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Thread: Dropping things from airplane

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Mountain View, Arkansas
    Posts
    5

    Dropping things from airplane

    For my grandson's birthday, my daughter wanted to know if I could fly over and drop candy (it's an airplane themed party). I thought of putting little tissue parachutes on light little bundles of candy and tossing them out. Is there any hope of getting them into the drop zone (ie yard)?
    Larry Snyder
    Mountain View, Arkansas
    N99340

  2. #2
    Byron J. Covey
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by lesnyd View Post
    For my grandson's birthday, my daughter wanted to know if I could fly over and drop candy (it's an airplane themed party). I thought of putting little tissue parachutes on light little bundles of candy and tossing them out. Is there any hope of getting them into the drop zone (ie yard)?
    Sounds like fun, but don't try it. Too many potential negative outcomes. Go to the party with a bag over your shoulder, ....


    BJC

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    1,342
    The FAA actually sanctions dropping items from an airplane if properly planned. Tie 24"x6" crepe paper streamers to the candy and they are easy to see and fall slowly. Fly slow at a safe altitude. Don't horse around. You might want to have another individual do the drop(s) so that you can concentrate on flying. Check the local winds. Do it over an open area like a park or sports field but have everyone stand back until the candy and streamers are in the air.

    A friend does the aeronautical version of "cow flop bingo" for a charity event. The field is gridded off and participants "buy" squares. He flies over the field and throws weighted streamers out of his airplane. The folks on the ground then walk out and score based on the squares that the dropped items landed on. Done carefully after consulting the FSDO.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    N78PS

    P.S. City folks might not know what cow flop bingo is. Google is your friend here.

  4. #4
    crusty old aviator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    You can't get here from there
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    P.S. City folks might not know what cow flop bingo is. Google is your friend here.[/QUOTE]

    True, but they seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile...

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    1
    I use to fly over my house and drop parachute items to the kids. It is almost impossiple to hit the area. If there was no wind it would be OK but a little wind will carry them over the neighborhood.
    I would suggest dropping streamers. They more of less go straight down

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Connecticut
    Posts
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    I have dropped a "wreath" from an airplane on Memorial Day out on a river during a veterans event. There were no boats or people in the way. We did several low passes to get a good check of the area before doing the drop to make sure all was clear. However, we were not very good at aiming, but it sure was fun. I did it in a Piper Cub. I was the pilot flying, while I had a friend in the back seat acting as the bomber. We thought that the wreath would have some inertia and move forward after we dropped it. We were very wrong. It fell exactly where we dropped it. Too light I guess. So we were a little short of our target area.... but the people on the shoreline still saw it fall and were pleased with the results.

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