ZPilot wrote:I have a colleague that does this service in the Puget Sound area. I looked at his website and he does not specify the method that he uses. If anyone is real curious, I can ask him what he does.

http://ashesbyair.net/

What ya talking about

Well boys, and or girls, thanks for the free help. I build a pretty sweet looking PVC apparatus and did a test run tonight. It was a little foggy but the flour stayed dry. It still didn't want to fall--needs a vent on the top cap? --or maybe I was at zero Gs the whole time. I think the ashes will. They look slightly more coarse. They eventually fell but i was dusting the whole way home from the target zone.

Oh well my friend is dead so she won't mind and i'm sure she'll enjoy the ride however it ends. I knew she was in bad shape when she turned down a plane ride toward the end. That woman loved her some air.

This works great each time without getting the ashes back in the airplane.
These are the SUPPLIES I use:
1. a plastic reinforced feed bag
2. A 1/4 inch.rope about 8-10 ft long
3. one tennis ball
4. two pieces of marker streamers like the US Forest serv. uses to mark trees.
5. One rubber band

PROCEDURE:
First place the tennis ball into the feed bag, Now tie one end of the rope around the bottom of the bag just above the tennis ball. (The ball will keep the rope from slipping off of the bag) Now place the ashes to be scattered into the bag. Take about 8 inches of the upper end of the bag and fold it over. Place the two pieces of flagging material over this folded portion of the bag. Place them 90 degrees from each other.( when you look at the flagging from the top it should look like a cross +) Now place the rubber band over the folded bag and the flagging material.( the rubber band should not be to tight) Tie the opposite end of the rope to the brace in the back seat. I slow down to 80 miles and hour. open the door drop the bag out, and close the door on the rope. The wind stream will pull the flagging streamers off of the bag, and the bag will open, but not before you have time to get the door shut. After about 30 sec. pull the bag back in and shut the door. You have successfully scattered the ashes without getting them inside of the plane. I have done this about 6-7 times so far with great results. Do not let enough rope out to get the bag in the elevator or rudder.

A couple days ago Deb and I flew over a friend’s family ceremony where they were going to scatter our friend’s ashes on a hill top on their family farm. Her favorite color was green.

The family asked us to make a fly over at a given time, but they didn’t know that we had 50 helium filled green balloons to release
.
I guess it looked wonderful from the ground. Try dumping two 50 gallon garbage
bags full of balloons all at once from the plane!!

I figured I'd have flashbacks with the 10 ft rope method. My tent got sucked out the door one time...just a few inches at first, then gradually more. The plane was flying stranger and stranger. I couldn't put a finger on it but was sure there was a hole in the fabric or a tail brace wire was missing...finally I discovered what was up just before it got to the elevator. --Pulled a lat muscle fighting the air to pull it back in while flying!

I have done this a few times.
I would guess that when the cremation is done, more than one body is cremated at a time. I have seen some urns that contain fine ash and some are more ground bones with little ash. The high bone content, if discharged using the PVC method, will remove paint from the tail. It is for this reason that I like the bag method. I found that using 2 lengths of butcher string that extend beyond the tail works well.

One length is for the anchor and is tied to the hand strap with a slip not. This one will hold the bag in the air stream. The other string will open the bag.
It takes seconds to scatter. No damage to the aircraft and the 2 strings are disposed of before landing. Nothing is left in the plane.

What do you think about using a PVC potato cannon on the strut with the ashes between two potatoes ?? The igniter button could be wired inside the plane.

patrol guy wrote:What do you think about using a PVC potato cannon on the strut with the ashes between two potatoes ?? The igniter button could be wired inside the plane.

I like that idea, kinda like a two potato salute.

John, you can modify my rig into the potato cannon version. It's parked next to my fuel trailer. We got her done this morning. It was hilarious--as hilarious as death can be. Don't think I didn't take video.

Wyoming - hey I will need that soon. Tonight I just got the "call" to do one over "The Ohio State University's" football stadium. He hasn't died yet, but he went to hospice yesterday.

Well,

Lots of pilots think of having their ashes scattered via aircraft. Me too. I've thought about this a lot. My wife wants her ashes scattered over the Grand Canyon. We both love the Canyon and have our favorite picture of the two off us sitting on the canyon rim when we were ....ooh so very young and well....filled with romance and passion. We have set aside money in our will so that the 5 kids and their family can fly there and make it happen. My wife has agreed to have 1/2 her ashes buried next to my grave.

Me...I am going to make it simple. I have two Labs buried next to my garden. Anticipate having at least one more. I am 64 ...the newest Lab is 1 years old. Just going to build my own box from seasoned Oak, which I cut and sawed from our property 15 years ago. Then I want my sons and daughters(5 of them) to carry my unembalmed body to the garden and toss it into the dirt next to my Labs. Let the worms work me over and the remains feed that big ole 200 year old Oak tree next to the grave. Gee I will rot in a home made Oak coffin and... live on as a magistic Oak Tree. Beats shriviling up in a concrete vault, pumped full of chemicals in a $5,000.00 metal box. Who in the hell is gonna dig us up and take a look at that preserved corpse anyhow??

Stand in the shade of that great Oak Tree and remember me. O.K.?

Why do we worry so about this stuff? We are dead right? Dunno...just one last stab at immortality I guess.

The wedding busines is exceeded only by the funeral business as a waste of money. In life I avoided the first. In death intend to avoid the second.

bob

p.s. No offense intended to those who provide a service desired by most.

G-unit - I did have to vent mine at the top, and actually put a long string of twine w/ washer tied every foot that I could pull through the bed of ashes to break up at the throat of the canister. It would get clogged there and not stream out as the canister was a larger ID than the valve and formed a funnel shape into the valve. Making it over again, just needs a larger diameter valve, or a narrower canister. It ended up working fine.

Been asked to spread ashes over/around Mile Hi next June. Tragic story.

Skybolt, that's exactly how i want to do it too! Turning into a pickle never appealed to me. I haven't started making the box yet. I was thinking pine since i don't have any friends/kids and if i do they are old and or walk with a limp...
So Ems, mine fell through this time. The ashes were pretty heavy and coarse, but i took off with sprinkles and mist. If we were on me and the ash's schedule we would have waited but 50 people were awaiting the flyby, so off we went. The main tube got coated with water and after the initial "poof" it got clogged up...everyone decided she just didn't want to get out of the plane, so she got a couple of rides out of the deal.
I wasn't complaining. A redneck neighbor didn't seem to like it much though. When i landed i heard his semi-automatic firing off in my direction. I'm sure it was coincidence.

skybolt, I like your idea, but I think we have laws against doing that in Ohio, but who needs a death certificate (those of us without life insurance anyway).

Wyo... for that semi-auto neighbor of yours. I heard it was raining cows in Wisconsin recently, so how about raining cow turds over Philo??

I once heard a rumor that a guy in Ohio who admitted that he called the FAA and hosed an airline pilot's (who was about to retire) retirement by about 1.5 mil, had some fly-overs and had water balloons dropped filled with Round Up and his beautiful green yard got these big brown circles in it?

patrol guy wrote:skybolt, I like your idea, but I think we have laws against doing that in Ohio, but who needs a death certificate (those of us without life insurance anyway).

Wyo... for that semi-auto neighbor of yours. I heard it was raining cows in Wisconsin recently, so how about raining cow turds over Philo??

I once heard a rumor that a guy in Ohio who admitted that he called the FAA and hosed an airline pilot's (who was about to retire) retirement by about 1.5 mil, had some fly-overs and had water balloons dropped filled with Round Up and his beautiful green yard got these big brown circles in it?

Didn't know about Ohio,

In Missouri you don't have to be embalmed unless the body is shipped across state lines. One is perfectly free to be buried upon their private property.....assuming available acreage. Biggest problem will likely be finding an undertaker to keep the body in a cooler and maybe clean it up a bit. Should all work out.

A death certificate must and will be provided as in a normal funeral arrangement. I may have to rethink the Oak box. It may be too heavy for the kids to carry. Pine would be lighter....or cedar from our property.

Enough already. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Bob

I want to be stuffed and have those eyes installed that seem like they are looking at you wherever you are in the room. Then i want to be placed on my wifes couch, so that all her new boyfriends are creeped out... My wife doesn't like the idea, and the taxidermist thought i was making a prank call when i asked Most likely though, i'd be happy with being stuck in a garbage bag and sent to the dump... I just don't think its legal