Scattering Ashes

[meddesign]

Has anybody successfully scattered ashes in a Mooney?  I am not interested in  stories, about any other aircraft but Mooneys.  We have all read the stories about the ashes ending up in the cabin.  Lets see if we can nail down a successful method in the Mooney with no negative results to the aircraft or occupants. 

[Awful_Charlie]

I've not done ashes, but do keep a length (about 4' I guess) of clear flexible hose (something like 1/2" bore) in the aircraft. Poke one end out of the DV window in flight and it makes a very powerful vacuum cleaner (originally purchased as an emergency pee tube).  I would have thought something like that would help with the job.

 

Good luck

[BobAustin]

Had first hand experience with scattering ashes.  Back in the mid to late 80's Al Mooney died and was cremated.  He wanted his ashes scattered over

KERV and Mooney.

 

I have/had a place at Tierra Linda Ranch (60TE) with Roy LoPresti across the runway as a neighbor.  

 

So...Roy had just joined Beech but not sold his house yet and had no access to a Mooney but I volunteered N211ZN (85 M20J) to scatter Al's ashes.

 

I got Roy to be pilot and when over Mooney he opened the pilots window and dumped Al's ashes...well most of them...the rest blew back into the plane so part of Al Mooney is my copilot.

 

Bob

[PTK]

... Al Mooney is my copilot.

 

Bob

Now that's cool! That is one special Mooney!

[meddesign]

I've not done ashes, but do keep a length (about 4' I guess) of clear flexible hose (something like 1/2" bore) in the aircraft. Poke one end out of the DV window in flight and it makes a very powerful vacuum cleaner (originally purchased as an emergency pee tube).  I would have thought something like that would help with the job.

 

Good luck

How far do you stick it out, 4' long would hardly reach more than a pilots lap, which would be good enough for an emergency pee tube, did you ever use it?  Did you soil your pants?

[Alan Fox]

No offense Don , but we all have 14" penises...... The tube length is inconsequential......   Who died????

[N201MKTurbo]

I let a friend borrow N6319Q to scatter ashes. He just tried to dump a plastic bag out the ice window. I was finding ashes in the plane until I sold it in 2003.

The plastic hose idea will probably keep the ashes out of the plane, but I wonder about the abrasiveness of the ash on the paint.

We thought a piece of PVC pipe with a cap on the end and a good sized hole in the side. Stick the pipe out the window, be sure you have suction on the pipe and pour the ashes slowly in the hole.

I think I've seen this discussed on other blogs.

[meddesign]

but I wonder about the abrasiveness of the ash on the paint.

We thought a piece of PVC pipe with a cap on the end and a good sized hole in the side. Stick the pipe out the window, be sure you have suction on the pipe and pour the ashes slowly in the hole.

I think I've seen this discussed on other blogs.

well it is talked about to get out of the slip stream, seems like a high wing attach to the gear leg or strut, but the best I can think if is all the way back to the tail skid or maybe under to the step,

[meddesign]

No experience with this, but who else remembers the gadget that was advertised in the MAPA Log back in the 80s or 90s for this purpose?  I haven't seen it advertised lately.  Perhaps there wasn't enough of a market to support it.

can you describe it?

[DonMuncy]

Google scattering ashes airplane. A lot of stuff pops up.

[carusoam]

a good air-veyor design will have a method of allowing air into the beloved's container as well as the vacuum.

I am not recommending using forced air, that could be disastrous on it's own...

Hose A: vacuum source out the window

Hose B: air supply from inside the cabin

Procedure,

hose end A1 goes out the window....

End A2 goes in the beloved's container.

The beloved's container gets evacuated until most the air is removed...

Hose B is slipped into the beloved's container to allow make-up air in, and stir a few things around...

Key thing is to keep the two hoses air tight to the container to keep things from escaping.

The whole system is always under vacuum, minimizing escaped particles.

Throttling hose B from the outside will alter the rate at which the beloved gets delivered.

Recommendations:

this is a two person job. Pilot is different than the airveyor operator...

Practice with a can of coffee grinds prior to committing to the beloved's grinds...

Hank may know a thing or two about airveyors.....Hank?

Best regards and God Bless,

-a-

[meddesign]

Hose A: vacuum source out the window

Hose B: air supply from inside the cabin

Procedure,

hose end A1 goes out the window....

End A2 goes in the beloved's container.

The beloved's container gets evacuated until most the air is removed...

Hose B is slipped into the beloved's container to allow make-up air in, and stir a few things around...

Key thing is to keep the two hoses air tight to the container to keep things from escaping.

The whole system is always under vacuum, minimizing escaped particles.

Throttling hose B from the outside will alter the rate at which the beloved gets delivered.

Recommendations:

this is a two person job. Pilot is different than the airveyor operator...

Practice with a can of coffee grinds prior to committing to the beloved's grinds...

 

Is this "airveyor" the commercial item talked about?  How long a hose what diameter or just something fits into the urn top (what dia. is that?)  Is the outside hose banging the side of the aircraft or attached such as to direct the powder away from painted surfaces?  Your method sounds great but the devil is in the details so to speak.

[FloridaMan]

I've not done ashes, but do keep a length (about 4' I guess) of clear flexible hose (something like 1/2" bore) in the aircraft. Poke one end out of the DV window in flight and it makes a very powerful vacuum cleaner (originally purchased as an emergency pee tube).  I would have thought something like that would help with the job.

 

Good luck

 

So, let me get this straight, you stick your pecker in what you consider to be a very powerful vacuum cleaner?

[meddesign]

Google scattering ashes airplane. A lot of stuff pops up.

nothing about Mooney or exact details as concerns Mooney.  Lots about botched jobs, and dirty airplanes, and the success stories are not detailed enough to address the problem of paint or residue on the aircraft.

[Guest]

I once flew my Mooney out as a five place airplane and landed it as a four place one. I built an ash dispensing devise from a section of 3" ABS pipe about 3' long, with an RV sewage dump valve on the back end and a vented cap on the front end. The valve was operated by a long Ariens choke cable routed into the cabin. The tube was secured to the plane with several large Adel clamps after the ashes were placed in the tube.

After flying to the selected location the family members in the back seat said their good bye and pulled the handle opening the valve. Behind the plane there was a large cloud trailing off. I turned the plane around the cloud while we all watched in silence as the cloud dispersed. It was quite touching for all.

Clarence

Forgot to say that there was some ash residue on the plane which was easily cleaned off.

[PMcClure]

(something like 1/2" bore) in the aircraft.  (originally purchased as an emergency pee tube). 

1/2" bore? Am I missing something?

[meddesign]

 The tube was secured to the plane with several large Adel clamps after the ashes were placed in the tube.

 

 

Where was it secured? , How was the tube secured to what with the Adel clamps.

[carusoam]

The air-veyor idea comes from commercial industries that use airflow to move plastic beads, dust, coffee beans, fines, grounds etc...

Downstream, air is pushing product down a tube. The Bernoulli effect generates a vacuum that. Draws the product from a container.

The use of a rigid tube will allow for air to be a barrier between the plane and the emerging cloud.

Can the remains be pre-loaded into the carrier device?

Opening the down stream valve allows the departure of the departed to begin. Throttle/Opening an indoor, upstream valve. Will allow air to enter the system, thus drawing the remains out into the far end. Connecting the eyeball can add pressurized air to the system if needed.

A vacuum gauge can be used to indicate that a vacuum is indeed being generated down stream...

How much time to you have to generate this device?

Use caution PVC pipe and car parts store valves may not be the vision some people have in mind...

Again, thinking out loud, not from recent experience...,

-a-

[Marauder]

So, let me get this straight, you stick your pecker in what you consider to be a very powerful vacuum cleaner?

Apparently so. And because of his usage of colorful text, I suspect he enjoyed it too. Unfortunately, a 1/2 inch tube won't cut it for me. I would require a tube with a 2" opening And M20Doc has the right thinking. Sewage sized...

[Hank]

To Anthony's thought experiment, I would add two cautions:

1. Someone in the right seat will need to hold the pipe, whether it goes out the storm window or out the door. Make it long enough that they have a secure grip, maybe put an elbow for them to hold on to.
2. The horizontal stabilizer will require protection, as cremains are rather gritty. Read the stories in your Google search.

A paper bag tied shut and a piece of rope long enough to reach beyond the empennage should suffice, if you can force the door open far enough to get the bag through. The sudden impact at the end of the rope should tear the bag open. Needless to say, however you plan to do this [pipe, bag, hose, etc.], you will need to fly somewhat slower than your normal cruise speed.

 

Vacuum is a wonderful way to move small items, and should suffice for this. Test with just the pipe/hose first to make sure you have enough suction with it far out the window, and that whatever method you select to hold onto the extended pipe works.

 

Remember to test on the ground:

• where the pipe/hose will be for takeoff and landing
• getting the pipe/hose out the door/window
• beginning/activating the vacuum and introducing the cremains into the pipe/hose
• retrieving the pipe/hose afterwards

If you do this out the door, you will need to return to the airport and land with the door still open. Memory says the gap is about 2" wide.

 

Be careful, and be respectful. Let us know what you use, and how it works out.

[Awful_Charlie]

Uhhh - after I hit the 'Post' button I wondered if I was going to regret this!

 

How far do you stick it out, 4' long would hardly reach more than a pilots lap, which would be good enough for an emergency pee tube, did you ever use it?  Did you soil your pants?

about 6" outside the DV window works for the vacuum tube.  It probably works for the other too, but it's bl**dy cold and breezy out there to go sticking bits of my anatomy out of the window, and with that much cold there might not be a spare 6" at the end of the job!

 

So, let me get this straight, you stick your pecker in what you consider to be a very powerful vacuum cleaner?

Nooooo - you put a funnel in the 'input' end of the tube

 

Apparently so. And because of his usage of colorful text, I suspect he enjoyed it too. Unfortunately, a 1/2 inch tube won't cut it for me. I would require a tube with a 2" opening And M20Doc has the right thinking. Sewage sized...

You want to do No.2's in flight? Wow, braver man than me!

 

1/2" bore? Am I missing something?

well, when the vacuum is that strong....

 

Here's a vid of something similar:

 

As for valves and pouring - I think you're making it more complex than it needs to be, or tempting a messy mistake!

[Guest]

The belly of a Mooney has several hundred screws to choose from. A number of large 3" diameter clamps wrapped around the tube was all the was required to hold it on.

Clarence

[mike_elliott]

No experience with this, but who else remembers the gadget that was advertised in the MAPA Log back in the 80s or 90s for this purpose?  I haven't seen it advertised lately.  Perhaps there wasn't enough of a market to support it.

AvSnorkle? Tony, are you still in business  

[DaV8or]

I once flew my Mooney out as a five place airplane and landed it as a four place one. I built an ash dispensing devise from a section of 3" ABS pipe about 3' long, with an RV sewage dump valve on the back end and a vented cap on the front end. The valve was operated by a long Ariens choke cable routed into the cabin. The tube was secured to the plane with several large Adel clamps after the ashes were placed in the tube.

After flying to the selected location the family members in the back seat said their good bye and pulled the handle opening the valve. Behind the plane there was a large cloud trailing off. I turned the plane around the cloud while we all watched in silence as the cloud dispersed. It was quite touching for all.

Clarence

Forgot to say that there was some ash residue on the plane which was easily cleaned off.

 

Have any pictures of that rig?

[TTaylor]

Approach I have seen is to use a bag with string(s) tied to it.  A slender bag (more like a tube) can be tied loosely on one end or with a second string that is designed to pull loose. The main string is firmly attached to pull the bag back in.  Allows you to put it out the window intact, release the ashes, and then pull the bag back in once the ashes are gone.  Also, remember to do this at minimum maneuvering speeds to reduce the aerodynamic forces.