He was in Guildford, taking photos and got his Swiss army knife out to open the battery compartment on his camera.
He is 70 years old. A police man and woman saw him do this and came over. They took the knife, then patted him down and then gave him a lecture on how it was illegal to carry a knife in a public place. I’m not sure he understood everything that was being said. They eventually took the knife and told him to be careful or next time he would be arrested.
That is unfortunate. The police man and woman were obviously ignorant of the law and probably on a power trip, which is depressingly common. The power trip will be augmented when they realise that their target has little knowledge of the law and is unlikely to assert their rights. Assuming your friend is French, perhaps there was a cultural inclination to cooperate and do as instructed – after all in most European countries the police have more generalised powers over citizens and, for a simple life at least, must generally be obeyed.
It is not per se illegal to carry a knife in a public place, nor do the police have any general powers of confiscation so they should not have taken it. A (British) police officer who tried to take my Swiss Army knife from me would be laughed at and asked to leave me alone and, if they persisted, invited to arrest me. Power trips generally subside when they think about how silly they’re going to look down at the station.
Yes my friend is French and yes he would not have argued with the police, mainly because he didn’t know the law and would have expected the officers to know it.
It’s a shame it’s well over a year ago now so there would be little point in getting him to write to Guildford police station to seeing he can still get it back.
gallois wrote:
He was in Guildford, taking photos and got his Swiss army knife out to open the battery compartment on his camera.
He is 70 years old. A police man and woman saw him do this and came over. They took the knife, then patted him down and then gave him a lecture on how it was illegal to carry a knife in a public place. I’m not sure he understood everything that was being said. They eventually took the knife and told him to be careful or next time he would be arrested.
Unbelievable and outright ridiculous!
Not much you can realistically do. I am not going to argue with French police officers either!
In Scotland, an East European delivery driver had to deliver a package to a Court. He had a small knife on his keyring. He was charged and convicted of “possession of a bladed weapon”.
I have a USAF titanium knife in my flightbag, for escape if the aircraft overturns in an off-airfield landing. There isn’t enough room for my fire-axe. :-(
Maoraigh wrote:
In Scotland, an East European delivery driver had to deliver a package to a Court. He had a small knife on his keyring. He was charged and convicted of “possession of a bladed weapon”.
We have the same situation in Sweden. In principle, you’re allowed to wear a knife in public if you have a good (e.g. professional) reason. Bringing a knife for the purpose of puncturing a life raft would likely end up in court because the police would not understand the need. You would likely be acquitted, but it would be a big hassle.
A couple of years ago, a carpenter – who had a knife among his tools – drove straight from work to pick up his kids at daycare. On the way home he was checked by the police who found the knife. He was prosecuted. The argument was that he should have driven home first to leave the knife before driving to daycare. Fortunately the court thought this was unreasonable and acquitted him.
2) a life raft without a ladder is ballast, nothing more. Unless you’re a trained rescue swimmer or similar, you will not get into it if it doesn’t have a ladder.
That was one of the key takeaways from our sea survival training. Even in light swell and winds, you’ll have no chance to get into a life raft without a ladder, not even without survival suit, let alone with, or in more adverse conditions. You might get into a raft when standing on top of the wing of a ditched low wing aircraft but only if the sea is as calm as a hotel pool.
Peter wrote:
This may be true but only if it has empty tanks, or the engine broke off, which is probably why it went down in the first place If you look at the empty weight it is obviously impossible for it to float in normal circumstances.
DR400’s are wooden planes with lots of wooden parts. Wood swims most of the time. So it is quite realistic to expect it to float considerably longer than other planes.
Also low wing have the advantage over high wing in a ditching scenario for obvious reasons.
As for becoming more and more risk adverse, I fully agree. At 60 and with a 7 year old daughter, my risk aversion keeps me from doing a lot of things I used to do without thinking about it. The feeling of responsibility, knowing that if something happens to you out of your “egoistic” pursuit of your own happiness they are severely impacted, somehow kills the desire to do these things. If you then have family members who obviously suffer and also express their anxiety, this pretty much can kill any kind of “risky” past times. Lots of people I know as well as myself have found themselves severely restricted. It’s the time when a lot of boats, motorcycles and airplanes go up for sale.
The danger in this is obviously that you may end up severely depressed this way. So it is important that if at all possible you keep things going or find some other form of hobby or satisfaction. One part of a survival strategy when denied what you love doing is to be able to still interact with others who are living aviation. That is pretty much what I’ve been doing the last years.
but only if the sea is as calm as a hotel pool.
Having spent many years windsurfing I would not quite say that, but for sure you aren’t going to get in if the sea state is a Force 10 wind 
DR400’s are wooden planes with lots of wooden parts. Wood swims most of the time. So it is quite realistic to expect it to float considerably longer than other planes.
Sure but the ~250kg engine is the problem. The figures do not add up. There was a thread about it. With empty tanks is should however float longer than metal types. But it will still sink eventually.
