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Which countries do allow you to land your Helicopter in your backyard

Malibuflyer wrote:

But just to make sure I get it right: If I buy a plot in the middle of Paris that is big enough to safely land with a Heli, no neighbour could object to me landing there as long as I do this privately?

Correct, but try getting there given the airspace restrictions. Seriously, are we talking about the aviation law or what is possible if the neighbours object? Almost anywhere, if the neighbours object to anything loud and long enough, authorities will get involved. That doesn’t just apply to aviation.

Last Edited by chflyer at 17 Mar 14:13
LSZK, Switzerland

Anyone here who successfully obtained such a slip of paper in Germany, for a helicopter of a fixed wing aircraft?

I have a few years ago for fixed wing. It was not very difficult and cost maybe 80 Euros for 10 landings. But they did insist on a person on the ground which could call the ambulance just in case. Also the case was a bit special because it was actually on an airport but the airport was closed at that time. Actually I think most of those permissions for fixed wing are issued for closed runways, former runways, runways not certified for that type of aircraft, certified on UL/glider runway etc.

www.ing-golze.de
EDAZ

WingsWaterAndWheels wrote:

There is a difference between an occasional landing in your garden and making it into an helipad.

Yes, there is – the latter one is a significant safety improvement!

It actually seems to be a kind of an interesting legislation in France if you can land freely as long as the slot is not declared as and equipped as helipad but as soon as you declare it to be a Helipad (and apply proper markings, lighting, etc.) it is forbidden if the neighbors do not agree. In other countries (esp. in Germany) everyone wildly complains if the regulation favors the less safe option.

The restriction of number of landings is not a valid argument because this is much easier done on a proper helipad and comparatively unclear if not (e.g. can I do the maximum number of landings one time in front of my home and one time behind or do the landings in the front and backyard add up? If so – how far away does the second spot have to be so that it counts as separate landing space with its own limit? …)

Germany

One of our aéroclub members used to work in Paris and spend his weekends in Burgundy. He had an R22 which he flew from one of the Paris GA aerodromes to his château. He obviously had enough space to operate a small helicopter there, but I don’t know if he asked for permission or not. The R22 was too slow, so he sold it and bought an R44, which annoyed the neighbours, and he had to stop. Is an R44 that much louder than an R22?

He sold the R44, leased an SR22, and got an extra car to leave in Burgundy. Door-to-door time including the extra driving was about the same.

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

Malibuflyer wrote:

I am just wondering because a friend of mine wanted to build a proper helipad next to his beach villa on the cote d’azure and he did not get a permit for it because the neighbors objected – it would have been quite easy for him if he did not build a pad but just landed on a plot of gras next to his house which the neighbors can not prevent

There is a difference between an occasional landing in your garden and making it into an helipad. In the first case, you are limited in how many movements you can have (but I don’t know the limit), and your neighbor can complain (bad neighbors will do that despite actual legislation…). in the second case, the number of movement would not be limited and for that you need the agreement of your neighbors and the municipality and some other requirements, I don’t remember them all…
Paris is surrounded by Class-A and the inner part is P from 0 to 6000’, so the helipad is not going to be very useful!

ENVA, Norway

Well Santos Dumont used to tie his flying machine to the railings outside Maxine’s or to the Eiffel Tower.
I think the problem of having a private helipad in the centre of Paris might be twofold. Finding the property you describe and secondly airspace in that area.

France

WingsWaterAndWheels wrote:

No, the permit from Gendarmerie in France is for the pilot and means that the pilot can then land anywhere provided that he has the permission from the owner

Ok – in that case it was a misunderstanding. That is obviously a much better situation than own Germany.

But just to make sure I get it right: If I buy a plot in the middle of Paris that is big enough to safely land with a Heli, no neighbour could object to me landing there as long as I do this privately?

I am just wondering because a friend of mine wanted to build a proper helipad next to his beach villa on the cote d’azure and he did not get a permit for it because the neighbors objected – it would have been quite easy for him if he did not build a pad but just landed on a plot of gras next to his house which the neighbors can not prevent…

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

Charlie wrote: In France you need a Helisurfaces permit from the Gendarmerie which is a hassle to get but is valid for 10 years the.

Then in France it is actually the very same situation as in Germany: If your land is big enough you can also get a permit to establish your private heliport there which is also a hassle but not impossible to get as long as it is only for your private flights.

No, the permit from Gendarmerie in France is for the pilot and means that the pilot can then land anywhere provided that he has the permission from the owner. From what I understand of your statement, in Germany, you would need an authorization from the authority for every place you want to land at.

ENVA, Norway

Malibuflyer wrote:

Theres also the story of a vet from a very rural area in north east Germany that runs a private UL strip inn his backyard.

Some parts of eastern Germany do look a lot like Kansas to me I found myself liking it regardless.

A guy I knew here has a Hughes 369A rebuilt into civilian configuration. He’s moved now but used to fly groups of whoever was hanging around to lunch. The two most common spots were a bakery that has a field next door and a smallish Indian casino where they’d land in a corner of the parking lot. I went along once. Nobody asked permission, nobody cared, the novelty was fun.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 14 Mar 18:23

Cobalt wrote:

Anyone here who successfully obtained such a slip of paper in Germany, for a helicopter of a fixed wing aircraft?

You need to ask the first question first: Anyone here who a) has a property that is so remote and so big that neighbors won’t be affected by landing in the backyard and b) who wanted to do this?

I would expect that the answer to your question is that zero out of zero pilots who fulfill these requirements here successfully obtained such a slip of paper. But yes, there are examples in Germany who did that: Some business owners have private helipads in their backyard (e.g. a well known German chef at his castle or the owner of a well known German “fashion” brand). Theres also the story of a vet from a very rural area in north east Germany that runs a private UL strip inn his backyard.

Germany
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