Warbird Information Exchange

Careful. It's quite possible that the stupid dumbass knows history better than you do, and is aware that the Japanese never had any intention or prospect of invading the continental United States or threatening its freedoms. It's really embarrassing to be corrected by stupid dumbass surfers.

August

I thought this might be a joke, maybe toward the Corsair? pilots. So I looked up the letter writer on Google and there is such a guy. It seems he is a salesman for a ladies shoe store.
And Greg v, when John Belushi kept us safe from invasion he was flying a P-40, not a Corsair.

So, seriously, if you do low passes at a public area, know the FAR and stay legal. 1000' above and 2000' to the side of anyone at a populated area: and 500' above at an unpopulated area. And there in no firm definition of populated; the feds might consider 4 surfers on a beach as enough. And don't bet too much on whether you think he can estimate 500' or not, the feds may take his word for it.

Those surfers are a nasty bunch, don't let Gidget fool you. Think of all the fish they run over and injure with those hard boards.

Another good precaution when making a low pass is never use you own N number. I usually call myself a Skyraider and use Eric's.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Bill,

Maybe you should take your N-number out of your signature - just in case some others catch on...

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Is there something in legal-speak that removes any threat to freedom when a country attacks a US military installation (and civilians) in 1941?
If not, the history lessons learned by some must have been taught by a true Kool-Aid slurper.

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Steve Turner, USAF aircraft refueler 54+ years ago.

"b. Pilots are requested to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet above the surface of the following: National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas and Scenic Riverways administered by the National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuges, Big Game Refuges, Game Ranges and Wildlife Ranges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wilderness and Primitive areas administered by the U.S. Forest Service."


"Requested" and "Required" are two totally different things. This would not constitute a violation of the FAR's.

Here is the link to the story. So get those letters to the editor flowing! Hahaha!

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2 ... -watching/

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Sure, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane... but Tom Rutledge built the engine!

Visit Django Studios online or Facebook!

Ahhh, but what if it was a mad rogue Japanese soldier standing on a barge? I bet surfer never thought of that!

Seriously though, you are quite right, but I was of course talking in general terms, not historical specifics. The rub is that while I'm not exactly pro-senseless killing of wildlife either, it bothers me a bit that someone who is privileged enough to enjoy a leisure hobby such as surfing might give a thought or two to the icon that he is protesting against, and what role that icon might have played in gaining him the freedoms that he now enjoys. And if this person eats meat, how can he feel any less sorry for the animals he consumes than an accidentally stricken pelican?

In abstract, it is pretty incredible at all that one can look up while standing on a beach in 2008 and see two 60+ year old privately owned dollar-intensive high-maintenance aircraft frolic by; this would not happen in Japan, just ask Mr. Harada...

greg v.

Some interesting statistics from www.birdstrike.org :

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

· Over 219 people have been killed world-wide as a result of bird strikes since 1988.

· Bird and other wildlife strikes cost USA civil aviation over $620 million/year, 1990-2007.

· Over 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007.

· Over 7,600 bird and other wildlife strikes were reported for USA civil aircraft in 2007.

· Studies indicate only about 20% of bird strikes to civil aircraft at Part 139-certificated (passenger service) airports in USA are reported. Less than 5% of bird strikes at General Aviation airports are reported.

· From 1990-2004, USA airlines reported 31 incidents in which pilots had to dump fuel to lighten load during a precautionary or emergency landing after striking birds on takeoff or climb. An average of 11,600 gallons of jet fuel was released in each of these dumps.

· Waterfowl (31%), gulls (26%), and raptors (18%) represented 75% of the reported bird strikes causing damage to USA civil aircraft, 1990-2007.

· Over 760 civil aircraft collisions with deer and 250 collisions with coyotes were reported in the USA, 1990-2007.

· In 1890, about 60 European starlings were released in Central Park, New York City. Starlings are now the second most abundant bird in North America with a late-summer population of over 150 million birds. Starlings are "feathered bullets", having a body density 27% higher than herring gulls.

· The North American non-migratory Canada goose population increased 3.6 fold from 1 million birds in 1990 to over 3.5 million in 2007. Over 1,400 Canada geese strikes with civil aircraft have been reported in USA, 1990-2007. Over 40% of these strike events involved multiple birds.

· A 12-lb Canada goose struck by a150-mph aircraft at lift-off generates the force of a 1,000-lb weight dropped from a height of 10 feet.

· The North American population of greater snow geese increased from about 50,000 birds in 1966 to over 1,000,000 birds in 2007.

· The nesting population of bald eagles in the contiguous USA increased from fewer than 400 pairs in 1970 (2 years before DDT and similar chlorinated-hydrocarbon insecticides were banned) to over 11,000 pairs in 2007. Over 100 bald eagle strikes with civil aircraft have been reported in USA, 1990-2007. Mean body mass of bald eagles = 9.1 lbs (male); 11.8 lbs (female).

· The Great Lakes cormorant population increased from only about 200 nesting adults in 1970 to over 260,000 nesting adults in 2006, a 1,000+-fold increase.

· The North American white and brown pelican populations grew at average annual rates of 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively, 1966-2007.

· At least 15,000 gulls were counted nesting on roofs in USA cities on the Great Lakes during a survey in 1994.

· About 90% of all bird strikes in the U.S. are by species federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

True, good point John. However, the FAA can be anal about things like this and violate you on some other blanket statement buried somewhere deep in another regulation. Does anyone know if any pilots in the past have been violated for buzzing any of the above - National Parks, Monuments, etc, below 2000' AGL, but above the requirements I mentioned earlier in Sec. 91.119, "Minimum safe altitudes"? It would be interesting to know. Even though technically, it's a request, instead of a requirement, I've always been under the impression that the FAA would still try to violate you if you didn't adhere, perhaps using some other obscure rule in place of this request.

Any aviation lawyers care to give input - August, Mark?

Shall - mandatory
May - optional

Required - Mandatory
Requested - Optional
kinda sums it up.

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Perhaps, but the FAA doesn't always play by those rules. They can be "unfair" based on their current desires and how bad they want to go after someone.

Were these "Corsairs" the Cessna 425 twin engine type maybe?

Now I gotta wonder how many times the CAF Corsair has been holed by birds....I was present at Midland a number of years ago when the plane hit a turkey vulture that put a hole in its wing leading edge the size of a small football...they fixed it later...

Love pelicans, always have, have a pic of me on a pier at San Simeon feeding a pelican named 'Charlie' from when I was a kid....grieves me to think of a bird like this dying the way the guy described it, but these things DO happen...ya just gotta get over it and move on!

Mark

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Mark Morris

Bill Greenwood wrote:



Not a good plan! Anybody that knows anything about war birds knows that flying that little thing with the rounded off wings and the Skyraider starter motor for an engine, could never be flying a real Skyraider. They would never believe you were a real big round engine pilot. Better devise a more realistic story.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."

So do the surfers consider it acceptable to hit a pelican at 1000'??? How high do pelicans fly anyhow?