Businessman Neill Wagner fined $1,000 for landing helicopter in Brisbane park

[boleropilot]

in my Army Aviation days there were numerous incidents with helicopters (and real aircraft) that never happened...

 

like the guys piloting a Sioux with floats that were sick of army rations, went fishing with a whiz-bang (artillery simulation device) and brought back a bin full of reef fish for the camp...

 

and the Sioux pilot who landed in the main street of a small town to pick up his dry cleaning...got a finger wagged at him for that...

 

and the Private soldier who flew a Caribou (up front by himself) all the way across the cape (back to Cooktown) while the rest of the crew played cards in the back...

 

and the Caribou that flew at 50 feet along a croc infested river, with a crewey sitting on the open ramp, and the pilot calling "big one, left bank, passing.......NOW' - and then bang bang bang

 

in those days guys had brought all sorts of stuff back from Vietnam, including Armalites etc. I was offered a box of 10 brand new (US) 9mm handguns for $1,000...

 

and the RAAF boys that got in an 'altercation' with some army lads at a Cooktown pub - Caribou crew and Armoured crew - the next day a big line-up of armoured vehicles was getting ready to depart when a Caribou flew over low and slow

 

on the flat underside of the 'boo in huge letters (tape of some sort) were the words - ARMY SUX - laughed so hard I nearly wet meself - our armoured friends were not impressed

 

and my very first flight in a Sioux? Sat on a hill with a smoke grenade and a 25 radio and told to only throw the smoke if the student couldn't find me via the map refs he'd been given - pilot flew all around me for about 5 minutes then said "Ah fuggit Tonxy, I don't know what bluddy hill you're on, throw the smoke willya" - the reply was "one six-pack - deal". As it was a casevac, the pilot then TIED me to the rack with ROPE, then flew me back to camp. After landing, the bastid left me tied to the rack for a little while - the things they did to me during that time cannot be printed here...

 

did I mention that none of this happened? I just made it all up.

 

btw, the fish was delicious...