4 JUNE 2005, Page 48

Q. A friend of mine has recently acquired a helicopter

and comes to visit me in our small hamlet, landing in the field opposite our house. Am I right in thinking this is something of a feather in my cap?

P.R.E., Pewsey, Wilts A. It might have been exciting in the 1980s to have a friend with a so-called chopper but helicopters no longer have the same cachet as they did in those days. They are now more associated with Russian mafia bosses and are the aerial equivalent of jet skis.