Shooting at crop duster
- Thread starter bcp
- Start date
- Views: 4535
RoyJackson
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2001
- Messages
- 23,144
- Location
- Bethel, Vermont
- Tractor
- John Deere 4052R Cab,, Deere 855D UTV, Z920A Zero Turn Mower and assorted implements
I wonder why he did such a thing...no explanation in the article.
TCJatko
Platinum Member
Maybe he thought it was a "government drone"?
Looking4new
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2012
- Messages
- 9,844
- Location
- Northern Ontario, Canada
- Tractor
- 2012 Kioti CK27HST w/cab
Not too bright. Interfering with aircraft.
tow653
Gold Member
I always thought crop dusters had a death wish,just didn't know it was from being shot at.
I have a wooden propeller from an ultralight that an old friend of mine flew, with a bullet hole in one of the tips. He was very fortunate that the only effect was severe vibration and he was able to safely (and quickly!) land. Never did find where the shot came from.
- Jay
- Jay
Longer articles here:
Filer Man Sentenced for Firing Shotgun at Cropduster
Capital Press | ‘Proper’ sentence sought for crop duster shooter
Bruce
Filer Man Sentenced for Firing Shotgun at Cropduster
Capital Press | ‘Proper’ sentence sought for crop duster shooter
Bruce
2LaneCruzer
Super Member
There's a lot to the story that's not being told; for one, what kind of shot was he shooting in the shotgun? There is a world of difference between a load of #8's and a load of 00 buck. Even with a 10 ga.; #8's wouldn't have an effective range of over, say 60 yards. How close was the plane, and how close could it have been? If it was within 100 yards, it was pretty darn close. Spray planes are pretty scary, and you never know what they are spraying, especially if they are flying over your house. We lost all our baby chicks when a plane spraying wheat made passes over our house; they were all dead within 2 or 3 hours. Made us wonder if we were OK.
I'd have to get the whole story before I decided to condemn him completely. At the very least, he's guilty of being really stupid. It's hard to make a case for shooting at an airplane (Pearl Harbor being a notable exception).
Since the judge passed such a light sentence, I'm inclined to believe there are some compelling mitigating circumstances. Here's another "Idaho man shoots at crop duster" story -
The Deseret News - Google News Archive Search
Just because a guy is in an airplane doesn't always mean he's not up to no good, or behaving properly.
I'm inclined towards your line of thinking. One article I read on the story stated that the plane had sustained appx 60 pellet holes with no significant damage. This tells us a couple things - a) the plane had to be really close to take that kind of pattern, even if the fellow connected with several of his shots. b) they were likely a fairly small size shot. With a typical store-bought 8 shot load having ~410 pellets, that'd be my guess. c) crop dusters fly pretty fast compared to dove or quail. The guy must have know his shot guns to get any contact at all. Just about everyone who shoots at an aircraft (25 year veteran helicopter pilot myself) fails to adequately lead it. The only time I ever got hit (outside of combat) the guy (yes the sherif caught him) claimed he was aiming at the helicopter in front of me.
Having spent a fair amount of time around crop dusters (both as a youth growing up on a farm, and as an adult pilot), I can attest the fact that spray pilots don't have a lot of respect for anything outside of putting the product on the crop. They also carry a butt-ton of insurance for things like dead chickens and decimated gardens. Like most aspects of business, time is money to them. Further, since the pilots are often transient - moving from place to place, and job to job, and don't have a "home office", it's not exactly easy to get "management" on the phone to say "what the heck?!"
Lastly, the FFA has little or no time for crop duster complaints. They get thousands per hear, and it just turns into blah-blah-blah. They make a call, check a box, and go back to what ever they were doing. A report of someone shooting at an airplane is much more exciting.