Hoo boy! Plane on golf course could be one of ours.

Henning said:
Well, it said it was a non emergency, so maybe he was just stopping to play the back nine...:dunno:
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I always thought electric golf carts were the fun way to get around a golf course...I guess this wins.
 
electric golf carts are also a great way to get around the airport!
 
mikea said:
I heard some activity at the airport today. Hope this wasn't somebody I know.
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Mike, another link on that site was to something you'll really get a kick out of:Former Ald. Dorothy Tillman arrested in Alabama

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blotter/chi-tillman-arrest-03-both_mar03,1,6928737.story

I used to live in Lincolnshire, and there used to be an airport just north in Half Day. I think that maybe the pilot saw that the name of the course was "Crane's Landing" and thought it was one of those golf courses that was also a bona fide landing strip. There is at least one here in the Chicago area. You buzz the course to tell the golfers you're going to land, then set it down.
 
Did he have skis? I assume there's still a fair amount of snow on the ground in Lake County.
 
Precautionary may be non emergency. Or it could just mean landed in one piece.
 
Maybe he wanted to land on grass and that was the closest thing to a grass strip in the area.:D
 
RMCN172RG said:
Precautionary may be non emergency. Or it could just mean landed in one piece.
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Sure, it's just a matter of semantics, and reporters these days know nothing about that. I would say though that anytime an aircraft has to make an unplanned landing out from an airport, it's an emergency. It's just a Pan-Pan emergency rather than a Mayday emergency if it's done precautionarily.
 
Teller1900 said:
I always thought electric golf carts were the fun way to get around a golf course...I guess this wins.
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But it does raise the fascinating question, often debated by local helo pilots:

There is an airport 10 nm north of Pottstown Limerick called Butter Valley (7N8 if memory serves). The runway, which is half paved, half grass, runs right down the middle of a golf course.

So the all-important question, the answer to which depends on the helicopter involved, is how low do you have to hover to move golf balls around the green with your rotor wash?
 
RotaryWingBob said:
But it does raise the fascinating question, often debated by local helo pilots:

There is an airport 10 nm north of Pottstown Limerick called Butter Valley (7N8 if memory serves). The runway, which is half paved, half grass, runs right down the middle of a golf course.

So the all-important question, the answer to which depends on the helicopter involved, is how low do you have to hover to move golf balls around the green with your rotor wash?
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I know a Navy pilot who knows of a crew of a CH-60 that, for training (or fun) purposes, chose to land not on the fairway but on a green of a golf course. Obviously, the CH-60 is not a light weight helicoptor, and you can imagine the damage done to the green. I would have liked to see that imprint when the next foresome approached the green. :D
 
RotaryWingBob said:
But it does raise the fascinating question, often debated by local helo pilots:

There is an airport 10 nm north of Pottstown Limerick called Butter Valley (7N8 if memory serves). The runway, which is half paved, half grass, runs right down the middle of a golf course.

So the all-important question, the answer to which depends on the helicopter involved, is how low do you have to hover to move golf balls around the green with your rotor wash?
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I would think that with nearly any helo, you'd want to be 1" off the ground for accuracy sake. The real question though is, if the golfer hits the helo, how does that score? (I used to love driving the range cart and taunting the golfers, it was especially fun since it was an AF base golf course. :D)
 
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RotaryWingBob said:
But it does raise the fascinating question, often debated by local helo pilots:

There is an airport 10 nm north of Pottstown Limerick called Butter Valley (7N8 if memory serves). The runway, which is half paved, half grass, runs right down the middle of a golf course.

So the all-important question, the answer to which depends on the helicopter involved, is how low do you have to hover to move golf balls around the green with your rotor wash?
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I think you should find that key altitude, then stay just above it with an extended shaft golf club...like polo from a helicopter. Just be careful on the back swing!
 
Teller1900 said:
I think you should find that key altitude, then stay just above it with an extended shaft golf club...like polo from a helicopter. Just be careful on the back swing!
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Helicopter polo! Now that has possibilities :yes:

I was going to say that the MD 500 series would make a great platform for HP with its stability enhancement. Even batter would be the NOTAR version because you wouldn't have to worry about getting the golf club tangled up in the tail rotor...
 
Teller1900 said:
I think you should find that key altitude, then stay just above it with an extended shaft golf club...like polo from a helicopter. Just be careful on the back swing!
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Or replace the bottle opener with a golf club:

 
mikea said:
Or replace the bottle opener with a golf club:

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That's exactly what I was thinking about when I suggested it. I figured affixing the club to the skid like that might make it tough to get close enough to the ball without it getting blown by the prop wash.
 
He was just making a quick stop because he needed directions.;)
ApacheBob
 
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gprellwitz said:
...I used to live in Lincolnshire, and there used to be an airport just north in Half Day. I think that maybe the pilot saw that the name of the course was "Crane's Landing" and thought it was one of those golf courses that was also a bona fide landing strip. There is at least one here in the Chicago area. You buzz the course to tell the golfers you're going to land, then set it down.
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lprellwitz said:
More available on this story -
airmanship: 10 points
pilot judgement: much less than 0....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-golf-course-landing-storymar04,0,5960746.story
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I was going to ask if there was a chance this guy had an old chart but I guess you're not saying the golf course was ever listed as a private strip. Maybe he landed there a mere 50 years ago before they built up the area some more.

Based on that we can land on the roofs of a few big box stores we know about.
 
36356703-03210017.jpg


On top of everything else dis idjit talks on WGN radio:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-080304-pilot-talks,0,3490690.mp3file

"I expect to bet arrested...."
"The FAA is looking at it."
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:hairraise: :dunno:

Oughtta yank his medical for terminal stoopid.
 
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mikea said:
I was going to ask if there was a chance this guy had an old chart but I guess you're not saying the golf course was ever listed as a private strip. Maybe he landed there a mere 50 years ago before they built up the area some more.

Based on that we can land on the roofs of a few big box stores we know about.
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Yeah, I was not saying that. And my comment was before I got the additional information from Leslie this morning. I would say 10 points for airmanship (maybe:dunno:) and minus several billion for judgment! (I think that's a bastardized Douglas Adams quote)
 
It was not a wise thing to do. But, I am interested in the legality of his landing there in a non-emergency circumstance. Trespassing is a given by all indications.
 
KennyFlys said:
It was not a wise thing to do. But, I am interested in the legality of his landing there in a non-emergency circumstance. Trespassing is a given by all indications.
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Two hits (which he mentions):
1) not getting the permission of the property owner
2) the ever popular careless and reckless.

6 month suspension.

He already had to pay to have the plane towed out.
 
Besides every other stoopidity. This was on a Saturday. He flew some 15 statute miles to avoid traffic ON A SATURDAY. TRAFFIC IS LIGHT ON SATURDAY!

It's not like he chose this tennis club for his son because it wasn't nearby!
 
Random thoughts on this bone-headed manuever:

If he was a golf club member could he kinda say he had permission .....

What kind of a dumb ***k (rhymes with cluck) would ever imagine that his "flight plan" was viable in any way, shape or form.....

New example of what "entitlement" really means to some folks (I'm rich I can get away with anything, even if it's rude, self-centered, aggressive and thoughtless) who live in the northern suburbs of Chicago, especially the north shore .....

Is there anything some parents won't do for their kids......

Why would you risk your pilot's license because your teenage son was "running late" - isn't that normal behavior for teenage boys, not requiring heroic measures ......

Between this cluck and the Lufthansa go-around video, could we be having a worse week for the pilot community (not that they are in the same category except in the public's mind) .....

Elizabeth
 
mikea said:
Besides every other stoopidity. This was on a Saturday. He flew some 15 statute miles to avoid traffic ON A SATURDAY. TRAFFIC IS LIGHT ON SATURDAY!

It's not like he chose this tennis club for his son because it wasn't nearby!
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Gotta wonder how much time he actually saved given the need to pre-flight, get wx briefing, etc. versus just high-stepping it to the car and driving in. Unless, of course, those preliminary steps aren't necessary for him to take either.....

geez.....
 
lprellwitz said:
Gotta wonder how much time he actually saved given the need to pre-flight, get wx briefing, etc. versus just high-stepping it to the car and driving in. Unless, of course, those preliminary steps aren't necessary for him to take either.....

geez.....
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Much less making a few passes to check the landing site.

Face it. He wanted to impress the kid with a cool thing...to show up in front of his tennis buddies in a plane. He's 64 and the kid is 14. :D
 
mikea said:
Face it. He wanted to impress the kid with a cool thing...to show up in front of his tennis buddies in a plane. He's 64 and the kid is 14. :D
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Yeah, I think you nailed it Mike. What a maroon.
 
mikea said:
Much less making a few passes to check the landing site.

Face it. He wanted to impress the kid with a cool thing...to show up in front of his tennis buddies in a plane. He's 64 and the kid is 14. :D
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Anthony said:
Yeah, I think you nailed it Mike. What a maroon.
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The HS his kid goes to is the same one that my wife went to and coincidently Sen Rick Santorum did as well. But I say that only to illustrate a point. That is that students there are somewhat privileged. This is pretty well known and this action by this particular maroon will only go to show that pilots are a bunch of rich spoiled people.
 
How stupid would you have to be to do it and the ADMIT to it?

I mean really: "Uh, well officer, the engine was running a bit rough, and so I decided to make a precautionary landing on this nice open space".

~ Christopher
 
jwriteclub said:
How stupid would you have to be to do it and the ADMIT to it?

I mean really: "Uh, well officer, the engine was running a bit rough, and so I decided to make a precautionary landing on this nice open space".

~ Christopher
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Kinda hard to do when you're found walking away from the airplane with a tennis racket in your hand!:rofl:
 
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