Silly topic here I guess as many will find this stupid, crazy or pointless but for me it's one of those things I have been thinking about for sometime and the opportunity literally presented itself the other day.

Conditions would have to be good so I figured to go have a look and just see what transpires.

A briefing with pilots and going over all of the fine points and concerns was discussed. This is class G airspace and there are no boats or other forms of human travel this time of year in the lake.

I have always wanted to fly the aircraft in slow flight from one end of Tahoe to the other while getting the mud off the tires. That got me thinking about what is the longest tire cleaning that's been done?

Anyhow, the Heli footage will be out in the next few days and I'm certain it will go viral.

We ended going about 33 miles [emoji15][emoji41]

Until we find out otherwise we're calling it an unofficial World Record because anything official would require a whole lot of red tape.

AKT

That's awesome! Just out of curiosity, did you use your brakes to stop the wheels from spinning? It seems like you go could go through a lot of grease with the wheels turning for so long.

I'm looking forward to the footage.

AWESOME!!

Nice. I too am curious how those wheel bearings look after 33 miles. can't wait to see the edited final cut

That's crazy cool! Looks like you had quite the support crew of aircraft to accompany you.

CW

More, more, more, more, more, I need to see more of it! I'm on the edge of my seat!

Wow! I always look forward to updates on your adventures, and this one was worth the wait....so do you have a Watercraft Inspection sticker on your plane now?

Thats awesome! I cant wait to see the finished video! What was your avg speed?

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That is awesome!

The newbie in me wants to know how you keep from "digging in" and going in the drink?

Rich

Nice flying AK- Tahoe!! Cold water, scary.

Ha ha...The Sierra Club may start requiring "lnvasive Species" training for all aircraft with larger tires

Agree, stupid and pointless. Couldn't pay me to watch the video.

Not to mention the right (or wrong) people see this stunt and work towards getting a new non Class G airspace designated over the lake. Then so much for others wanting to go sightseeing around the lake.

Viral video...who gives a shit.

An embarrassment to aviators.

mountainwagon wrote:Nothing crazy about it. Fast way to loose a nice airplane. Seems Pointless and stupid.

Now if you have not done it why would you jump on that bandwagon??
There are hundreds of people who do this all the time and never have a problem.
It is another tool to use when you need to get into and out of some small river bar.
This is how you learn and how you grow!
I don't understand your response to trounce on someone for sharing an adventure, that is kinda behind this whole site!

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Be careful......

He's doing it for the same reasons I leave mile long ski tracks, because he can, and its fun. That's up to me if I want to play that way and you don't. Just click to another thread if you don't like it! No need to whine about it.

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That’s quite the armada…

I don’t doubt the level of expertise or how carefully the risks were calculated, and I fundamentally agree that people are entitled to do anything the law doesn’t specifically prohibit. BUT…

Personal risk or setting a bad example for people who get their life skills from the internet aside, it’s hard to see how a “viral video” of that stunt is going to do anything positive for general aviation. Doing it is one thing, and publicizing it is another.

Lake Tahoe is an area of extreme environmental and political sensitivity, and the handful of aviators who think “nice aircraft control” are going to be inconsequential next to the legions of people who see it as an outrageous and pointless stunt. When a fair percentage of backcountry pilots think it’s a dumb stunt, what do you think the general public is going to make of it?

The fact that it’s not explicitly illegal doesn’t make it a good idea…at least not a good idea to widely publicize. General aviation has a bad enough reputation with the unwashed masses without a 30 mile water skip across the Gem of the Sierras thrown in. Skipping across some no-account reservoir people have never heard of is one thing, but Lake Tahoe is going to resonate with a whole lot of folks, and probably not in a good way.

As we all know, you don’t have to be an aviator to influence laws that govern aviation, and for reasons I’ll never understand the general public feels it has a vested interest in how people operate their airplanes. I doubt the five agencies that are responsible for search and rescue on the lake are going to be thrilled, either. Sure…maybe tough luck for them, but they have an inordinate amount of pull with lawmakers.

Personally I could care less about the flight…it’s not how I’d have spent my gas money but everyone is free to do their own thing.

But I would STRONGLY encourage you to think long and hard about what you have to gain by publicizing it, compared to what general aviation potentially has to loose. If there’s a upside for aviation I don’t see it. I just see more regulations and controlled airspace in the future. Seems sort of selfish to risk that for whatever it is you get out of a bunch of people watching your video.

It might also be worth researching what the laws are regarding commercial filming on the lake in the various jurisdictions you traveled through. You would be rather hard pressed to convince anyone that you were filming for personal use given the equipment involved. They might not be able to prove a case, but defending yourself in court is often punishment enough.

Just my opinion, of course. Nice flying, btw.

Dude, nice stunt, beautiful visuals, good airmanship, etc. Two thumbs up.

The only thing I will put into the discussion is that all of the potential political and regulatory problems would be resolved if you took the time to get a "filming permit" and clear it with the feds beforehand. That way, anyone who wanted to complain about environmental stuff would have no ammunition. It doesn't have to be a full Hollywood feature film permit for $50K... it could be a student film, or an independent demo reel, or a stunt done as part of a TV or online commercial for the BCP hat and clothing co. Find a film student in a college film school, put them in one of the chase planes, and you're legit for far far less money than if you show up like Sony Pictures asking for a permit.

If all that fails, this same stunt could probably be done at Walker Lake without all the environmentalists going berserk too.