Golf ball drop

[ToTall]

I have search on PPRUNE and haven´t found anything about dropping golf balls from a helicopter.

Has anybody done this?

Need some information regarding pricing of this to golf courses.

Send me an PM or reply here.

Thanks guys and fly safe.

Just to clarify I am in USA or America and not UK or Europe :}
I know the rules in EU is more complex or?

Thanks for the advises so fare.

[Camp Freddie]

my first question is, why ?
and secondly the ANO has a little to say about this:-

Dropping of articles and animals
66 (1) Articles and animals (whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or
permitted to drop, from an aircraft in flight so as to endanger persons or property.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), except under and in accordance with the terms of an aerial
application certificate granted under article 68 of this Order, articles and animals
(whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or permitted to drop,
to the surface from an aircraft flying over the United Kingdom.
(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to the dropping of articles by, or with the authority of, the
commander of the aircraft in any of the following circumstances:
(a) the dropping of articles for the purpose of saving life;
(b) the jettisoning, in case of emergency, of fuel or other articles in the aircraft;
(c) the dropping of ballast in the form of fine sand or water;
(d) the dropping of articles solely for the purpose of navigating the aircraft in
accordance with ordinary practice or with the provisions of this Order;
(e) the dropping at an aerodrome of tow ropes, banners, or similar articles towed by
aircraft;
(f) the dropping of articles for the purposes of public health or as a measure against
weather conditions, surface icing or oil pollution, or for training for the dropping
of articles for any such purposes, if the articles are dropped with the permission
of the CAA; or
(g) the dropping of wind drift indicators for the purpose of enabling parachute
descents to be made if the wind drift indicators are dropped with the permission
of the CAA.
(4) For the purposes of this article “dropping” includes projecting and lowering.
(5) Nothing in this article shall prohibit the lowering of any article or animal from a
helicopter to the surface, if there is a certificate of airworthiness issued or rendered
valid in respect of the helicopter under the law of the country in which it is registered
and that certificate or the flight manual for the helicopter includes an express
provision that it may be used for that purpose

[VeeAny]

I think Dennis Kenyon did something like this at Shoreham a few years ago with his then scholarship student Hanna Nobbs.

I am sure Den will enlighten you as to what hoops he had to jump through to get it done.

He posts on here as DennisK a PM will probably do the trick.

[Scissorlink]

Dropping of articles and animals
66 (1) Articles and animals (whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or
permitted to drop, from an aircraft in flight so as to endanger persons or property.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), except under and in accordance with the terms of an aerial
application certificate granted under article 68 of this Order, articles and animals
(whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or permitted to drop,
to the surface from an aircraft flying over the United Kingdom.
(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to the dropping of articles by, or with the authority of, the
commander of the aircraft in any of the following circumstances:
(a) the dropping of articles for the purpose of saving life;
(b) the jettisoning, in case of emergency, of fuel or other articles in the aircraft;
(c) the dropping of ballast in the form of fine sand or water;
(d) the dropping of articles solely for the purpose of navigating the aircraft in
accordance with ordinary practice or with the provisions of this Order;
(e) the dropping at an aerodrome of tow ropes, banners, or similar articles towed by
aircraft;
(f) the dropping of articles for the purposes of public health or as a measure against
weather conditions, surface icing or oil pollution, or for training for the dropping
of articles for any such purposes, if the articles are dropped with the permission
of the CAA; or
(g) the dropping of wind drift indicators for the purpose of enabling parachute
descents to be made if the wind drift indicators are dropped with the permission
of the CAA.
(4) For the purposes of this article “dropping” includes projecting and lowering.
(5) Nothing in this article shall prohibit the lowering of any article or animal from a
helicopter to the surface, if there is a certificate of airworthiness issued or rendered
valid in respect of the helicopter under the law of the country in which it is registered
and that certificate or the flight manual for the helicopter includes an express
provision that it may be used for that purpose


Shame the Germans never read that

[rudestuff]

In the US you can do it no problems as long as you dont endanger people or property. I did a peanut drop once - for some kids charity. As for technique - lean out and hold the bag/box upside down?

[Jonasraf]

golf ball drop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6YbjxP8zaI) :ok:

[KrisRamJ]

Yup, did one at Pelican Lakes Gold Course in Windsor, Colorado in July 2006, about 1000 balls from a Schweizer 300C on a 30 degree afternoon. I was on the edge of the performance envelope so maintaining RPM was critical, took off, flew a traffic pattern, went down to about 20 feet over the green and slowed it down to about 15kts, kept ETL, fed in a bit of right pedal to keep the t/r out of the way of any balls that could bounce off the skids and let the guy in the right seat tip the balls out when he was ready.

Be sure to do a ground recon of the site before you do the drop, watch out for wires in particular. For the drop itself take the duals out, get an estimate of the number of balls & do a performance plan, take another pilot or someone else with a brain with you to marshall people after you land, don't hover unless you're absolutely sure you've got the performance, set it up into the wind - all the common sense stuff...

[KrisRamJ]

... and the pricing is standard rate for the time flown. We actually did a special on that one though because it was for a sick children's charity.:ok:

[Ascend Charlie]

Remember to charge them for Callaway golf balls and drop No-Brand Crudmasters instead!

Asked CASA many years ago in Oz if i could do this, and the answer was "Not just NO, but HELL NO!!!":eek:

[Ned-Air2Air]

Yeah but CASA are dickheads. :ok:

[ToTall]

KRJ

Thanks for useful information. Got my first contract today in ball drop so will do a test flight next week some time.

I am glad I don´t live down under :}

[KrisRamJ]

Glad I could help. Checking out the site on the ground was the important step for me, everything else was pretty straightforward. I got the winds before I took off so I could plan my run over the green into the wind. As with everything, it's all about the planning.

Golf balls are about 0.1lbs each for w&b purposes, by the way.

If your 'tipper' is available then brief him too, much easier that trying to do it in the aircraft with the engine running. I got my guy to put the bucket on his right leg and hold it with both hands when we took off, then he could pivot it outwards on his leg. The right door was off, of course.

We did about 10-15 gold ball drops every year out of my flight school in Colorado. The only advice I was given when I asked the guy who usually did them was "don't bother trying to hover over the green".

Fly safe

Kris

[helofixer]

Not a pilot, but about 3 weeks ago we did one for a charity golf tourney here in South Louisiana. We used our Bell 407 with the right cabin door removed. We had 3 of the cheerleaders from the NBA New Orleans Hornets basket ball team dressed in their game day attire (hubba hubba) performing the drop. I went along to keep an eye on the ladies and to ensure that they stayed belted in, and did not damage the aircraft or themselves, and to ensure the golf balls went where they were supposed to. We had co-ordinated before hand with the golf course,local law enforcement and ATC. We hovered over an open, non occupied area near the first tee and dumped the bushel basket of balls overboard on the non tail rotor side of the aircraft. I have no idea what the purpose of the drop was, as I am a non golfer. We landed on the first fairway and debarked our passengers so they could attend the golf tourney. The ladies seemed to enjoy the ride and I sure enjoyed the view.


http://www.nba.com/media/hornets/NOLAbees.jpg

[ToTall]

Only 3 of the girls??
Where were the rest?

Kris, super thank. Luckily we are at sea level so hopefully it should not be a problem.

Will tell you about the test run we will have on the 14th.

Cheers

[somepitch]

we've done a charity one a few times...but we rigged an old griffiths bucket's cone to be released (only drops a few inches) by a remote hook. it makes a beautiful shower of balls from 50 ft or so :}

[Spunk]

Good morning,

we are asked to drop rose petals on a regular basis (wedding thing). Just ask your aviation authority for permission to deviate from above mentioned rule.

[widgeon]

Reminds me of this

WKRP in Cincinnati: Thanksgiving Turkey Bomb! on Yahoo! Video (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1499909/5115198)

[topendtorque]

helofixer, you're another proper bastard.

leaving the imagination half cocked, what with doors off, short skirts, a little inadvertant wrong pedal application, a camera along to record the charity drop?
charity alright.:{

[topendtorque]

KRJ

Thanks for useful information. Got my first contract today in ball drop so will do a test flight next week some time.

I am glad I don´t live down under :}


hmmmm????

do please stay away from the proximity of - schools, hospitals, shopping centres, or - where they might be planned to be built in the next decade or three.

bad publicity y'know old chap. it's never any good.

[windowseatplease]

Did one in the US in an R44. Quite fun. The balls will bounce off the skids, make sure the passenger in the back doesn't fall out and knows how to safely store the empty plastic buckets after they have tipped them over the side. Come to a hover over the spot and get the passenger to say "left a bit, right a bit", etc. so you get over the correct spot.

Also check OGE hover charts before you go!

The CAA would have heart failure if you suggested doing one in the UK. They would probably insist on a twin with full IFR kit and applying for god knows how many permits etc.

[zardoz]

I remember this being done at Wisley Golf Club in Surrey a couple of years ago, I can't remember the operator at the time but a quick Google brings this company up

SKY LOTTO Charity Ball Drop | Buy Online | Pleasure Flights (http://www.flyhuk.com/index.php?cyclic=charityballdrop)

[kflexer]

I dropped golf balls for some charity thing once, used a B2 A Star and a bambi bucket, Filled the bambi then flew back to the golf course ( avoiding built up areas) lowered it down and the guys dumped two garbage cans of full of balls in with the water, cleared everyone away took them up to about 500ft and bombs away! got a great spread ! all the balls were within about 200ft of the hole and 4 balls were in! there was only a few balls stuck in the bambi and we took our best shot throwing them at the hole. I think we are still doing that drop every year, great fun.

[ToTall]

did our first try with a bucket in a hook under the helicopter. Its a S300C, really cool.
Will update more with pics.

[Darren999]

Did a few for Charity out of a Bell 47. As previously mentioned check your OGE! :ok: Other than that quite fun. Spectators enjoyed it also. I did have a chuckle about the CAA mention above! But so true probably!! Good luck! :)

[Agaricus bisporus]

Can anyone answer WHY???

[HOSS 1]

I too have done this. From a R44.

Suggestions: Make sure you are not too close to the pin / hole / target. If two or more balls go in the cup it is a real hassle. The video above is good example. The guy dropped plenty far away from the pin and let the balls roll.

Two: Be high enough to get a good distribution. Or, if the HV has you spooked, move around during the drop.

Three: Take your time. In the video, all the balls are dropped at one. Not much excitment for the viewers. Pace the drop so they keep comming for a long time.

And, yes, they will bounce off the skid, so take care for the tail rotor. Drop from the opposite side, if possible.

All of those tips where given to me from other drop veterans. As a result, my drops worked great.

Just watch out for the crazy neighbors that come running when you first arrive and land on the course. Many do not know about the drop an think you are just landing for fun. Had two old bats yelling at me to get "the chopper" off their course!

Viel Spaß

[ToTall]

A.B. This is done for charity. People buys a raffle ticket for 10, 20, 100 or 1000 $ and the ball that get closest to the pin or in is the winner and gets some of the money.

HOSS: Super, thanks. I have made a device that I hang in the hook and my "co-pilot" pulls the strings to open so the balls falls out. Then there is no problem with skid and hitting anything.

The first one was really fun and got two more bookings the same day, yay.

Thanks you guys for your advices and stay safe.