Aviation "Code of Ethics"

[GAHorn]

I know a fantastic way to get folks to land on your runway, Dubya!

Host a CONVENTION! You might be surprised at the strange folks who show up!

[170C]

Boy, I am glad I didn't land on some of your airstrips I must have been really lucky as years ago I have landed in vrs hay fields to say hello to a friend baling hay (not his farm) or landed on a ranch road to relieve myself and no one ever said anything negative to me. Our now deceased 170 member, Joe Harris, and I used to go flying in our two planes with no destination in mind. When we spotted a grass strip somewhere we would buzz it and if no one waved us off we would land and visit whomever was there. A high percentage of the time someone would come out and wave us to land. If we saw someone there and they didn't wave us down, we'd proceed on to the next one. I would say 98 % of the places we landed the owner's make a point to invite us back, and many times we did. Not that I don't respect private property and I understand many reasons for owners being concerned about strangers landing (or driving) on their property. I don't do much of this anymore due to not having anyone flying off my wing who wants to do likewise. Fortunately I never had anyone ask me to leave or not to land at their place again. Guess I was just lucky and happend to find that most pilots are accomodating folks who welcome other pilots providing they act like gentlemen

[4-Shipp]

Last December, a friend and I - he in his Super Cub and I in our 170 - were hitting grass strips North of the Metroplex. We had been invited to land at a coworkers strip. He had given me a description of his place and I had found it (so I thought) months earlier but not landed. This day it took a while to find it but we finally did. It met the description perfectly, house, barn, lean too with truck, hangar and runway. I only missed one detail. My friend's house was east of the runway. This house was to the west. No one was home and after wandering about for a bit, I thought maybe he was inside the hanger, perhaps in his man cave. I was surprised to open the side door to the hangar and find a 172 and not the 180 I was expecting. I turned to Glenn and half laughing confessed that we were at the wrong place. We beat feet for the planes but as we were climbing in a truck pulled into the drive and headed our way. Time to face the music. The driver asked if he could help us and I said he sure could; we were lost! It turned out we only missed my buddy's place by a mile, and after a good laugh and being invited back we were off to our original destination. My parting words to our new friend were to thank him for not shooting us. A happy ending to a potentially embarrassing situation.

[GAHorn]

Lucky the "bandit" (kid who stole all those planes last year) didn't find his hangar.
I keep my hangar locked when I'm away. TSA rules, AOPA, FAA, most insurance policies, etc. require due diligence of owners against theft. (Of course, any metal bldg can be breached with a screwgun...but at least it'll be a genuine "breaking and entering" crime instead of an open door.)
Anti-theft measures is a good idea, especially these days. Miles has his secret switch location on his panel, and Richard has his blue button,...and Ol' Gar has his battery-cable Vise-Grips clamp.... Me? ..I'm an originality nut and put a combination/cable-lock on the prop. (But only when I'm at Ol' Gars place. That way, when the combination doesn't work, he can cut the cable off with his chineese bolt-cutters.) heh-heh

[Harold Holiman]

Like Ole Pokey, we used to often land on turn rows or in open fields to visit various farmer friends or just to have a break while flying. I was never told to leave or had anyone complain. That was the flying norm in Mississippi during the 60's and 70's. I am not now flying, but, in recent years I would not do so without contacting the owner of the land or private strip because of the changing rules and attidudes in flying.