From another forum, landing permission

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4RNB

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4RNB
A non pilot asked this on another forum, I've crossed link for an answer.

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=405509

And copy and pasted below:

So got home from the Indy 500 and there was a helicopter siting in our pasture across the road from our house. I guess the new neighbors moved in while we were gone and they left us a note on the gate asking if they could land and park there and to please call them to discuss. I am not an expert on helicopters but is there not some sort of rule book on this type of thing? Yea we have about 160 acres of pasture out there so its not a big deal and they did park away from our flower gardens on our hobby farm...but really? What the heck is this all about...I know they paid a couple million over asking to get the place so they must have some cash...but really? Before I called them they took off today and I will call but wow...I guess has anyone ever had this deal? LOL...I gotta get out more I guess.
Full disclosure used to land her old tail dragger back there years ago...but...
Thoughts? LOL

Thanks.
 
Assuming there was no emergency that required the landing it works like any other land use situation. You need permission from the landowner.

I will say this - nearly 100% of the helicopter pilots I know are much freer thinkers than the typical fixed wing pilot. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that someone landed first and asked permission afterward. I always make it a point to secure permission first, and even talked to the neighbors before I landed in my backyard so there were no surprises.
 
Sounds like a good opportunity to work out some sort of ca$h rental deal. A helipad will take, what, maybe a quarter acre out of your 160? Be cautious about liability and insurance.
 
mondtster said:
You need permission from the landowner.
Click to expand...
Most states require landowner permission at a minimum with an increasing number of local ordinances requiring additional permissions. Even out in the sticks its best to check first. Know several people who got a ticket from Barney Fife on illegal parking their whirly machine.
 
No FARS Prohibiting.

Depends on County/City regs for off airport Landings/Takeoffs, they regulate ground use. If not explicitly prohibited it is allowed. You don't need permission and wont get it from a municipality...you will get what is prohibited or not under current regs on the books. The question is never "Can I?..."...it is "Is there anything prevention me from...?". Those are two very different questions legally.

Technically trespassing under land laws but without actual damages and liability all you get is a "don't do that again"...and questionable at that for anything more if property was used as an airport previously.

But good lord...If I had a new neighbor with a helicopter I would be doing everything possible to make them my new best friends...of course you can land in my yard...you just have to take me with you when you take off!
 
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Tell him how lucky he is to see, and hear a helicopter!
A friend landed outside my bedroom last week, took me for a little ride, it was awesome!
Loved hearing the machine come in,
then to see him depart, fantastic sight. It was an R-44, great aircraft.
He can land here everyday as far as I’m concerned!
 
Bell206 said:
Know several people who got a ticket from Barney Fife on illegal parking their whirly machine.
Click to expand...


Well, the parking ticket was probably cheaper than a landing fee plus an Uber ride had they parked at a nearby airport.
:)
 
Shawn said:
You don't need permission and wont get it from a municipality.
Click to expand...
FYI: a number of cities and towns have a permiting process for private helicopter landing/takeoff ops. Its not expensive in most cases but definitely cheaper than the fine without a permit.
Half Fast said:
Well, the parking ticket was probably cheaper than a landing fee plus an Uber ride had they parked at a nearby airport.
Click to expand...
Ha. Not really. No nearby airport which was the point of using the helicopter.
 
Bell206 said:
Most states require landowner permission at a minimum with an increasing number of local ordinances requiring additional permissions. Even out in the sticks its best to check first. Know several people who got a ticket from Barney Fife on illegal parking their whirly machine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for expanding on that. I live in a very free area and don’t have local laws restricting us but always try to be a good neighbor so we don’t end up with undesirable rules as a result of my actions. I’ve always kept the off airport adventures to a minimum when traveling since it can be quite challenging to know all the laws in places I’m not as familiar with.
 
Another thing to consider, might get some free comedy show tickets out of the deal!
 
And now my cows are too scared to eat anything but the truckload of alfalfa hay you are going to buy me…
 
Sounds like an opportunity to make friends and get to fly around that will likely be squandered and turn into legal hell on earth for both parties. Pessimist cynic.
 
mandm said:
Might have to put a boot on the chopper or repossess it.
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I’m not saying I’d do much about it. But I’m not sure I want to associate with someone who has the audacity to trample on my property like this. Again, just going off of the OP.
 
Shawn said:
No FARS Prohibiting.

Depends on County/City regs for off airport Landings/Takeoffs, they regulate ground use. If not explicitly prohibited it is allowed. You don't need permission and wont get it from a municipality...you will get what is prohibited or not under current regs on the books. The question is never "Can I?..."...it is "Is there anything prevention me from...?". Those are two very different questions legally.

Technically trespassing under land laws but without actual damages and liability all you get is a "don't do that again"...and questionable at that for anything more if property was used as an airport previously.

But good lord...If I had a new neighbor with a helicopter I would be doing everything possible to make them my new best friends...of course you can land in my yard...you just have to take me with you when you take off!
Click to expand...

Nothing "technical" about it; it absolutely is trespassing and will get you the same ticket as if you walked, rode, or drove onto someone else's property.
 
So along the same vein…

I own acreage…my home is there too, and it’s mostly open. Several years ago right after I moved in some hot air balloons flew past…maybe got as close as a half mile. My next door neighbor (if you want to call him that, as we both own acreage and our houses are 1/4 mile apart) comes by and starts telling me how much he hates the hot air balloons because of how damaging the retrieval vehicles are to his property, how the owner of the balloon company is a jerk, how it’s an invasion of privacy, etc. I walk away thinking my neighbor is a yo-yo.
The next day the balloons, 3 of them, come right over my house…guy in the first balloon yells down, “Can we land here?” I say, “Sure!” The guy lands, turns out he really IS a jerk (he actually made both my kids cry by telling them he’d give them rides, then pretending to “accidentally” deflate the balloons), tore up my property with his balled-tire retrieval vehicles, and spent hours on my land with a photo shoot for his paying customers. Before they left I made sure I told him, in front of several witnesses, he was not welcome back. The very next day, he landed on my property again. Sheriff wrote him a ticket for trespass..probably helped that I’m a sworn deputy (I’m a coroner which is a sworn position in the county). He hasn’t been back since.
 
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Hmm, in the glider world, it is assumed you will offer to pay for any damage from an out landing and retrieval.

When I was actively flying helicopters, I landed off airport twice. Once at a friend's house and once at my FILs store. Both times I had permission. But pretty cool to drop in via helicopter.

If these people just bought a house, why did they not land there??????
 
Zeldman said:
Funny, that was my first thought as well...
Click to expand...

Growing up, Leonard Tose (Tose Trucking and owned the Philadelphia Eagles) use to land his helicopter in a field down the street from our house.. We didn't mind it but I guess when it upset the sheep on the farm owned by the Scott Paper heir, things started getting real.. It was a real soap opera over some real first-world problems.

I am still trying to figure out what sheep do when they get upset. baahhhh more?
 
Zeldman said:
Being from cattle country, I will venture a guess that sheep run when scared, maybe get the runs as well...
Click to expand...

from a Mythbusters episode, sometimes a sheep will “faint”


edit: oops - goats, not sheep.
 
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I sit corrected...
 
So.... did the helicopter make an inspection pass before landing?
 
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