Posted: 8/20/2012 10:27:11 AM EDT
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My grandpa's only wish is that I spread his his ashes from an airplane over the family farm. Grampa's not dead yet, but he is 101 so I may not have too much time to figure out a way. Came across a utube video where a guy dumped some ashes out the Cessna's window. He held the plastic bag in his hand and just stuck his hand out the window. Worked beautifully, as long as you can hang onto the bag.
Most stories I've come across confirm my initial fear. Back drafts fill the cockpit with grampa's ashes. Or just get stuck onto the side of the plane. So the process may need some carefully planning and preparation. Anyone ever do this? |
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Not that I have ever done it that I will admit to...
Get a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Attach a long piece of parachute cord to the inside of the bag along the bottom seam with 100 mph tape. Leave the slack/excess on the outside of the bag. Put the ashes in the plastic bag and zip it closed. Tie excess cord to attachment point inside aircraft. When you throw it out the cord you taped inside the bag will tear the bag open and allow ashes to float away and not get sucked back inside the plane. Or so I have been told. |
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I've done this thing twice. My method requires 2 people in the plane.
You'll need a 4' piece of 3" PVC pipe with a tether of some sort attached. Tether the pipe to seat. The other person in the plane sticks the pipe out the aircraft door and pours the ashes thru it. The ashes disperse without sticking to the side of the plane if you are 90 degrees to the wind (door upwind). I suppose 1 person could do it, but it's easier with 2 and it is NOT illegal to do as some may think. FAR 91.15 applies. 91.15 Dropping objects. No pilot in command of a civil aircraft may allow any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property. However, this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property. |
| I have been involved in spreading ashes from planes a couple of times. Just dumping the ashes from the window of a Cessna does not work. Luckily the ashes were of a pilot so we figured he wouldn't mind making a few more flights. The other time we taped some SCAT duct, I think about size 8, in the slipstream below the window and were able to "vacuum" the ashes out of the container. We blew/washed the SCAT out to remove any residue of which there wasn't much. |
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Quoted:
Not that I have ever done it that I will admit to... Get a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Attach a long piece of parachute cord to the inside of the bag along the bottom seam with 100 mph tape. Leave the slack/excess on the outside of the bag. Put the ashes in the plastic bag and zip it closed. Tie excess cord to attachment point inside aircraft. When you throw it out the cord you taped inside the bag will tear the bag open and allow ashes to float away and not get sucked back inside the plane. Or so I have been told. This works. Need several feet of 550 cord and it helps if you weight the bag (lightly). You need to get the "package" out and away from the plane / you or else ash will go everywhere. |
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Quoted:
Not that I have ever done it that I will admit to... Get a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Attach a long piece of parachute cord to the inside of the bag along the bottom seam with 100 mph tape. Leave the slack/excess on the outside of the bag. Put the ashes in the plastic bag and zip it closed. Tie excess cord to attachment point inside aircraft. When you throw it out the cord you taped inside the bag will tear the bag open and allow ashes to float away and not get sucked back inside the plane. Or so I have been told. Double click, |
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I have done this a few times and have a great method for it. Here is the parts list:
3 pieces of tissue paper from the gift wrapping isle 25ft of paracord ashes What you want to do is lay the tissue paper out so that it forms a star of david flat on a table, one sheet on top of the next but rotated so that the corners do not line up. Pour the ashes into the center of the paper and then pull all the corners together and tie it shut with one end of the paracord. Basically you've made a powder bomb with the ashes so handle with care. Once in the plane tie the other end of the bag to the rails beneath your seat, bring all the cord into the cabin and close the door. Take off, climb to altitude and location and then push the bag out of the window. The slip stream will take the bag out of the plane and when the cord reaches full tension it will rip open the bag spreading the ashes with no threat of them blowing back into the cabin. Reel the paracord back in and you're done. No fuss, no muss. |
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Quoted:
I have been involved in spreading ashes from planes a couple of times. Just dumping the ashes from the window of a Cessna does not work. Luckily the ashes were of a pilot so we figured he wouldn't mind making a few more flights. My wife's uncle had that happen to him when he tried to throw his friend's ashes out of his Cub. Most of him wound up in the lake, and the rest of him wound up in a Shop-Vac.  It always reminds me of that scene from 'The Big Lebowski'. 
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I've done it similar to ESA17 and it worked well. I also made a small PVC pipe that I zip tie to my wings struts on my Cub. I have two caps that are spring loaded, one on the front and one on the back. You pull a small string and they open and it blows everything out of the pipe. My dad has a couple of stories of when he used to do this. My favorite is one of his buddies who was going to do this for a family. My dad's buddy wouldn't listen to him that you could just pour the askes out the window. So up they go with the wife, daughter and grand daughter, fly over the family property, crack the window and dump the ashes. Needless to say, the plane comes back with a gray interior and everyone is dusted and crying, except the wife. She was smiling and said her husband always did manage to get the last laugh.
I figure my dad would eventually liked to be spread from my Cub which was his cub for about 40 years. I had a GSD that he loved who I had cremated, and I joke with my dad that when his time is up, I'll spread them together. I figure I would drop a teaspoon of him in the interior of the Cub so that he can keep flying for years to come. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have been involved in spreading ashes from planes a couple of times. Just dumping the ashes from the window of a Cessna does not work. Luckily the ashes were of a pilot so we figured he wouldn't mind making a few more flights. My wife's uncle had that happen to him when he tried to throw his friend's ashes out of his Cub. Most of him wound up in the lake, and the rest of him wound up in a Shop-Vac. It always reminds me of that scene from 'The Big Lebowski'.
We spread my Mom's ashes in a Zodiac inflatible. I was careful to be on the lee side when spreading them but it was pretty windy and my body made a decent enough wind shadow to get a good little vortex going. She would have laughed. |
| Tried to do it out the storm window of an arrow once. Didn't work so well. After a 4 hour ride in the plane, the ashes had formed a brick similar to concrete. (vibration). Stuck the bag out the window with 1 hand and the airflow sucked the bag shut. Ended up having to slit the bag with a pocket knife to allow the wind to flow through it. |
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its not uncommon for the local flight school to get requests for this. My friend was careless, put an opened bag out the window, and got the whole backrdaft swirling ash fallout treatment. Here's an easy way to do it: Rent a Cessna. Bring the ashes in a plastic bag. Hold the bag out the window as far back as you can and then poke some holes in it with a pen. |