Small Airplanes...Does anybody on icmag fly them often?

[Bud Green]

Out of all the members here, there must be at least several dozen or more who fly or ride in small, single engine planes on a regular basis..

The reason I ask is, how obvious are small hidden gardens from the air?
Do they stick out like a sore thumb, or is it more of an accidental thing for you to spot one...

I've only flown in a single engine plane a half-dozen times, more than 30 years ago,
and I was busy looking at everything else and not trying to find pot plants.

When I'm out on a hike, and a small plane goes overhead,
I often measure the size of the plane between my thumb and finger with my arm fully outstretched over my head...
When I then move my arm down, and look at the ground between my fingers, I find a small leaf or small rock that seems the same size...

When I compare this small area to the vastness of the ground in my peripheral vision,
it seems a garden plot which is the size of a Cessna airplane, would not be obvious to a pilot...

Of course I make this assumption based on the garden spot not having trash or white buckets laying around,
and common sense being used to not arrange the pot plants in straight lines or patterns...

Any input from someone who flies small plane often, would probably be pretty helpful to a lot of members here,
and perhaps help them make sure their gardens are as inconspicuous, from the air, as possible...

 

[troutman]

I hide under trees from planes if I'm growing in the bush.

I've been in an helicopter a few times and trails in the grass are easy to see due to shading.
Movement is also something that catches your eye when your up there. So hide the second
you see or hear them, don't move and don't look up or come out until they are long gone.

Also clean up after yourself. Garbage in a forest is a neon sign.

 

[Cvh]

It would be the same as asking that if you would fly over Las Vegas at night and wonder if you would see anything beside desert sand.



Seriously, don't worry that much...

 

[ahortator]

Hi I don't know if this video shows well how a garden is seen from an helicopter.

https://youtu.be/InJHDLNCRzc?t=2m29s

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Found a local farmer's grow using Google Earth's Timeline feature.

 

[Bud Green]

I'm really not very worried, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this...

The closest person who knows I grow is almost 400 miles away.
More importantly, he's been a close friend for almost 40 years..

Small planes fly around here quite a bit...Mostly just folks who can afford expensive toys....They're usually at about 1000 feet, so I know they won't see anything...

Last year I saw 3 black helicopters that were flying at 100 feet, about 15 miles from here.
They were agents, and the house they were buzzing was a known druggie family....

I followed the news as best I could and heard that the agents were pissed at the county for getting them out of bed for less than 100 plants..

Still, those of us who grow outdoors are always concerned, and most of us do our best to be sure that our grow spot won't attract any attention from any passing planes...

30 years ago, I lived in the Florida Everglades, and back then small planes flew grid patterns, at low altitude, specifically looking for grows....Of course, that was in a fairly wealthy county....
And a whole lot more people thought pot was killer weed back then...

Still, I'd like to hear from people who fly...
Any information can help us to be better and safer at what we do....

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

Spotting Ganja From the Air

Spotting Ganja From the Air

From my experience with this, a pilot with a keen eye can spot a grow quite easily. Ganja tends to have a distinct color to it, one that does not blend in with natural vegetative growth.

Ever hear of Operation Green Harvest ? Mosey on over to Google (Is God) to learn more. Green Harvest pilots brag all the time how they can spot a grow from the color quicker than you can say busted.

RMS

 

[Dday391]

I think this is a genius idea for a thread. It's like one of the last perspectives we as growers could learn. I think it would be greatly beneficial to everyone to learn some new stuff. I've always been curious about these things as well

 

[Swamp Thang]

Let us not forget those much smaller "eyes in the sky" - drones, whose range and camera resolution is improving by leaps and bounds every year.

A visit to the RC Groups website's multi-rotor forum will give a pretty good insight into the state of the art of drone technology, and the amazing resolution of the images seen, and recorded by drone pilots.

One big difference between a drone and a full scale helicopter is that SOME drones can be very difficult to hear even at low altitudes.

Bud Green fortunately resides in a very remote area, where drones are unlikely to fly, due to their current range limitations, BUT, that being said, some DIY drone can stay aloft for nearly an hour, filming as they go, in ultra high resolution.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

I never made a point of looking for gardens, but if it means anything to you I can't tell the difference between the naked dudes and the naked ladies at the nude beach from 800' without using the binoculars. Theres some odors you can pick up in the little cessnas as well, the potato chip factory is pretty distinctive at 1000' and the paper mill you can smell at 5000' but I never remember smelling weed at any altitude.
If airplanes bother you its worth knowing they really like to steer clear of any tall obstacles, I bet if you could find a spot relativlly near a big radio mast nobody would want to fly to close to it, especially not low.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Let us not forget those much smaller "eyes in the sky" - drones, whose range and camera resolution is improving by leaps and bounds every year.

A visit to the RC Groups website's multi-rotor forum will give a pretty good insight into the state of the art of drone technology, and the amazing resolution of the images seen, and recorded by drone pilots.

One big difference between a drone and a full scale helicopter is that SOME drones can be very difficult to hear even at low altitudes.

Bud Green fortunately resides in a very remote area, where drones are unlikely to fly, due to their current range limitations, BUT, that being said, some DIY drone can stay aloft for nearly an hour, filming as they go, in ultra high resolution.

I'm looking at one with obstacle avoidance and GPS Way Points so you can set a path even out of range (.5 mile) and have it return to HQ. All for just over $700. But you can get them for almost half price.

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

Bi-nocu-lars

Bi-nocu-lars

I never made a point of looking for gardens, but if it means anything to you I can't tell the difference between the naked dudes and the naked ladies at the nude beach from 800' without using the binoculars. Theres some odors you can pick up in the little cessnas as well, the potato chip factory is pretty distinctive at 1000' and the paper mill you can smell at 5000' but I never remember smelling weed at any altitude.
If airplanes bother you its worth knowing they really like to steer clear of any tall obstacles, I bet if you could find a spot relativlly near a big radio mast nobody would want to fly to close to it, especially not low.

For some strange reason, as soon as I read the word "binoculars", this immediately popped up in my memory.....


[YOUTUBEIF]mJG7xQHQ8R4[/YOUTUBEIF]


RMS

 

[Swamp Thang]

For some strange reason, as soon as I read the word "binoculars", this immediately popped up in my memory.....

[YOUTUBEIF]mJG7xQHQ8R4[/YOUTUBEIF]

RMS

It is called the Pavlov's Horn-dog response. Here are a few more key phrases to mess with your mind ha ha.

"Bikinis off "

"Tan Lines"

"Cleavage"

"Camel Toe"

God Bless America.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I flew small airplanes for years before I went sick and poor.
when a Cessna flies over they are prolly going about 140mph and the pilot and passenger don't have a decent view of what's below them without banking the plane and flying in circles.

to get a good view or take pictures you need to slow down and fly much lower than what's normal.

I took this shot of a friends place from the passenger seat with a buddy flying low in tight circles.

gives you some perspective on what you might be able to spot from the air down low.

can't tell what's growing behind the outbuilding I've circled can you? even better is the area to the right filled with small trees and bushes.
you can hide many plants in a small space like that that blend right into nature.


if you don't want to be spotted from google earth or drones avoid this.

don't weedwhack and mulch perfect circles around your plants or pack them so close together that they will look like something unnatural from the air.

the best light is out in the middle of a clearing but I always plant the edges mixed into the natural vegetation.
you won't ever see this plant unless you are standing next to it.

even at harvest it blends in well.

if you choose your spots carefully you can grow large trellised plants and still have them blend in by using fallen branches for supports.

back to the planes, I used to have an open air ultralight that went low and slow and was open cockpit so you could smell everything.

I went searching for weed plots every summer and never saw or smelled a thing in my area in a non med state.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I think many plants bunched together is a brilliant strategy if you do it like these folks did.

give me a shrubbery!

if you consider stealth as your main planting criteria you can hide plants anywhere.

then again these guys just blow out fields without giving a second fuck about it so there's that...

check their thread. WHO.....