Dropping things from airplane...

[Low Pass]

This is done at the little fly-in we have here in central il. every year. Well we did have this fly-in. But that is another story. But they did this every year. The kids are held behind a rope line. Before the airplane even comes into sight they are told what they are to do. Not once have we ever had one child run early onto the field.

Tony

I guess my kids were pre-Ritalin.

[1600vw]

I guess my kids were pre-Ritalin.

I take it you mean children need to be drugged in order for them to follow directions?

Tony

[ssmdive]

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)?

It is perfectly legal to drop things from an airplane. 91.15 Sec. 91.15 — Dropping objects. No pilot in command of a civil aircraft may allow any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property. However, this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property. So legally it can easily be done. The trick is to take every precaution to avoid creating a hazard and injury. Of course, if something happens, you clearly didn't take enough precautions and are guilty. So the big question is.... What is the venue? If it is at a house in the middle of a subdivision on a 1/4 acre - I'd say you are not going to be able to pull it off. You will have to be 1,000 feet above any congested area and the likely hood of you being able to hit a 1/4 acre property is pretty much nil. Now if it is on a ranch with big wide open areas.... Easy. You can put up a fence (rope, whatever) and keep the children behind it. Then fly in low and drop the candy from 500 feet into a big open field and you will have no issue legally or from a safety standpoint. Maybe the BEST course of action is finding out how cool your airport is and see if you can have the party there. It would make the candy drop easy and safe. And you could even let kids see real planes.

[spongebobiwan]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"
- WKRP in Cincinnati

Ron Wanttaja

Hahahaha. One of the FUNNIEST lines in tv sitcom history.

[Ron Blum]

It's great fun, and we do it at our annual fly-in and at some parades, etc. Depending on the event, we fill a tennis ball can, oatmeal container (cardboard), etc. with both parachutes that use candy (tootsie rolls, hard candy, twizlers, etc.) as the "person" and paper helicopters with tootsie midgets as the weight (instead of a paper clip). As you can see, I can't figure out how to attach a picture, but just imagine an "Air Bike" that's trailing smoke and 100+ red, white and blue paratroopers coming out the back. One $1 plastic table cover, a little tape and string and a bag of candy will get you 64 paratroopers. I print 5 helicopters to a single 8.5" X 11" piece of plain paper ... good in black and white ... you can also advertise the event (or B-day party in your case) on the helicopters. If you need "plans", email me at fly-in-home@att.net and I'll be able to get them to you.

These work well with the children throwing them up from the ground, too.

Always fly safely ... take someone with you to empty the container (don't toss the container). And remember, as soon as you open the can, your paratroopers will start departing! :o)

[martymayes]

Ron B. That is a great system!!!

[Ron Blum]

Ron B. That is a great system!!!

We do it safely, but ... We have fun, kids of all ages go wild, and you can tailor colors, amounts and types of candies delivered very, very easily. We also use the same helicopters to throw at parades to advertise the Chapter and various events.

[C 172 Pilot]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"
- WKRP in Cincinnati

Ron Wanttaja

Ron, you do fly don't you?

[FlyingRon]

They tried to reenact Gail Halvorson's DC-6 thing at one of our local airshows. The candy came down pretty far and wide over the airport.

[rwanttaja]

Ron, you do fly don't you?

With me, it's more like "Falling with Style...."

Ron Wanttaja