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Is it time to arm crop duster pilots as well as airline pilots?
Is it time to arm crop duster pilots as well as airline pilots? ------------------------------------------------------------- AOPA ePilot Volume 6, Issue 14 April 2, 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------- RACE FAN GETS SIX MONTHS FOR FIRING AT CROP DUSTER A NASCAR fan armed with a deer rifle and emboldened by a high blood-alcohol level has been sent to prison for six months after firing on a North Carolina crop duster last year. The man opened fire on D. Wayne Slaughter, who owns Wa-Lu Aviation in Farmville, North Carolina. Medication may have enhanced the effects of the alcohol, the shooter's attorney told the court. The shooter couldn't hear the televised race while Slaughter was legally dusting pine trees nearby, so he successfully drove the airplane off after a 12-shot volley. Three of the shots hit the aircraft, one piercing the wing a foot from the Air Tractor's fuel tank and another causing the battery to explode. The pilot was not hit but suffered mental anguish. Slaughter, past president of the National Agricultural Aviation Association, said he hopes publicity about his case will encourage other ag pilots to report similar incidents. |
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"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. |
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"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 |
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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". |
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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". |
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"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 |
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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". |
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Ya know the real problem is that idiots, such as the one you mentioned 'fuel
the fires' of the stereotype of the buck-toothed, ignorant country 'bumpkin' and make a beautiful part of the country (with many people who truly have hearts of gold and are the very soul of what is good about America) the brunt of an onslaught of 'hick' jokes. :-( -- -- =----- Good Flights! Cecil PP-ASEL Student-IASEL Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond! Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com "I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis - |
#9
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On 4/5/04 12:42 PM, in article
, "Cecil E. Chapman" wrote: Ya know the real problem is that idiots, such as the one you mentioned 'fuel the fires' of the stereotype of the buck-toothed, ignorant country 'bumpkin' and make a beautiful part of the country (with many people who truly have hearts of gold and are the very soul of what is good about America) the brunt of an onslaught of 'hick' jokes. :-( Living here in the South after growing up in California, I can attest that the 'bumpkin' stereotypes did not become stereotypes without reason. And that's all I have to say about that. -- Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino Cartoons with a Touch of Magic www.wizardofdraws.com www.cartoonclipart.com |
#10
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Living here in the South after growing up in California, I can attest that
the 'bumpkin' stereotypes did not become stereotypes without reason. And that's all I have to say about that. Same situation...but I was able to escape and head back west. They have earned the sterotype. -John *You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or North American* |
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