What you don't want to find at 11,500'

I must be missing something.
 
I have several stories about those suckers coming at me when opening a vent in a certain 182.
 
Dont you hate it when you wind up and give it a seemingly direct & sound swatting... and then it merrily buzzes off, looking for the nearest collar to dive into.
I leave em alone mostly.
 
Mason said:
nothing to worry about. It's just a heading bug.
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Ok, now that's funny right there. :D

I had just leveled off at 11,500' after a refueling stop at Burns, Oregon*, today. The flight to reposition the airplane from Washington State to our new Arizona home was going perfectly, smooth and clear, much better than forecast. I was feeling really good about things when this wasp or whatever (I didn't check his credentials) suddenly flew up from the front of the glareshield and buzzed around the cabin for a bit.

He lit on the ADF indicator knob and sat there for about ten minutes, as I pondered how I might land the airplane at the destination without reaching for the throttle. I'm grateful the 172 has big windows on both sides, that both can be opened at cruise speed. When the uninvited passenger started getting restless, a couple of swipes with a plastic grocery bag directed him to the exit.

*Not another soul in sight. No wonder the Bundy family went nuts-o out there.
 
I would have pulled my razor knife on him. It is velcroed just left of my knee. It is fun cutting the abdomen off and watch everyone scream as he harmlessly flies around nose heavy without his sting.
 
yellowjacket. Have a nest of those by my backdoor. In the ground, under a bush. I can't find the opening to kill it.
 
Another fun thing is to preflight, see one of those suckers buzzing around, try to swat it away ftom the open door, and watch it fly in and crawl under the seat where you can't reach it to get rid of it. Then you get to wonder, during your whole flight, when it's going to reappear.
 
Yikes! I hate finding those on the ground, let alone at 11,500. As Glenn mentioned above they really pack a punch. :eek2:
 
Not a welcome sight in your cabin, but I'd leave it alone. Easiest way to get stung is to take wild swings at it, as a CFI of mine once tried to do as I was trying to set up for a landing. (He got the blighter too, but I had visions of us both getting stung and no one on board in condition to land the plane.)
 
You found an ADF in the airplane? Yeah, chuck that thing out the window. ;)
 
Having dealt with them on the ground, the one doesn't worry me too much. What worries me is if he has friends....
 
What I don't want to find at 11,500 feet.....

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http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X19658&key=1

I was supposed to be on this flight. I had just been hired at this company in Fairbanks, and the owner of the company, the pilot of this flight, wanted me to go on this flight with him for familiarization with the route. He had just bought a new handheld GPS and was thinking about buying more for the other planes.

I was still looking for a place to live, so instead of going on the flight I stayed in town to procure living quarters.

Would I have ridden into the mountain with him? Or would I have told him to hold altitude until we are within X number of miles to the destination, which would guarantee we are past the mountains?

It still haunts me.
 
Zeldman said:
http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X19658&key=1

I was supposed to be on this flight. I had just been hired at this company in Fairbanks, and the owner of the company, the pilot of this flight, wanted me to go on this flight with him for familiarization with the route. He had just bought a new handheld GPS and was thinking about buying more for the other planes.

I was still looking for a place to live, so instead of going on the flight I stayed in town to procure living quarters.

Would I have ridden into the mountain with him? Or would I have told him to hold altitude until we are within X number of miles to the destination, which would guarantee we are past the mountains?

It still haunts me.
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Very spooky. Fate is the hunter.
 
I took off from some little hole in the wall airport with cheap fuel, coming home from OSH and as soon as I rotated found a bug the size of a golf ball flying around in my very small canopy....
Made the fastest u-turn imagineable and got it back on the ground to let it out. The people on the lake next door were all staring up when I left again....probably didn't make many canard fans that day....
 
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