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Aerobatics ServerACRO E-mail Archive Thread: [Acro] Louisiana' State Bird...[International Aerobatic Club] [Articles etc] [Communications] [Contest and Patch Information] [Aviation Organizations] [Other Aerobatics Info] [Aerobatics Images] [Other Aerobatics Links] [Other Aviation Info (including weather)] [Search ACRO Website]Disclaimer: These aerobatics pages are developed by individual IAC members and do not represent official IAC policy or opinion. |
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Thread: [Acro] Louisiana' State Bird...
Message: [Acro] Louisiana' State Bird...
Follow-Up To: ACRO Email list (for List Members only)
From: Bubba Vidrine <bubba230 at flash.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 18:48:00 UTC
While doing my seaplane training a while back, I was one day away from
my checkride. I was flying with a seaplane icon, Charlie Hammonds.
We were doing some touch and goes on a canal. After cleaning up the
airplane, I gave the 185 all the throttle she could take and shortly after a
Pelican came flying up from our 10 O'clock and turned in front of us.
She was flying as hard as she could. I was accelerating at about one knot every 1000ft
so the bird was just keeping up with the plane. The bird was about
5ft in front of the prop and losing ground slowly. Charlie kept yelling, "Watch
out for that bird, watch that bird..." I was thinking, "I'm watching", but what
could I do?
The end of the canal was coming, I didn't have enough room to
turn left or right...you get the picture. Well sure nuff the bird and the prop met
each other. The prop hacked off the right wing of the Pelican and all I saw was
the prettiest snap rolls ever, till she hit the water to my left! Charlie
(A diehard conservationist) was feeling real bad and told me to go ahead
and turn downwind to land back in the canal and do what we could for the poor
bird....It was flopping around in the middle of the canal while I was on downwind.
To my suprise, as I turned final there was a little old coonass in a
pirogue coming around from an adjoining bayou. He never even slowed down.....
he swiped the bird up and kept on going....at a fairly good clip!!
Finders keepers I guess...
Me and Charlie flew back to the house with a smile, knowing that we had
provided some Gumbo fixins for our little friend.........You know, it's so nice to
do what you enjoy and help needy families all at the same time.
I learned two things that day:
1)Pelicans are absolutely beautiful in flight.
2)I got a pretty good idea why they are
disappearing in Louisiana.
bubba
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