Dennis Pipping, a pilot with decades of experience, landed his helicopter in the Cabela's parking lot in Richfield to pick up bowhunting supplies — and says he's surprised by all the attention it's gotten.
Washington County Sheriff's deputies received a call Saturday evening that someone had landed a helicopter in the Cabela's parking lot.
Pipping, 69, is a longtime business owner in Rosendale, about 50 miles northwest of the Richfield store. He said he called the store before making the 20-minute flight and circled the parking lot to make sure it was safe before touching down.
"So I asked my neighbor friend if he wanted to take a ride to cabela's to get some shopping done," Pipping said.
When asked why he chose to fly instead of drive, Pipping had a simple answer.
"Why would you drive if you can fly there in a helicopter, is the question," Pipping said.
Pipping said the landing was uneventful.
“So, it was very easy,” Pipping explained. “There was not one car in the far north parking lot, and the parking lot is huge, obviously, so it just landed with no cars around me and went in.”
After finishing his shopping, Pipping said a deputy arrived on the scene.
“[I] did my shopping, came out, and all of a sudden, there’s a police car strolling up,” Pipping said. “And he says, ‘Wow, this is exciting.’ He said, ‘I got a call that I was supposed to check out a helicopter landing in the parking lot of Cabela’s,’ and he said, ‘Well, probably just a drone.’ And I get here, and it’s a big helicopter.’”
Pipping was not ticketed or cited because his license was in order. He also said his decision to fly had nothing to do with the roundabouts near the store.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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