[DIVE4IT]

So a couple of years back, a friend and I would never fly more than a few feet apart....formation everything, you know the type (RV guys doing everything in formation). Only we had small staggerwing bi-planes and would comonly fly terain, pushing the next guy to do something more and more daring. Well, my buddy got the great idea to start flying under the arc of the large cannon type irrigation sprinklers. Now, keep in mind these are usually throwing an arc about ten to twelve feet at the high point and have extreme pressure with a curtain of mist everywhere in between. Timing is everything as they swing around, pivoting on a central point. If the main stream were to clip a wing, it would surely flip the plane into the ground. We would follow the leader through these for a couple of weeks, it made for some amazing video as a plane would crash through a curtain of water, especially when the sun was at the correct angle. Remember, this is farm country and these things are all over the place, offering us one to fly through every five minutes or so. On one evening in particular, my buddy was feeling a bit darring and dropped down from our usual 100 foot ASL style and challenged me to follow through a pretty small arc of a sprinkler. The sun was obviously not on his side as he flew through the shower. Turns out I saw the color of the water just as he was flying through, just in time to pull up and avoid the spew of nastiness. This time it was being pumped directly from the dairy's cow poop pond. Yep, he was coated with a thick layer of bovine menure, not to mention it was a very hot day and it dried on his plane's fabric in seconds. A B-line back to the home strip with a wash bucket and hose (and clothes pin to pin our noses). Come to think of it, that was the last time we ever tried that stupid stunt again. Hope this put a smile on your face.

JT

[akflyer]

DIVE4IT, on 19 November 2009 - 12:27 PM, said:

So a couple of years back, a friend and I would never fly more than a few feet apart....formation everything, you know the type (RV guys doing everything in formation). Only we had small staggerwing bi-planes and would comonly fly terain, pushing the next guy to do something more and more daring. Well, my buddy got the great idea to start flying under the arc of the large cannon type irrigation sprinklers. Now, keep in mind these are usually throwing an arc about ten to twelve feet at the high point and have extreme pressure with a curtain of mist everywhere in between. Timing is everything as they swing around, pivoting on a central point. If the main stream were to clip a wing, it would surely flip the plane into the ground. We would follow the leader through these for a couple of weeks, it made for some amazing video as a plane would crash through a curtain of water, especially when the sun was at the correct angle. Remember, this is farm country and these things are all over the place, offering us one to fly through every five minutes or so. On one evening in particular, my buddy was feeling a bit darring and dropped down from our usual 100 foot ASL style and challenged me to follow through a pretty small arc of a sprinkler. The sun was obviously not on his side as he flew through the shower. Turns out I saw the color of the water just as he was flying through, just in time to pull up and avoid the spew of nastiness. This time it was being pumped directly from the dairy's cow poop pond. Yep, he was coated with a thick layer of bovine menure, not to mention it was a very hot day and it dried on his plane's fabric in seconds. A B-line back to the home strip with a wash bucket and hose (and clothes pin to pin our noses). Come to think of it, that was the last time we ever tried that stupid stunt again. Hope this put a smile on your face.

JT

I bet that was a site to behold... and even harder to explain to those back at the airport Sounds like a shitty flight to me

[Av8r3400]

I had to laugh out loud at that one...

[Wagonmaster]

YUK That's a crappy thing to do. I had kind of a car wash experience my boss and I were returning from a day trip in prince william sound coming over the Kenai mountains both in beavers both with passengers and we came up on a black rain squall not very big just a streak about 100yds wide so it was my bosses idea to wash the bugs off his plane he went into it about a 1/4 mile off my left wing at the same altitude he went into it and completely disappeared then came out the other side 500ft lower he was talking in a much higher voice said he definitely didn't have any more bugs on the leading edges of his wing anymore he said water was hitting the windshield so hard it sounded like gravel. Needless to say I don't fly through rain streaks after that. Mark

This post has been edited by Wagonmaster: 22 November 2009 - 03:08 AM

[dholly]

now that is some funny ass shit... literally!

[DIVE4IT]

Glad I could make you fella's laugh.

JT