Is it time to arm crop duster pilots as well as airline pilots?

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...

Is it time to arm crop duster pilots as well as airline pilots?

Nah. You just bomb the shooter the way you do all the other pests.

Assuming that I'm NOT flying an ag plane, what's a good altitude to be
above to avoid gunshot in hunting season?

-Malcolm Teas

Malcolm Teas wrote:

Assuming that I'm NOT flying an ag plane, what's a good altitude to be
above to avoid gunshot in hunting season?

1,000' AGL will keep you well out of shotgun range. A good rifle can carry several
miles, but that's measured on the flat when the rifle is fired upwards at a 45 degree
angle. Accurate range for a rifle is only from about 300 yards to 1,200 yards. Most
rifle hunters will not be firing in the air unless they're deliberately shooting at
you. In that case, your best hope is the fact that few of them have much practice
trying to hit objects moving as fast as you are. Most rifle hunters don't know how to
lead a target, either. Most shotgun users are quite good at it.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

I have a friend who used to fly petroleum pipeline patrols in Piper Warriors
at 50' AGL looking for leaks.

And at that altitude, the airplane is well within reach of the weapons
carried by people who might be out there near the pipelines growing things
they shouldn't be growing.

He told me that on a couple of days he picked up two hits, but mostly he
would just get a single hit a couple of times a week when he flew in certain
areas. He said it was obvious they weren't trying to bring him down as the
hits were rarely in a critical area; they mainly just wanted to scare him
away. If they'd brought a plane down it would have attracted even more
attention which was what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

And I imagine there are a lot more stories out there that we never hear
about!


"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Malcolm Teas wrote:

Assuming that I'm NOT flying an ag plane, what's a good altitude to be
above to avoid gunshot in hunting season?

1,000' AGL will keep you well out of shotgun range. A good rifle can carry
several
miles, but that's measured on the flat when the rifle is fired upwards at
a 45 degree
angle. Accurate range for a rifle is only from about 300 yards to 1,200
yards. Most
rifle hunters will not be firing in the air unless they're deliberately
shooting at
you. In that case, your best hope is the fact that few of them have much
practice
trying to hit objects moving as fast as you are. Most rifle hunters don't
know how to
lead a target, either. Most shotgun users are quite good at it.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band
to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come
home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

"Bill Denton" wrote in message
...
[...] He said it was obvious they weren't trying to bring him down as the
hits were rarely in a critical area; they mainly just wanted to scare him
away. If they'd brought a plane down it would have attracted even more
attention which was what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

I think he was being too optimistic. Anyone dumb enough to grow illegal
crops near a relatively high-traffic area like a pipeline is also dumb
enough to attempt to shoot an airplane down. That's before even bothering
to consider the unlikelihood of the shooter being able to intentionally
avoid making a critical shot at a moving airplane.

Sounds to me like your friend was just plain lucky not to have been shot
down.

Pete

Bill Denton wrote:

He said it was obvious they weren't trying to bring him down as the
hits were rarely in a critical area; they mainly just wanted to scare him
away.

I think he's lucky. It's a real bear trying to hit something the size of a light
aircraft moving at perhaps 100 miles an hour. These guys must've been excellent
marksmen to score at all. Assuming that they can choose to hit a non-critical part
instead of a critical one is folly. The only thing that kept him alive is the fact
that so much of an airplane is non-critical when we're talking about a 30-06 shell.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".