Newps wrote:
Gig 601Xl Builder wrote:
Morgans wrote:
"David Lesher" wrote

Sniffers? The patrol plane that flew our lines uses a Mark One eyeball.

What type of lines? Buried or surface?


Around South Arkansas Buried... No Sniffers.


It is a one in a million chance a pipeline pilot finds a leak before the
company knows about it. The break would have to happen just as the
pilot gets there as the company has pressure gauges on the line. The
pilot is really looking for things that are happening on the right of way.

One in a million is a little high. But you are right that they are
mainly looking for other things happening on the right of way.

Of the two based here one is employed by a refinery. The other is an
independent and does contract work for different companies. A few years
ago after a rash of tree poaching that went own around here he just
about doubled is income by contracting with forest land owners to check
on there timber from the air. Last count is he has caught about 20
people stealing timber.

Just as a point of interest these two pipeline patrol pilots do often
meet up in the air. A long while back they decided that one would fly at
400' AGL and the other would do 500'.

Twice now we have had planes go down locally that CAP couldn't find as
they flew their 1000' AGL search patterns. Both times the 400' guy has
finally come in and found the planes within an hour and one of those
times in under 15 minutes. The 15 minute search was after CAP had been
looking for about 2 days and was dead center in the middle of the search
grid.

These guys really are an asset to the community they both have police
band radios in their planes and become the eyes in the sky for local and
county police on a regular basis.