Off The Wall Questions!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I was the kid that aksed questions in school that made the teacher
wonder if they were in the right class so here goes:

1. If I built a large domed building, could I fly my helicopter inside
without a helicopter license? I know there is some debate about needing a
pilot license if you do not carry passengers - but in our state, at least,
you do need a pilot license to fly.

2. Someone told me that if you dragged a rope behind an airplane and it
touched the ground at all times, you are not actually flying according to
the FAA. Unfortunately, I could not find this statement in the FAR. I
guess this might be answered by the question of needing a license to pilot a
tethered balloon (with passengers)?

3. If I am in a glider connected to an airplane by a rope, and the pilot ot
the airplane controls where I go, and I never detach, why would I need a
glider license?

4. How high does Class A airspace extend?

Hey, it is Friday. The first question popped up this afternoon during a
practice autorotation. All the way back from the airport, the questions
kept coming.

Colin

COLIN LAMB wrote:
Hey, I was the kid that aksed questions in school that made the teacher
wonder if they were in the right class so here goes:

1. If I built a large domed building, could I fly my helicopter inside
without a helicopter license? I know there is some debate about needing a
pilot license if you do not carry passengers - but in our state, at least,
you do need a pilot license to fly.

As a practical matter, yes.


2. Someone told me that if you dragged a rope behind an airplane and it
touched the ground at all times, you are not actually flying according to
the FAA. Unfortunately, I could not find this statement in the FAR. I
guess this might be answered by the question of needing a license to pilot a
tethered balloon (with passengers)?

Simply dragging the rope is not enough. You must have one end solidly
secured to ground.


3. If I am in a glider connected to an airplane by a rope, and the pilot ot
the airplane controls where I go, and I never detach, why would I need a
glider license?

Because you are pilot in command of an aircraft. HOWEVER, if you are
on a car or boat tow, it is not an aircraft. There were plans in
Popular Mechanix for floating primary gliders in the old days, the big
attraction was you could "fly" with no license. It was illegal to pull
the release except in an emergency, but since neither the nonaircraft
nor the nonpilot were licensed, no one including the FAA much cared.

1. If I built a large domed building, could I fly my helicopter inside
without a helicopter license? I know there is some debate about needing a
pilot license if you do not carry passengers - but in our state, at least,
you do need a pilot license to fly.

As a practical matter, yes.

But, what if the large domed building is privately owned "Superdome" with
40,000 spectators?

3. If I am in a glider connected to an airplane by a rope, and the pilot
ot
the airplane controls where I go, and I never detach, why would I need a
glider license?

"Because you are pilot in command of an aircraft. HOWEVER, if you are on a
car or boat tow, it is not an aircraft. There were plans in Popular Mechanix
for floating primary gliders in the old days, the big attraction was you
could "fly" with no license. It was illegal to pull the release except in an
emergency, but since neither the nonaircraft nor the nonpilot were licensed,
no one including the FAA much cared."

Response: So that means I could hook up a glider to a car and tow it around
the desert without a license? I am also a glider pilot, certified for all
three types of launch and I did fly at the Alvord Desert this summer, towed
behind a 1972 Buick Riviera known as the "Brown Turd". We used a 3,500 foot
cable and could climb at 1200 feet per minute up to 2,000 feet (the release
point). Although I did release and did fly the glider legally, the car
could have gone in circles around the edge of the desert while I was
descending and come back down without releasing. On numerous occasions, we
brought the glider back behind a low car tow and never released until the
last few feet of the ground.

Hey, it is not Friday anymore, guess I should go outside and get ready for
winter.

Colin

In article .com,
"Bret Ludwig" wrote:

There were plans in
Popular Mechanix for floating primary gliders in the old days, the big
attraction was you could "fly" with no license. It was illegal to pull
the release except in an emergency, but since neither the nonaircraft
nor the nonpilot were licensed, no one including the FAA much cared.


I think you mean this one;
http://vulatalk.zdwebhosting.com/pic...aqua/Page.html

The "bigosh" was a tow behind a pickup land version;
http://vulatalk.zdwebhosting.com/pic...ders/Page.html

DocFont

I read a story about bush flying in a Cub, where the pilot would lower
a bucket out the window on a rope. He would then go into a constant
tight banked turn, with one wing of the Cub pointed at the bucket. He
could spiral down, and place the bucket stationary on the ground, so a
person on the ground could drop off or retrieve small objects.

By extension, with a long enough rope you should be able to fasten a
rope to the ground, take off, and then fly in circles around the end of
the rope. Repeat until you get dizzy and crash.

I don't want to try it. But I want to watch.

Dave
www.davewilson.cc

wrote:
I read a story about bush flying in a Cub, where the pilot would lower
a bucket out the window on a rope. He would then go into a constant
tight banked turn, with one wing of the Cub pointed at the bucket. He
could spiral down, and place the bucket stationary on the ground, so a
person on the ground could drop off or retrieve small objects.

I've heard some pretty wild urban legends, but this has to be one of the
best.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
wrote:

I read a story about bush flying in a Cub, where the pilot would lower
a bucket out the window on a rope. He would then go into a constant
tight banked turn, with one wing of the Cub pointed at the bucket. He
could spiral down, and place the bucket stationary on the ground, so a
person on the ground could drop off or retrieve small objects.


I've heard some pretty wild urban legends, but this has to be one of the
best.

Matt


It's not an urban legend. It's been done for decades. The bucket
never reaches the ground, but a man can drop someing in or take
something out when it gets to shoulder height. There's a picture of it
being done in a mid 1960s National Geographic. There was a discussion
about it in rec.aviation.military a year or two ago.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

In article 14h3f.1550$vE5.742@lakeread03,
"Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired" wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote:
wrote:

I read a story about bush flying in a Cub, where the pilot would lower
a bucket out the window on a rope. He would then go into a constant
tight banked turn, with one wing of the Cub pointed at the bucket. He
could spiral down, and place the bucket stationary on the ground, so a
person on the ground could drop off or retrieve small objects.


I've heard some pretty wild urban legends, but this has to be one of the
best.

Matt


It's not an urban legend. It's been done for decades. The bucket
never reaches the ground, but a man can drop someing in or take
something out when it gets to shoulder height. There's a picture of it
being done in a mid 1960s National Geographic. There was a discussion
about it in rec.aviation.military a year or two ago.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

It is also the principle of gunships, which do the same thing, only with
guns pointed out the side of the plane. The early gunships used a crude
sight taped or painted on the side window.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote:

wrote:

I read a story about bush flying in a Cub, where the pilot would lower
a bucket out the window on a rope. He would then go into a constant
tight banked turn, with one wing of the Cub pointed at the bucket. He
could spiral down, and place the bucket stationary on the ground, so a
person on the ground could drop off or retrieve small objects.



I've heard some pretty wild urban legends, but this has to be one of
the best.

Matt



It's not an urban legend. It's been done for decades. The bucket never
reaches the ground, but a man can drop someing in or take something out
when it gets to shoulder height. There's a picture of it being done in a
mid 1960s National Geographic. There was a discussion about it in
rec.aviation.military a year or two ago.

Maybe I'm not getting the full picture here, but it seems at first blush
that this would require the Cub to be able to fly a zero radius turn.


Matt