From AOPA Online Newsletter .
October 8, 2011

FAA Warns Turkey Drop Pilots
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to the FAA, there might be a little less hooting and hollering at Yellville, Arkansas's annual Turkey Trot celebrations on the long weekend. The FAA confirmed to The Associated Press that it was sending agents to the Ozark community of 1,300 to sanction any pilots who take part in the annual Turkey Drop. The event involves live wild turkeys being dropped from aircraft onto the town square and, contrary to the horror expressed by animal-rights groups, local officials insist the birds are perfectly capable of gliding to a safe landing on the square. The FAA is staying out of that aspect of the controversy and focusing on the FAR that prohibits dropping anything, winged or not, from an airplane that might harm something or someone below. Turkeys, gliding or not, apparently don't make the grade for that approval so the guys in the sunglasses and polo shirts on the town square are there to try to make sure no one is hurt. "Our concern is always with public safety," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunford told the AP. " We could be talking about turkeys or boxes of paper. It doesn't matter. If you throw something out of an aircraft it can cause damage to people or property on the ground." As for the turkeys, the greatest peril unquestionably awaits them after the drop.

In almost 70 years of Turkey Drops (before airplanes were available, the birds were launched from the roof of the town's courthouse) the object has been for those in the square to chase the turkeys down and make a meal out of them. It's not clear whether the absence of the drop part will make much difference to their final fate. Among other Turkey Trot festivities are a beauty pageant and a turkey-calling contest. The event was parodied in a WKRP in Cincinnati episode in which the radio station mistakenly dropped flightless domestic turkeys onto a mall parking lot as a promotion.

Dirtstrip

Classic line! "as god as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

I wonder what the ruling would be if they new some folks were droping bags of cow shit over Lake Tahoe.

Bio degradable bags that is. Think green, or brown or whatever.

Tim

Cats can fly. It's been proven. No, really!

Emory Bored wrote:Cats can fly. It's been proven. No, really!

Do you put one of those winged suits on them. When about 10 years old I tried to put a cat in a burlap bag. It ripped me to shreads. I cannot imagine trying to shove one out of my 182.

Tim

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!" That was always one of my favorites!!!!! Thanks for the share!
John

qmdv wrote:

Emory Bored wrote:Cats can fly. It's been proven. No, really!

Do you put one of those winged suits on them. When about 10 years old I tried to put a cat in a burlap bag. It ripped me to shreads. I cannot imagine trying to shove one out of my 182.

Tim

It's one of those hangar tales you know. Who knows if it's true. Apparently an airport cat had crawled through the window of a Champ and was enjoying a snooze in the warm comfy interior one fine spring morning, when the owner decided to go for a short flight. So he takes off and all hell breaks loose as the cat panics due to noise, unexpected motion, whatever. So the cat is in the process of tearing the pilot some new openings as he tries to get the poor thing subdued while maintaining control of the aircraft etc. The cat has gone wild. The guy gets some altitude does a 180 back over the field to get lined up to land and the cat finds the open window again. The way I heard it, in Air Progress I think, the cat went out over the midfield grassy area at about 250'-300' agl, spread itself out in the air like a flying squirrel and landed whumph in the soft grass, then runs like hell toward the open FBO hangar where it hides back underneath the work benches and won't come out for love or money. According to the article, a couple of air port bums decided after the cat had calmed down to try it again. How they convinced the cat to participate is anybody's guess, but the story goes that they stuffed him back out the window at about the same altitude over the same area with the same result. Cat's CAN fly.