Leaderboard

When they shut down the old Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, they built a new one with 18 floors right behind the redundant building. This heli-pad is built on top of the new building for the air ambulance. I thought you'd enjoy the photos I got off my boss today which I asked for when I found out he had been up there. I imagined a nice chunky handrail or wall to stop people falling off the edge but it seems I was wrong.

That's a bit up front the poll hasn't started yet oh sorry that's another member

You'd think a sharp gust of wind could have them off there. Great view but you wouldn't catch me up there.

There was a major cock up here as well, one of the reasons my boss was there as they frantically tried and failed to address the issue. Previous pad was reachable by crane if removal of a dead helicopter was required. The new pad was so high up that any suitable crane could not negotiate the tiny surrounding streets without being in broken down into so many pieces it would be necessary to shut those same streets for a few weeks. Apparently just having a warning light refusing to go out even if no problem is found grounds a helicopter over London.

The engineer who did Bristols helipad was a complete twot. When it was finished they realised it wasn’t strong enough to carry the weight of the large helicopters so now only certain light craft can land there! It also has no rails. Maybe it’s a bit of a risk if there’s a gust of wind with those hooklike legs?

One for @Clive

My eldest brother had a job working on a lighthouse off the coast somewhere many years ago, the only way on and off was by helicopter every day and he hates flying. He had to do all the crash training to go with it which was being thrown in the sea with a survival suit to get a real feel of what it would be like if the chopper went down. After one flight across he bought a sleeping bag, camping mat and some food the second day he told them he was staying in the lighthouse for the rest of the week because he was a quivering wreck on the helicopter, The next week he went prepared took his fishing rod and a load of food and lived in the lighthouse for the following three weeks when everyone else flew back everyday, apart from the flight there and back he said it was great

I used to go to the old and new Royal London Hospital for work. Parking round there was always fun! Apart from when I discovered the Eastern European car wash between Whitechapel Road and City Road, where I could park for the day and get my car washed and hoovered for £20! Bit of a bargain for that area!

I only went in a helicopter once and swore never ever ever again. I think I wrote about it in my yen's Stories thread.

Not me, I did 20 widths of the pool when I was kid. Got a certificate as well

What is the matter with you lot.....frightened of forests, frightened of abandoned buildings.....now frightened of heights! You frightened of widths as well?

Lol, I had a mate who used to collect and restore those

There was a large group of mates that loved Kiss, I just didn't get it. Had many heated talks with me calling them Gay.

This idiot's turning right unless he's in reverse in which case he's still an idiot.

This is you deciding on which kind of bike you really want

looked at it when i went in garage to get something ...... which is more than you did

So, is Pete getting a new bike? My groundhog died what day is it.

It will be Chinese.

That's on a need to know basis

And one for @Tym

An old colleague of mine had to do occasional work on the oil rigs in the North Sea, so he had to do all that training too. He said that part of the training was to put a few of them into helicopter seats inside a big drum thing and then drop this into a pool, upside down and in complete darkness. He had a "window" seat and the guy next to him on the "aisle" panicked and couldn't undo his lap belt. So my colleague had to help this guy undo his seat belt before they could escape. He said that the safety divers were all moving in to rescue them when they managed to get out! Scared the life out of him!

So while @XTreme has farted around buying a lemon, sending it back and then turning down another I did a deal on a bike in 5 minutes today

I don't like helicopters full stop. My sister in laws ex husband got his license and offered everyone a spin. I googled are helicopters safe and it said 1.8 fatal crashes every 100.000 hours which isnt that bad but I still didn't fancy it, especially when it said one of the causes is inexperience!

Possibly......but I spent most of 2007 on an XT350 and I was just fine. However......something interesting has turned up in Granada today!

@XTreme would crf seem underpowered as your used to bigger engines

Had them done specially for the photo.

Feckin Yanks

The Moon

Exactly, it's called a desert for a reason

Yes all except where Pete lives

Or near anywhere with dealerships, there are cities and a lot of motorcycling in Spain too you know

That's always been the case......but it's much worse now cos so few new bikes are available, and second hand prices have gone through the roof! If I could get a new CRF I'd put the money down tomorrow!

I suppose this is the result of living in a one Donkey village in Dago land. You probably could have had a choice of twenty bikes by now were you still living here

I'm going to a triumph owners rally next weekend in Baskerville Hall just outside Hay on wye but you probably got a better chance of getting a ride report from Hugh Hefner than me on that one LOL

Well I've decided not to go ahead with buying this bike from the north of Spain. It's a logistical nightmare, €200+ plus for delivery, and I'm unlikely to see it till the end of the month. Knowing my luck a better alternative would then go and turn up here this week! So the ongoing Mystery Bike search continues!

and Tuesday and Wednesday and….