I’ve been told the world of aviation is kind of like the world of horse people – small, tight knit, everyone knows somebody who knows somebody. So far it’s been true, but I also live in a sparsely populated area, and there are days that I’m reminded even the world outside of aviation is small around here.

There’s a grass runway out by Oak Hammock Marsh, called Oak Hammock Airpark. It’s only about  two or three minutes from St. Andrews by Cessna, and we practice landings there when the circuit is busy at St. Andrews. There’s a house about a half a mile south west of the beginning of runway three six, that I was told to be careful not to fly over. The guy who owns it makes noise complaints about aeroplanes flying over his house. The ironic thing, is the guy’s got a helicopter, and you’d think that someone involved in aviation would have a bit more tolerance, or you know, just not build his house right under the natural path of a circuit on a nearby runway. Maybe it’s because he’s a helicopter pilot and helicopter pilots have this superiority complex. But no, apparently every year when things get busy with the air cadets, and someone forgets there’s that guy there, Harv’s air gets noise complaints.

Anyway, I was talking to my dad the other day, and we were talking about St. Andrews, and he says, oh, I was out near St. Andrews the other day. For a house party, he says, and they guy had a sign in his yard about flying, and he has a helicopter.

And I thought, what are the odds of there being two guys with helicopters in the area? I asked him if it was out near Oak Hammock. He didn’t know, so I pulled up google maps, described the driving directions to this guy’s house, and yep, it was the guy.

I don’t know his name or anything, but for the information of anyone who might be flying around Manitoba, and decide to land at Oak Hammock Airpark, don’t fly over this guy’s house.