Pumpkin Drop!

[thebeerdedpilot]

For anybody who has done this in the past, any tips or tricks for dropping pumpkins in a ShortWing??

 

[akflyer]

same as any other plane. Open the door and toss them out. I really like my seaplane doors for this type of thing.

 

[GeoffB]

Bombardier in the back seat?

 

[akflyer]

I rarely have the back seat in so normally they are in the front seat. I would suggest that if you want to put one anywhere close to target you get out and practice a bit before showing up to a gathering and trying to learn on the spot. Know the rules they will have as dropping from 50' is much different than dropping from 200' AGL.

I got pretty good at dropping 50 pound grain sacks to a friend on a remote horse hunt, but that's a different story all together. Ended up with 8 sacks of grain within 20' of each other and most were stacked.

 

[thebeerdedpilot]

Bombardier in the back seat?

Probably in the front seat with me. I think she'd freak out with the back door off! lol

 

[Pacer42Z]

My wife has been my bombardier with the back door off. Works really well.

Juergen
Pacer N3342Z

 

[PACERGUY]

Good headsets, the pilot watches the altitude and the bombardier calls right or left correction. Don't lead the target too much, some practice always helps a lot.
DENNY

 

[Zac Weidner]

I've been doing the pumpkin drop with either my wife or brother here for i think 5 or 6 years and have won every year with the Tripacer with back door removed. The key is to get very stabilized with altitude and vector. Just a little side drift at the wrong time makes 50' of difference for the pumpkin drop location. It's tough because as pilot, I can't directly see the target for a good 1/4 mile under the nose unless the wind is from my right. The contest we've been doing flies at 400' AGL for the drop. The pumpkin usually gets dropped about when the main tire crosses over the target.