#bush flying

[onetangosierra]

Trent Palmer is a backcountry pilot from northern Nevada. While making an inspection pass he was reported for reckless behavior to the FAA by an unpleasant neighbor. The FAA found him in violation of FAR's and has threatened to pull his ticket. His original video on the incident can be found here along with a follow up here.

Inspection passes like the one Palmer was reported for are critical to allowing the pilot in command a clear understanding of the ground conditions and whether it's safe to land. Not being able to perform an inspection below 500' would require a pilot to land blind and risk destroying the airplane and putting the safety of everyone on board at risk. That's unacceptable.

Senator Ted Budd of NC has taken up the fight to require the FAA to add exceptions for inspection passes, as well as common training maneuvers including go arounds, practice approaches, and instrument approaches, to the list of maneuvers exempted from the minimum altitude regulation (14 C.F.R. § 91.119).

You can help by contacting your Senator and sharing this. Go to Senate.gov or call the main switchboard at (202)-224-3121. Ask your Senator to support the Backcountry Aviation Protection Act.

[aviatrix-ash]

learned how to hot fuel the Jet Ranger off grid out of barrels today. (Means while the heli is running at idle, give her some good soup)

Been doing that all day in the cold and wind. I think I'm getting peak Alaska bush flying experience with this.

Only now my whole jacket and my boots are soaked in jetfuel. Luckily both are waterproof and it vaporizes off. But I'm just gonna smell like jetfuel for the rest of the weekend and probably forever. Luckily I actually like the smell of jet fuel and the vapors dont bother me.. :'))

[amywinehousequeen]

Amy Winehouse backstage at Bush Hall (2003)

[lazer-t]

New stickers available in my BigCartel store!

I've been updating my store over the last couple of months, and I now have 22+ new sticker designs available, as well as 10 new stamp stickers (total of 30 different stamp stickers as of now).

In addition, I've also made a bunch of misprints from previous sticker runs available in blind bag bundles at a significantly reduced price.

More stuff here

Also, just a reminder for anyone intending to order things for Christmas, be sure to order before the 24th of November to allow a full month for the shipment to arrive!

[lagtrained]

yknow that one pixar animation with all the round birds on the electrical wire. i had a vision during class the other day that suddenly spiraled out of control. have some guys

[toacody]

A Hungry Dragon

The economy's hitting everyone hard.

Source

Creator: Gamma-Raay

[lilybug-02]

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Photo taken my me :) She let me come right up to her. It was such a special moment.

[wizardnuke]

rosy maple moth :)

[biologist4ever]

[dustykneed]

Doctor...

either very traumatic or very homosexual! take your pick (or is it something else?? they're all yours, lmk in the tags ;))

[nocternalrandomness]

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

[onetangosierra]

[aviatrix-ash]

Lowest I've ever flown in a plane!! Over much of the water we were about 250-600 ft to stay under the stormy bumpy air! :0

[vintage-tigre]

Heath Ledger, 1999

[fincherly]

Ppl only ask “do you work here” while I’m doing something that if I did not work there would be construed as property damage

[blueyinthebush]

night, fruit bats! - grey-headed flying fox

requested by @alpaca-dave

grey-headed flying foxes have appeared in two episodes so far: season one's "fruitbat" and briefly in season three's "bedroom". bluey loves fruit bats, and so do i! australia is home to over 75 species of bat, but the grey-headed flying fox is the biggest. flying foxes--also called fruit bats--are megabats, the larger of the two classifications of bat. while microbats primarily eat insects, megabats love to chow down on all sorts of fruit and nectar. since we're going to be talking about fruit trees as well, this post will be under a read more.

these bats are highly social, forming groups called "camps" that can contain tens of thousands of individuals. there are three other species of flying fox found in the country (black, little red, and spectacled) and all are effective pollinators, promoting forest health as they disperse seeds and pollen. as bingo correctly states in "fruitbat", these critters are primarily nocturnal, like all bat species. they roost during the day and hunt for fruit, pollen, and nectar at night.

grey-headed flying foxes are partial migrants, and will travel hundreds of kilometers as foraging locations change. the episode gives us a nice montage of dream-bluey and her flying fox friends on a couple different types of fruit tree. lets take a quite detour to learn about some fruit trees.

first up is a nice looking mango tree. this one looks like it could be a bowen variety. they're the most common and one the most tasty kinds grown in australia. so well beloved, in fact, that there's even a 10 meter tall fiberglass one in its namesake town!

next, a papaya. there are two main varieties, mexican and hawaiian. this one is mexican, the larger of the two, and is a favorite of fruit-eaters like birds and megabats. despite their prevalence, papaya plants are not native to australia.

this is a cavendish banana, by far the most popular banana in the entire world--it makes up 99 percent of all bananas grown. the primary variety used to be "big mike", but a devastating fungus-borne disease wiped them out in the 1950s. its likely that the same could happen to the cavendish if we're not careful.

last but not least, a guava tree. this one is a recognizable common guava, which are native to south and central america and the caribbean. they've been introduced worldwide, and can quickly take over. interesting to note that australia actually does have a native guava species, but a highly infectious invasive plant disease called myrtle rust is driving them to extinction.

such a fun assortment of fruits for a cool critter! these big bats are often considered a nuisance in cities, but they are vital to maintaining healthy forests. one grey-headed flying fox can spread as many as 60,000 seeds in a single night! they're particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures, and experts have noted a considerable decline in their numbers in the last century. the grey-headed flying fox is a beautiful and unique member of the australian ecosystem, and it's high time we appreciated them for the wonders they are. so the next time you say good night, be sure to thank these fascinating animals for all the work they do while you're asleep.