guess was a full beam headlight on coming across the fields VERY low! Me and the horses had a good snort at that one.

 

[SEL]

Back in February, my horse was spooked in her field by an extremely low-flying helicopter and broke her leg. Although she has recovered, she can no longer be ridden.

I contacted the RAF, who took the matter very seriously. They did a full investigation, identified the precise aircraft and spoke to the pilot. They also looked at the flight plans to check that the flight did not break any rules - if it had, they said the pilot would have been court-martialled. They have now flagged up my property as 'vulnerable' and advised that all future flights don't go directly overhead - however, this is voluntary only and up to the individual pilot. I've definitely seen helicopters avoiding us though, so it looks like most are sticking to this. They also sent a claim form for compensation for the vet's fees and loss of use.

Helicopters are legally allowed to fly very low pretty much anywhere, although there are some restrictions over built-up areas. If my horse's injury hadn't been so catastrophic, they probably wouldn't have done much about it except say sorry.

That's incredibly sad but not unusual - I've heard of mare's aborting foals and other catastrophic injuries especially with low flying jets.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Likely a Chinook the, SlinkyMinxy. They are very loud. I’m very sorry about your mare’s accident.

We get low flying helicopters here, too, flying directly over the arena. It happens so often that ours are all used to them now, but I can see why many horses would find them frightening.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

We have a very local airfield less than a mile from my yard. Fixed wing dont come across us as runway not in our direction.
However we are in flightline of the Helis, all have become very used to them, except when we have occasional big wig choppers come in to refuel, the Apaches of Trump's were damned noisy, accompanied by our Chinooks!
We did have to speak to control tower once to alert them that the low hovering police chopper had caused a horse (non local) to bolt across a road. They had no idea till they were informed, that under the tree cover are a myriad of tracks used by horse riders etc. It was noted for future reference and hasn't happened since.

 

[HollyWoozle]

It happens here too, already a few times today, but fortunately our horses have gotten used to it (they didn't have much choice!). They come very low almost directly over the field and I am sure they could avoid doing that?

 

[scruffyponies]

Lots of Chinooks here, so often that the ponies don't bother, even if they play peekaboo from the next field. I have known them so low we can see the pilot's face.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Mine are relatively close to an army range so gunshots and choppers don't worry them now...even when flying very low. To be fair though, they very rarely fly right over the top of us but close nonetheless.

 

[sunnyone]

All bases should take low flying issues seriously, no matter which service it is. When I worked for MOD somebody was tasked with reducing incidents through education of pilots and crew. They also produced the leaflets encouraging horse riders to wear hi-viz as it gives better visibility so evasive action can be taken quicker.
Choppers off the local army base were definitely good, can't say the same for the police base two miles further down the road. They seemed to delight in flying over me every time I went out, no matter the time of day.

 

[zandp]

Wear Hi Viz if you're near / in a fly zone and they should do their best to avoid you. It is taken seriously by the RAF.

Private pilots ferrying people to Glastonbury on the other hand - caused a lot of accidents when I was on a yard on the route.

 

[Trouper]

The official low flying limit for the RAF in this country is 250 feet. However, they are permitted to drop down to 150 for authorized operational low-flying tasks. As others have said, a simple report to the RAF should resolve the ultra low flying activity. We can't expect them to know where every horse activity is taking place.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Red-1 I don’t mind the normal activity it’s just when they fly really low over the wood and stables - you can’t hear them coming until they are on top of the horses and that is basically dangerous - they make a hell of a booming noise with a down draft - and I have a duty of care to those working for me (farriers etc) - the forces mission after all is to protect not kill us? Will see their response and what I can do about it!

I know the feeling. I was riding on the road this week and could hear one coming over the trees, it was a chinook, very low, very loud and nothing I could do! Came directly over the top of me. It was pretty scary.
luckily we are not far from a airbase so my horses are pretty aircraft proof but this was really extreme and not what they are used too.

 

[humblepie]

We get Chinooks and Apaches over us a lot and on previous yard (near current yard) they used to use a field for coming down very low and hovering. Having a lesson the other day and I am pretty sure they were using me as the X of their figure of eight! It is definitely worth speaking with them so they know where you are and to discuss what they do in your area.

 

[Cob Life]

We don’t live far from a military base and 20 minutes from a commercial airport. Low flying planes and helicopters are very common and both of the horses (even the more spooky one) are more worried about leaves on the floor than any aircraft. However if it was an issue that was causing danger then I would see if you could have your property marked and avoided

 

[Abi90]

The official low flying limit for the RAF in this country is 250 feet. However, they are permitted to drop down to 150 for authorized operational low-flying tasks. As others have said, a simple report to the RAF should resolve the ultra low flying activity. We can't expect them to know where every horse activity is taking place.

Not for helicopters. Also, helicopters don’t file flight plans in class G airspace, which is where they will be flying if they are overhead a house. No fly zones over people’s farms are also not a thing. There is one over Balmoral but that’s not for helicopters, it’s for fixed wing aircraft. They are often not as low as you think they are either.

Pilots often don’t plan missions until the night before or that morning so you can’t know in advance where they are going to fly. But there are certain areas that are used as training areas more than others.

Complaints are taken seriously however if pilots are flying to the letter of the law then there’s not a lot you can do. The Be safe be seen campaign leaflets suggest you ride out with hi viz on as they can’t avoid you if they can’t see you. In known high traffic areas the RAF Safety Centre handed out free hi viz to local riders through their nearest station. I gave out a lot across Northumberland.

If it’s so frequent and nearly killing the farrier as much as you say then make a complaint. They may be able to avoid your property, or at least not fly as low.

 

[Domirati]

No they won’t take any notice. They have taken to being over here a lot, horses broke my fence the first time as they hovered just over the field. Someone in the village wrote to complain(ex pilot). They basically said tough, they go where they like - though more politely written.

 

[Abi90]

No they won’t take any notice. They have taken to being over here a lot, horses broke my fence the first time as they hovered just over the field. Someone in the village wrote to complain(ex pilot). They basically said tough, they go where they like - though more politely written.

Pretty much this

 

[Maryann]

I am encouraged by all these accounts of horses getting used to them because at the moment my old horses and the sheep seem to be getting more reactive. Thankfully, the young one less so.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I am encouraged by all these accounts of horses getting used to them because at the moment my old horses and the sheep seem to be getting more reactive. Thankfully, the young one less so.

They really do. We have some such load aircraft going over. Mine rarely react. Today I was riding and a huge plane was circling over head. My horse was actually watching it ?

 

[cindars]

We get Chinook quite regularly when the yard had an old barn with metal roof the whole thing shook. Horses take no notice at all we have electricity board ones and occasionally air ambulance landing on the Downs.