you can take the farmer off the farm

[astjp2]

but you cant take the farm out of the farmer. Watched a farmer try and install his ski's with grade 5 bolts and the bushings in his lading gear were worn through to paper thin. I know airplanes are resilient but I had to walk away because I didn't want to be associated with potential crash....and I wonder why I still try and maintain my IA...tim

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

What is the old saying? You can take the farmer off the farm, but his shoes will still smell the same?

There needs to be a way to "help" someone when you see they are about to try and go off the falls in a paper barrel. WITHOUT getting into a huge fight with them. It is SO HARD to just walk away and leave them to their fate.

[astjp2]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

What is really funny is that there is a parts store locally and you can get new parts for a cub easily and he still wanted to use a grade 5 bolt on his gear. He claimed that the gear leg was replaced this last summer, which is fine, but the bushing in the airframe was about half missing because it was wore out from lack of lubrication. Just goes to show how resilient an airplane is. Tim

[MAC]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

If you guys get a big kick out of ridiculing someone that comes from probably the hardest working, most honest down to earth profession there is; then maybe you should make a lifelong commitment to never use the product of their toil; it's a little thing called food. That would fix em wouldn't it? MAC

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

It isn't about ridiculing anyone. We ALL have our areas of expertise and our areas of ignorance. I grew up in Nebraska and Kansas with more farmers and ranchers than bankers. When we are all on the same team (which we ARE on this group) the banker keeps the farmer from going bankrupt and the farmer keeps the banker from starving. We had someone here recently say it was cruel to kill animals for meat when you could just go to the store and buy it and not have to hurt animals. OK, HER I would probably ridicule! The engineers here are often needed to point out the things that aren't as safe as many think. Engineers don't tend towards political correctness and gentle reminders, especially with their friends.

The point is we have farmers, engineers and philosophers here. We all look out for each other, and using a hardware store bolt in the wrong place "looks" rational....if you don't know difference. We DO all poke fun at each other. Sometimes a LOT, but it is in good fun and most take it in stride and with a bit of embarrassment. The core intent is to keep all our friends alive and healthy, and a little humor will make it more memorable, hopefully with no hard feelings.

I am hoping to build a grass strip airpark in North Carolina. I have said and done a life's worth of dumb thing in the process, and hopefully have learned a lot I never knew before about land development, growing crops, finance and pulling diverse people together.

Wish I had a couple of farmers to live there. If I am lucky, we will attract a few. There is no intent to humiliate or ridicule anyone. We don't want to loose a friend, or his plane.

Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

And yes, my boots have an "interesting" aroma after checking out multiple pastures for that airpark. ;-)

Hank

[wlas]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

I see this same kind of workmen ship all the time and they don't have to be farmers . I think Tim was just making a joke . I've gotten planes in here that I couldn't believe they would even fly, but I saw it fly in. I saw a T-craft one time out in a village that the guy was using to spot fish with and I don't think I would even sit in it on the ground. It was so rusted out it looked like an old truck from a state that puts salt on roads .

[Robert Lees]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

I see this same kind of workmen ship all the time and they don't have to be farmers . I think Tim was just making a joke . I've gotten planes in here that I couldn't believe they would even fly, but I saw it fly in. I saw a T-craft one time out in a village that the guy was using to spot fish with and I don't think I would even sit in it on the ground. It was so rusted out it looked like an old truck from a state that puts salt on roads .

Well we have an obligation and a duty to get aircraft like that grounded. I don't like saying that, but it's true. I'm sure we many of us recall Dave Wiley, who along with his passenger died when the strut fitting failed.

These aeroplanes are not getting younger, and they require good vigilance on their airworthiness.

[M Towsley]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

At one time I had a booklet signed by Dave about how-to-fly or something similar.

By the way, MAC, you would never had made it in law enforcement. Thick skin is a prerequisite.

[N96337]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

Here's one for ya..... this flew in for an annual one year..... needless to say, it didn't fly back out. The whole thing was a collection of rusted and bent tubes, and then covered with blue poly tarps and painted with some sort of house paint!! No kidding!! He'd gone so far as to cut finishing tapes and everything out of blue poly tarp!! The owner was furious when we wouldn't even begin to inspect it, and called the Feds!! He said it'd been flying like that for 10+ years, and he just needed a quick annual done on it so he could teach his grandson to fly in it. It sat in the corner of the hangar for years and I think finally ended up in the landfill. There was NOTHING salvageable on it!

[M Towsley]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

OMG! So.....it is a Cub so I am assuming the value went down a little. Say from $40K to perhaps $35K???

I have never seen such a thing. Shows how luck plays a part as well as good engineering from the old designers and builders.

[Robert Lees]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

There are lots of interesting stories about rural flying in Australia, where the farmers would cobble together some engine & airframe and fly to herd their sheep/cattle etc.

The Aus Feds could do nothing about it due to the remoteness (and they didn't even bother trying to enforce).

One story I recall was a Ford V8 bolted to a time-expired crop sprayer, with bent wings and an unqualified pilot (etc etc...you get the idea) and the only reason it came to light was because when in ran out of fuel it collided on the road with the only car for 250 miles.

[Nefj40]

Re: you can take the farmer off the farm

Here's one for ya..... this flew in for an annual one year..... needless to say, it didn't fly back out. The whole thing was a collection of rusted and bent tubes, and then covered with blue poly tarps and painted with some sort of house paint!! No kidding!! He'd gone so far as to cut finishing tapes and everything out of blue poly tarp!! The owner was furious when we wouldn't even begin to inspect it, and called the Feds!! He said it'd been flying like that for 10+ years, and he just needed a quick annual done on it so he could teach his grandson to fly in it. It sat in the corner of the hangar for years and I think finally ended up in the landfill. There was NOTHING salvageable on it!

Holy crap.