Crude Oil Pipeline inspection flight

[islandpiper]

I got invited along for an inspection flight of several pipelines on Monday. They ran basically from Baton Rouge, La to the Gulf. What a great day to fly and look around. I've posted all the pics on photobucket, so stop in and look around. We flew "low and slow" , down to about 75 feet and 100 Knots.....and when there was any reason to look at a spot closer the pilot just banked up on one wingtip and ROTATED in that spot, as several of the pics show. Notice how i was able to look directly down the trunks of the trees AND the wing at the same time. Damned exciting ride for a geezer.

Here's the link:

http://s498.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... %20flight/

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

What type of pipeline ? Sewer ? ... Only asking since I did see several pictures of the transfer station where there is normally a gathering ( one time a year ) and all sorts of BS is tossed around. :lol: :lol: :lol:

OK... Some nice pictures of your place got slipped in there or it sure looked like you place from remembering the layout of the land around there. Things do look different from the air.

Chuck.

 

[Wannabe]

Looks like a fun thing to do on a hot day Piper. The pilot was probally glad to have someone along to talk to.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

<SNIP> The pilot was probably glad to have someone along to talk to.

As in a canoe, Piper San makes good ballast. In a Dutch Oven, he makes good Cornish game hen.

I wonder how he'd do in a sportin' house?

 

[a Bald Cypress]

After spending a lot of years of my life doing that, I have to say, it is NOT a fun thing to do on a hot day. Matter of fact, it is plain miserable.

Now drop the temp into the low 70s and you can have a nice time.

Here is a pic of one of the five A/C that I broke while "having a good time"
the leading edge at that point is about one foot wide. Makes for some interesting flight control combinations.

That don't count two buzzards through the windscreen and 14 others hitting different parts of the dam things.

130 deg in the cockpit in South Texas. Nope, stick to the 70 deg days.

 

[islandpiper]

ya, it was only 93 here yesterday. piper

 

[Wannabe]

Gruss you don't go high enough to get cool, do ya.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

Dick is "cool" at any altitude. The cockpit temperature is another story. :wink:

What impacted your leading edge, Dick - a buzzard? We have sandhill cranes at Mason Jewett where I fly. They have two young'ns (what do you call a young crane, anyway?). Scrawny little buggers; they look like young, teen aged kids growing into their legs. Also, deer meander out onto the runway form time to time. Night landings you do after you buzz the runway once, go around, and land the second time around.

 

[Jimmy W]

(what do you call a young crane, anyway?)

They are called a colt, same as a young horse.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Thanks, Jimmy. (Do you own stock in Wikipedia?) As leggy and scrawny as they are, the moniker of "colt" fits them well.

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the camouflaged version of them when they start learning to fly. They and I are learning together - and the bird brains will depart on a cross country flight, leaving me behind. (OK, you smart A$$es now have a free field of fire.)

 

[graybeard]

In the Air Force, part of the lab I worked at studied aircraft survivability. They had some great pictures:

This is not battle damage - it was clear air turbulence on a test flight.

Of course, the best pictures didn't get released. They tested current and future designs with Russian 20mm and 30mm cannons.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Thanks, Graybeard. I wonder if having his landing gear down helped provide lateral stability with his vertical stabilizer gone? Or, maybe I just assumed it was a male pilot. Was that damage done by a woman driver? :wink:

 

[rpecot]

That don't count two buzzards through the windscreen and 14 others hitting different parts of the dam things.

Wow. Bird strikes are scary things. Last year, a hawk went through the windshield of a Sikorsky S-76 en route to one of our platforms. Took it down. Eight dead. Miraculously, one man survived.

Of course, there's the whole Sully deal in NYC. That was something. :shock: