bbarnhouse 0 #1 February 26, 2002 Ok let's hear the "whopper" of a story be it fishin',huntin', skydivin' or whor....(oops) nevermind that one.....LOLI actually have a FISH story (No Clay not Tuna!) LOLAs a retired whale biologist I purchased a home on the ocean in Washington State thinking that it woulod be a good place to commune with nature etc.....One day, I am standing outside on the lawn visiting with an older gentlman and his lady friend and from out of the sky drops a 3 foot salmon. PLOP right at my feet. I look up and what do ya know the most beautiful bird.......an American Bald Eagle. This eagle decided it was going to nest in the trees just across from my place. Truly an awesome thing. Only problem is my chihauaua doesn't weigh much more than the damn salmon and eagles have been known to take small dogs....hummmmm......maybe not a bad idea after all damn little rat dog! j/k. OTAY let's hear em'.Oh and btw.....for those of you that believe dolphin to be sweet natured...think again I have bite marks to prove otherwise! LMAO One last thought......My place is just one street down from the airport.......an airplane crashed into the home directly across the street the week prior one had crashed into a mobile home directly west of the same house......yikes! I need more insurance........No wait i need a new house...hey guys........over here, over here....(as she runs out and paints a red bulls eye on her roof).....It only takes a little pixie dust...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #2 February 26, 2002 "as she runs out and paints a red bulls eye on her roof"Sounds like "The World According to Garp" with Robin Williams. He's standing outside a house he is thinking of buying and a Cessna crashes into it. "I'll take it. What are the chances of that happening again?" "I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skreamer 1 #3 February 26, 2002 Somebody been snorting a little too much pixie dust???"Don't die until you're dead" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #4 February 26, 2002 "somebody been snorting a little too much pixie dust"? LMAONo..... just California Road Dirt !!! ROFLMAOIt only takes a little pixie dust...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lummy 4 #5 February 26, 2002 QuoteSounds like "The World According to Garp" Ahhh Garp :) Love that movie......Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beachbum 0 #6 February 26, 2002 Nothing to compete with a salmon deposited like that ... LOL ... but .. funniest was when I was a kid ... you know how accurate most kids can cast ... lol. Put a plug up over a tree limb parallel to shoreline ... was trying to gently bring it up to the limb to snatch it over, and the biggest bass of my short life to that point grabbed it right before it left the water. So here I am hollering at my buddy to hold the rod for me while I dive in a wrestle that bugger to the shore ... nearly 6 lbs. (and that was WAY before florida bass were introduced into Texas).Standing at a fish cleaning table on a narrow pier doing what you do at a cleaning table ... one of my buds standing alongside ... gets blindsided by a gull trying to steal the parts/pieces and gets knocked into the drink.More recent was plugging for trout (light tackle) near Port Mansfield and accidently got it in front of a large drum who decided to suck down my jig. Almost an hour and some VERY tired arms and shoulders later managed to land/release it (see pic). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #7 February 26, 2002 Fish tale?Well, this ain’t no fish tale, but it’s kinda interesting.I got a contract to shoot some photos to go along with a magazine article in Omni. Omni is a sci-fi rag that is kinda known for it’s avantgard and cutting edge style of photos.Anyway, the photo was supposed to go with a story that’s along the same lines of the story “Man Who Fell to Earth” the movie starring David Bowie. This time it’s a full on classic “grey” alien that ejects from his spacecraft after having a run in with the boys over at Area 51.Well, here’s where I come in. You see, I’ve visited the area surrounding Area 51 a couple of times and have written in the past under a pseudonym about visiting the boarder without getting shot. I’m also a pilot and have sort of written a guide on how to fly as close as you can to Area 51 without getting shot down. You can read between the lines about how to go about that HERE. Actually, you might wanna glance over that stuff just to become familiar with what I’m going to be writing here a little later on. Go ahead, click on the links and I’ll be waiting here when you get back.Lastly, I think you all know I do freefall photography.So, here was the plan; I had a buddy of mine, let’s just call him “X”, outfitted with a silver jumpsuit and a “grey” space alien mask. We were going to fly out to Rachel, Nevada and along the way announce we were going to make a jump. Rachel sits under the MOA just outside of Area 51. So, technically, it’s all perfectly legal and what makes it even better is that legally, there’s not a damn thing they can do to stop us! It’s considered “other use airspace” by the FAA and all that’s required is 60 minutes notice – NOT permission! See; FAR 105.25(a)(3)This was planned to be a sunrise shot because I wanted to, really, really wanted to also have the Area 51 airbase in the background of the photos!I had previously talked to a guy by the name of Glen Campbell, one of the Area 51 “tour” guides based out of Rachel, about him camping out and waiting in a getaway jeep up at a place called “Campfire Hill”. It’s not really much of a hill, but it does overlook the road that goes into Area 51 from the Rachel area and it’s a nice flat spot without a lot of rocks, joshua trees and other crap. It sits on Bureau of Land Management property just outside of the ground limits of Area 51 and is a perfectly legal place to camp – although why anyone in their right mind would do so is way beyond my comprehension – other than to spy on Area 51 that is!I contacted one of the other flight instructors out at our flying club and convinced him it was all perfectly legal. He’d be our jump pilot, but would deny ever knowing about us if anything happened. We took off out of John Wayne Airport in one of my flying clubs Cessna 172s about an hour and a half before sunrise. It’s kinda cool having a huge airport like that all to yourselves. At that hour commercial jets aren’t allowed to takeoff or land and the control tower isn’t even staffed.So, we takeoff and start heading out to Rachel.“SoCal Approach, Cessna 321PQ, is a Cessna 172 just out of John Wayne at 1000 request flight following to Dagget.”“321PQ, SoCal, squawk 4307 and climb and maintain 5000 VFR. Resume own navigation.”We wanted flight following just in case something was lurking out there in the air and it’s usually not a bad idea if you’re not filing a flight plan. We –didn’t- want to file a flight plan.Our flight took us out over Ontario, through the Cajon Pass. At the Cajon Pass, we got dropped from flight following.“321PQ, SoCal, radar service terminated. Squawk 1200. Good day.”This is normal because of the lousy radar coverage in that area and we’d taken this into consideration as part of our flight planning. We wanted to sort of disappear at some point. 1200 is the transponder code for a VFR aircraft flying without talking to ATC.We passed Apple Valley and Dagget and just kept cruising. Just beyond Dagget we started the real subterfuge as morning twilight began to start to show surface features on the desert floor below. We headed for one of the gazillion little dirt airstrips that seem to dot the desert and made a low pass as if we were landing. We then turned off the transponder and continued to fly nape of the earth quite literally below the radar until reaching another little airstrip at which point we made a “normal” climb out.Perfect. We were now an airplane that didn’t require a transponder at all because there wasn’t a towered airport near by, so we left ours turned off. We then called up Nellis AFB on the radio and told them we were going to make a parachute jump over Rachel in 60 minutes. “Nellis Control, 123AB, is a Cessna 172 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas and we’re going up to Rachel, about 20 north west of Alamo to make a parachute drop from 15,000 in 60 minutes. That’s 15:23 Zulu on the parachute drop. Is the MOA hot?” “123AB, Nellis Control, uh . . . hold on . . . uh, what are you requesting again?”They weren’t really too happy about the concept, but since the MOA wasn’t “hot” they couldn’t really even come up with a single reason as to why we couldn’t do this.Onward to Rachel we stayed away from the 30 mile “veil” that surrounds the Las Vegas airspace and flew up toward a little airport called Alamo that sits under the MOA. From there we were just about 10 miles from the airspace boarder of Area 51 and only about 20 miles from the actual base.We turned west toward the base just as the sun was peaking over the horizon and this was our jump run.As we looked down, I could see that our friend waiting at the getaway jeep had popped a smoke flare for us! Wow, I wasn’t expecting him to do that!The 172 was a standard one without a jump door so we knew things were going to be a little funky getting into place. I had the pilot make sure he kept his toes on the brakes as I started to back out of the door. X was going to just dive out right behind me in his “alien” costume. Well, the exit kinda sucked, but we planned on that and it wasn’t all that important anyway.X and I jockeyed for position and with a couple of hand signals I was able to frame him just beautifully with red clouds of daybreak above him and the cool desert top secret base just below.We made our approach and landing at Campfire Hill. X touched down first and I landed without incident, but just as I did one of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s jeeps was approaching from the east and a “Cammo Guy” Jeep was approaching from the west. The “Cammo Guys” are the “civilian” guards at the Area 51 boarder. They don’t really have any power outside the boarders, but can detain or shoot you if you pass the boarder.Anyway, it goes without saying that they all wanted to, uh, talk with us about our little stunt. I had copies of the relevant FARs and an air chart in my jumpsuit and they agreed it all looked perfectly legal. Then they pulled out a map of the area and we debated for quite awhile about where the ground boarders lay in relationship to the airspace boarders.But we had clearly landed on the BLM side of the line!Seems as if the Cammo Guys were convinced by the Nellis ATC (which I read as Area 51 ATC) that although we had exited over the MOA that we had drifted into the airspace of Area 51 and that they could easily see that on radar. What? Our hip rings? You gotta be kidding me? Well, I guess they –do- have some pretty good radar up there.It was either hand over the film, video tape AND sign the paper saying we were bad people and we’d never talk about what we’d seen while in the Area, or they’d haul our asses off to prison. All “standard” hassle procedure around these parts and we all knew it. Personally, I didn’t see anything that could be seen from a satellite going overhead so it all seemed like a huge pointless exercise to me, but well, the M-16s in the back of the jeeps and the 45s on their belts finally convinced us.Bummer, huh?Well, like I said, it ain't no fish tale. But then again, you -probably- shouldn't believe everything you read.quadehttp://futurecam.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #8 February 26, 2002 Quade...I've been all over that range and there really isn't much to see. All the stuff you might want to see has been....hidden quite well. You won't get much of a look at it unless you actually get to "stroll" around. Even with military people that are supposed to be there they still won't let you come and go without clearance from Range Control EVERY time you move from one place to another. They got really pissed when one of our trucks left about 20 minutes before they had been given "clearance" to leave the OP. After my first time there I really started to wonder why I had to sign all that paper work. I didn't see much but a lot of desert. And a big hole.... "I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #9 February 26, 2002 ...And a couple crashed alien space ships...oh, crap, I wasn't supposed to say anything...*knock, knock* Oh-Nooooo! They're at the door...."Wait...are you selling Penis Mighters?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #10 February 26, 2002 Oh, I'm not debating what's there to see or not! I totally agree that unless you have access to the inside of a hanger during the daytime or the flightline at night there isn't a lot worth getting excited about.Sure is fun playing with the heads of some people though, eh?quadeP.S. -- Remeber the subject line of this thread has to do with FICTION!http://futurecam.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #11 February 26, 2002 Quade~Thanks for the great account of your adventure! Sound like stuff movies are made of.It only takes a little pixie dust...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #12 February 26, 2002 "Sure is fun playing with the heads of some people though, eh?"I think that's the game....."I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #13 February 26, 2002 QuoteThanks for the great account of your adventure!I guess I should be sort of flattered, because I take it that it does sound plausable, but that's just good storytelling.Just to be perfectly clear . . . it NEVER actually happened.It is a feasible scenario and that's about how I figure it would go down. All perfectly legal, but they'd still bust you anyway.Oh, yes, I have actually done the research, but not the jump itself.quadehttp://futurecam.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #14 February 26, 2002 Uh HUH......It only takes a little pixie dust...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
