Are you a pilot? Planes and Guns

I fall into that category, SEL and Instrument, ~1000 hours PIC. I know more shooters than pilots these days and in my world the shared interest tends to be amongst we more mature folks but no so much in the younger guys.

I do know one guy that used to shoot coyotes from the back seat of a Piper J-3. One day he followed the target through the prop and shot the tip off. But I guess you didn't ask about that close of a correlation.

Not a pilot, but a former flight mechanic. The USAF really introduced me to my love of flying, and pushed me further into my love for shooting. Technically it was the Boy Scouts that introduced.me to both shooting and aeronautics, but the Air Force solidified them both.

Commercial pilot. SEL & Instrument, 490 hours PIC, and own a small SEL. A bit of a gun guy. Mostly reliable shooter guns. Not collector pieces. Maybe it is the controlling your own destiny thing. We understand that there are consequences to our actions and that we are responsible for our own well being.

Jim

SEL Instrument with about 1500 hours PIC in a one Skyhawk. At this time, not current. Considering getting active again with a Light Sport aircraft.

Never had an activity that combined planes and firearms in one event.

Never had an activity that combined planes and firearms in one event.

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I've never heard of any such event either, but I think there should be one. It could be called the "biplane-athlon."

Commercial SEL and belong to cub with a C-172. Both activties seem to have issues with uneducated people against it.

cfullgraf said:

Never had an activity that combined planes and firearms in one event.

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Frosty Dave said:

I've never heard of any such event either, but I think there should be one. It could be called the "biplane-athlon."

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There is such a thing...it is called "strafing"!

Rolling in on a 20mm pass on the moving strafe target at Ft Polk, LA:


Lined up on the target and about to pull the trigger (target is hidden behind the top of the canopy bow in this shot):

SEL Instrument Rated with about 1100 TT mostly in Bonanzas. Have owned several V-tails, but now own a G36 Bonanza. Have always enjoyed both guns and airplanes. Also like to operate/master any type of machinery/technology.

Most of the pilots I know are also very interested in firearms.

Maybe someone at the AOPA could shed some light on the correlation.

Not current but SEL, IR. Built an all aluminum airplane (well, the wings anyway).

I am very discerning about the firearms that command my interest: They must go "BANG" and expel a projectile.

Just started ground school for private pilot license. it's a bit overwhelming, but very interesting to me. I've been shooting since my boyscout days.

cfullgraf said:

...Considering getting active again with a Light Sport aircraft.

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I just finished my Light Sport Repairman, Maintenance - Airplane (LSRM-A) certificate. Look into it if you are going to buy a LSA. I did the Blue Ridge Community College course and really liked it. MUCH cheaper than the Rainbow school.

Ledgehammer said:

Just started ground school for private pilot license. it's a bit overwhelming, but very interesting to me.

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You should seriously look into going light sport first. You can be up and flying in 20 hours. Everything required for the Light Sport Pilot cert counts toward Private Pilot. (Note I said REQUIRED counts. If you get more dual instruction it does not count unless the instructor is a CFI instead of a Sport-CFI.)


I CCW, so I carry in the plane, but it makes planning, checking reciprocity, and sometimes airport security more complicated.

Jim

Commercial, Instrument, MEL... about a thousand hours in a variety ranging from UL to King Airs. Last airplane was a V35. Favorite of everything I've flown is Stearman...least favorite was the North American T6. Most unusual was a twin Champ. I also have several hundred hours in B737 sims. If the pilots ever puke on a Southwest flight, I can help!

But planes and guns? I see no relationship, at least not in my life. I do enjoy both,.but don't see how they relate.

Planes and boats...now that rings my bell.

PPL Helicopter and Fixed Wing

Also like shooting...but they are mutually exclusive hobbies for me.

removed

I got about 10 hours with a CFI and 7 hours of solo time under my belt in a little ole 150 Cessna... I'm intrigued by flying and just as intrigued by guns and reloading.. Kinda more into my scoped rifles at the moment... My bucket list includes owning a small bush type airplane that I can take off and land with in the coastal bermuda field behind my home.. That would be a dream come true for me...

Earn my living as an Instructor at both the USN and USAF Test Pilot Schools, flying MiG's... so... yeah... the two seem to fit well!

Just got home today after 6 weeks and 60 flights at Edwards. Have a Cessna 310 for me and a Cessna 150 for my prettier-half.


Willie

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Love guns, love planes. Not a pilot, but have thousands of hours in combat sims. (PC) Also spend as much time as possible at air shows and read everything aircraft I can get my hands on. My dad was the same. Seems everybody that enjoys aircraft as I do, enjoys guns as well. I Won't ever be a pilot at my age, though I would have loved to and in fact looked into joining the Air Force at the age of 24. Only time I'd been told I was too old for anything up to then. At least I've been a passenger on dozens of commercial planes. Personal favorite of those was the 727. Seemed always to have a better kick in the pants on takeoff than any other.

Spent the weekend at Thunder Over Michigan:

In Alaska, I think All Pilots carry guns

I have an SEL with around 100hrs flight time that was logable and couple hundred more that I couldn't log. Not current. When in AK I asked when I was flying(c-206, c150) about carrying. The reply was if I don't see it , it isn't a problem. He didn't.
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cfullgraf said:

SEL Instrument with about 1500 hours PIC in a one Skyhawk. At this time, not current. Considering getting active again with a Light Sport aircraft.

Never had an activity that combined planes and firearms in one event.

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We can fix you up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ8LXXq_CWg

A pilot since '72. Love flying, love firearms. Flew Phantoms and Harriers on active duty for 25 years. Transitioned to civil sector as a DOD contractor dropping jumpers, working the Alaska bush, Air Ambulance and now helos. While your looking for a correlation of the two I've never given it much thought but perhaps a psychologist might explore the sense of independence, rugged individualism and love of freedom that both avocations share in common.

This subject would benefit from a poll, I'm not current but am certified SEL and was working on my multi-engine endorsement before I stopped flying. It seems that "she who must be obeyed" thought that saving for the kids college education was more important than my hanging around the local airport evenings and weekends. I tried telling her that I wasn't hanging around the airport all the time as I had to spend some time reloading and going to the range but she didn't seem to appreciate that.

Guns and Aircraft

Retired Army pilot flew in UH-1, OH-13, OH-23, OH-58, CH-34 and UH-19 helicopters (yeah, you have to go to a museum to see them now). Instrument rated and instructor in all of them. Airplane pilot certificates are Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), multi-engine land (MEL), single engine land (SEL) with both instrument and instructor ratings. Flew Cessna 150, 172, 182, 310, Piper Cherokee, Arrow, Apache and others. At one time I owned a Piper Cherokee and then traded for a Cessna 310. I taught my wife to fly in the Cherokee. I also introduced my wife to guns and shooting, which she readily took to.

Aircraft and gun related issues harken back to Viet Nam. I flew the UH-1 with two door gunners in the back with machine guns, used mostly for practice. I also flew the OH-13, usually with the doors off, which allowed for mounting my M-16 rifle's front sight on the front door post and tucking the butt of the rifle between my hip and the door frame. I could aim it with the helicopter and fire it with my left hand. Adjusting artillery fire (105, 155, 8 inch and once even Naval gunfire from offshore) from my helicopter was an almost daily occurrence (does that count as gun/aircraft related?). Our unit had a chef from Hawaii. He said if he could get a whole pig he would fix an authentic Hawaiian Luau. We knew where a herd of wild boar usually hung out, so off we went, shooting two wild boar from our helicopter. We had a grand Luau!

In our helicopters each crew member carried an M-16, a .45 or .38 and all the ammo he could carry, and two hand grenades. When we could get one, an M-79 grenade launcher. Oh yeah, and a USAF survival knife. But I never carried weapons on the airplanes. I have logged more than 11,000 hours of pilot time.

Not a pilot, but an aircrew member on heavies.