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Default Large red spheres on power lines

I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.

  #4   Report Post  
Don Bruder
 
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In article .com,
wrote:

I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.


Depending on location, you can usually translate those big red/orange
balls on a power line to mean one of two things:

AIRMEN! DANGER! PULL UP! THERE ARE WIRES HERE YOU PROBABLY CAN'T SEE!

if there's no water crossing under them. If they're over water, then the
meaning is similar:

SAILORS! DANGER! MAKE SURE YOUR MAST WILL FIT UNDER!


A Cessna clipped a high-tension line on the outskirts of Bay City
Michigan a few years back - According to what came out once the pilot
was IDed, located, arrested, and charged, he was trying to "buzz" a
buddy's house in a rented plane. Fortunately for him, the power line
snapped, so he didn't actually crash, but it was a miracle that he
didn't - When the plane was inspected (after he'd landed and beat-feet
for "anywhere but here" without so much as a word to anyone about the
incident), it was found that the left wing had been very nearly ripped
off the plane. There was a 10 inch gap between the leading edge and the
main fuselage, and near the outboard end of the wing, the clear
impression of the cable - at the bottom of a "valley" mashed almost a
foot deep into the leading edge. How the thing held together long enough
for him to land it is beyond my wildest imagination.

--
Don Bruder -
- New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html for full details.
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xmRadio
 
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"Don Bruder" wrote in message
news
In article .com,
wrote:

I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.


Depending on location, you can usually translate those big red/orange
balls on a power line to mean one of two things:

AIRMEN! DANGER! PULL UP! THERE ARE WIRES HERE YOU PROBABLY CAN'T SEE!

if there's no water crossing under them. If they're over water, then the
meaning is similar:

SAILORS! DANGER! MAKE SURE YOUR MAST WILL FIT UNDER!


A Cessna clipped a high-tension line on the outskirts of Bay City
Michigan a few years back - According to what came out once the pilot
was IDed, located, arrested, and charged, he was trying to "buzz" a
buddy's house in a rented plane. Fortunately for him, the power line
snapped, so he didn't actually crash, but it was a miracle that he
didn't - When the plane was inspected (after he'd landed and beat-feet
for "anywhere but here" without so much as a word to anyone about the
incident), it was found that the left wing had been very nearly ripped
off the plane. There was a 10 inch gap between the leading edge and the
main fuselage, and near the outboard end of the wing, the clear
impression of the cable - at the bottom of a "valley" mashed almost a
foot deep into the leading edge. How the thing held together long enough
for him to land it is beyond my wildest imagination.

--
Don Bruder -
- New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21,

2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in

the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html for full details.


We had some choppers hit those high power trans lines. One line goes over
the cartinez/martinez river. Vallejo, CA 45 miles east of SF. A chopper hit
it, so now those orange balls have been installed. The high towers are
lighted for aircraft warning.

This was about seven years back. PG&E, made an announcement, they where
doing it only for public safety.

xman




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There was a 10 inch gap between the leading edge and the
main fuselage, and near the outboard end of the wing, the clear
impression of the cable - at the bottom of a "valley" mashed almost a


foot deep into the leading edge. How the thing held together long

enough
for him to land it is beyond my wildest imagination.


That first ten inches or so is only thin aluminum skin. The
wing's main spar is located there, and it's thick and massive and would
take out a substantial fencpost if necessary. Striking the wire near
the wingtip would do more damage, as the leverage would pull the wing
back and wrinkle the whole thing.
Those orange markers are often located over pipelines; the light
airplanes and helicopters that regularly patrol the line are often only
100' up and need to see such obstacles. The pilots are watching for any
unauthorized digging along the right-of-way. A few years ago near here
a patroller found a farmer digging with his backhoe right over a large
natural gas main, and had to buzz the hoe several times to scare the
guy off it until a cop, radioed by the pilot, got there to stop him. He
was within a couple of shovelfuls of striking the pipe and blowing
himself up.

Dan

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Bob Chilcoat
 
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The gas explosion in Edison, NJ a few years ago (36", 800 psi gas main blew
open - Flames were several hundred feet high!) was due (IIRC) to someone
burying a stolen truck next to the main. They had apparently hit the main
with the backhoe and the dent eventually cause the pipe to fail.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


wrote in message
oups.com...
There was a 10 inch gap between the leading edge and the
main fuselage, and near the outboard end of the wing, the clear
impression of the cable - at the bottom of a "valley" mashed almost a


foot deep into the leading edge. How the thing held together long

enough
for him to land it is beyond my wildest imagination.


That first ten inches or so is only thin aluminum skin. The
wing's main spar is located there, and it's thick and massive and would
take out a substantial fencpost if necessary. Striking the wire near
the wingtip would do more damage, as the leverage would pull the wing
back and wrinkle the whole thing.
Those orange markers are often located over pipelines; the light
airplanes and helicopters that regularly patrol the line are often only
100' up and need to see such obstacles. The pilots are watching for any
unauthorized digging along the right-of-way. A few years ago near here
a patroller found a farmer digging with his backhoe right over a large
natural gas main, and had to buzz the hoe several times to scare the
guy off it until a cop, radioed by the pilot, got there to stop him. He
was within a couple of shovelfuls of striking the pipe and blowing
himself up.

Dan



  #8   Report Post  
Sunworshipper
 
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On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 02:14:59 GMT, Don Bruder wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.


Depending on location, you can usually translate those big red/orange
balls on a power line to mean one of two things:

AIRMEN! DANGER! PULL UP! THERE ARE WIRES HERE YOU PROBABLY CAN'T SEE!

if there's no water crossing under them. If they're over water, then the
meaning is similar:

SAILORS! DANGER! MAKE SURE YOUR MAST WILL FIT UNDER!


A Cessna clipped a high-tension line on the outskirts of Bay City
Michigan a few years back - According to what came out once the pilot
was IDed, located, arrested, and charged, he was trying to "buzz" a
buddy's house in a rented plane. Fortunately for him, the power line
snapped, so he didn't actually crash, but it was a miracle that he
didn't - When the plane was inspected (after he'd landed and beat-feet
for "anywhere but here" without so much as a word to anyone about the
incident), it was found that the left wing had been very nearly ripped
off the plane. There was a 10 inch gap between the leading edge and the
main fuselage, and near the outboard end of the wing, the clear
impression of the cable - at the bottom of a "valley" mashed almost a
foot deep into the leading edge. How the thing held together long enough
for him to land it is beyond my wildest imagination.


Like others have said the spar is the main structure of the wing to
the fuselage. It's common with crop dusters to come back with cuts
from tree branches that go all the way to the spar (usually set in the
first 1/4 of the wing). The A&P would inspect it and then we would
clean the insecticide off with acetone and duct tape it. The critical
leading edges have steel knives on them for cutting power lines and
such. I've often wondered how much the stall characteristics change
from having those.

I've yet to see a crop dusting pilot not duck when going under power
lines and they have even a bigger knife in front of them. What is wild
is plane crash scenes , I'm about up to about 5. I'd love to see a big
plane crash site minus the people parts of course. Better yet getting
a close up tour of flight 799+1 put back together.

After re-reading your description of the plane it sounds like he
should have been stuck up in the lines or died. That plane is a total
loss.
  #9   Report Post  
Peter T. Keillor III
 
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On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 23:25:49 -0800, Sunworshipper
wrote:

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 02:14:59 GMT, Don Bruder wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

I have looked everywhere,

snip
Like others have said the spar is the main structure of the wing to
the fuselage. It's common with crop dusters to come back with cuts
from tree branches that go all the way to the spar (usually set in the
first 1/4 of the wing). The A&P would inspect it and then we would
clean the insecticide off with acetone and duct tape it. The critical
leading edges have steel knives on them for cutting power lines and
such. I've often wondered how much the stall characteristics change
from having those.

I've yet to see a crop dusting pilot not duck when going under power
lines and they have even a bigger knife in front of them. What is wild
is plane crash scenes , I'm about up to about 5. I'd love to see a big
plane crash site minus the people parts of course. Better yet getting
a close up tour of flight 799+1 put back together.

After re-reading your description of the plane it sounds like he
should have been stuck up in the lines or died. That plane is a total
loss.


And after the pilot ducked and came through on the deck, I had to hit
the dirt because he flew over me about 3' high. This was my dad, and
I was flagging (before Loran and GPS). Yuk, that spray stunk.

One of our pilots was returning home, felt a slight tug (not good when
you're flying), and looked back to see the messenger wire falling
away. At the same time, the flare went off at a nearby chemical
plant. He had clipped the little messenger wire on a high voltage
line running to the plant with the landing gear, no damage to the
plane. He didn't tell us for a while. I don't know if they ever
figured it out.

One of our cropduster friend's son died flying into high voltage
lines. It stopped the plane, then flipped it back onto the ground.

Pete Keillor
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Sunworshipper
 
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On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 08:55:29 -0500, Peter T. Keillor III
wrote:

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 23:25:49 -0800, Sunworshipper
wrote:

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 02:14:59 GMT, Don Bruder wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

I have looked everywhere,

snip
Like others have said the spar is the main structure of the wing to
the fuselage. It's common with crop dusters to come back with cuts
from tree branches that go all the way to the spar (usually set in the
first 1/4 of the wing). The A&P would inspect it and then we would
clean the insecticide off with acetone and duct tape it. The critical
leading edges have steel knives on them for cutting power lines and
such. I've often wondered how much the stall characteristics change
from having those.

I've yet to see a crop dusting pilot not duck when going under power
lines and they have even a bigger knife in front of them. What is wild
is plane crash scenes , I'm about up to about 5. I'd love to see a big
plane crash site minus the people parts of course. Better yet getting
a close up tour of flight 799+1 put back together.

After re-reading your description of the plane it sounds like he
should have been stuck up in the lines or died. That plane is a total
loss.


Are you missing a line here Pete?
And after the pilot ducked and came through on the deck, I had to hit
the dirt because he flew over me about 3' high. This was my dad, and
I was flagging (before Loran and GPS). Yuk, that spray stunk.

One of our pilots was returning home, felt a slight tug (not good when
you're flying), and looked back to see the messenger wire falling
away. At the same time, the flare went off at a nearby chemical
plant. He had clipped the little messenger wire on a high voltage
line running to the plant with the landing gear, no damage to the
plane. He didn't tell us for a while. I don't know if they ever
figured it out.

One of our cropduster friend's son died flying into high voltage
lines. It stopped the plane, then flipped it back onto the ground.

Pete Keillor


So you had the pleasure of that job also. What was it , counting in
twos to nine which is 18 rows over and over? That's how I learned to
drive, mostly on dirt roads at 90mph. Some fields I'd come back to
fuel the planes and clean the windows and drive back. 12 hours a day
for a whopping $20 a week. I've got lots of stories like cleaning off
that other tobacco from the landing gear and watching them drag the
gear on the reservoirs and throwing up huge rooster tails. Or having
Cokes delivered by parachute and listening to phones line
conversations.

Or the fish out of water starry eyed flopping and ralfing from
methelethelaceketoneparthyon. Or falling asleep when they go back to
fill up baking in the summer heat in the truck and dreaming of some
girl then buzzed by the first plane with spray a flying and the next
plane coming down.

I heard it was the most dangerous job you could have. Wish I could
remember some of the pilots' names , one still owes me $ for back
rubs. My all time favorite was getting blown into the slippery
chemical coated knives of the wing and landing gear while jump
starting the planes. It was probably cause the pilot was ****ed at the
plane and or they thought it was funny, but it ain't no picnic leaning
hard into the changing wind speeds right next to the prop. trying to
unplug the jumper.

Sunshine in the shade


  #11   Report Post  
Peter T. Keillor III
 
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On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 08:28:37 -0800, Sunworshipper
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 08:55:29 -0500, Peter T. Keillor III
wrote:

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 23:25:49 -0800, Sunworshipper
wrote:

snip
And after the pilot ducked and came through on the deck, I had to hit
the dirt because he flew over me about 3' high. This was my dad, and
I was flagging (before Loran and GPS). Yuk, that spray stunk.

One of our pilots was returning home, felt a slight tug (not good when
you're flying), and looked back to see the messenger wire falling
away. At the same time, the flare went off at a nearby chemical
plant. He had clipped the little messenger wire on a high voltage
line running to the plant with the landing gear, no damage to the
plane. He didn't tell us for a while. I don't know if they ever
figured it out.

One of our cropduster friend's son died flying into high voltage
lines. It stopped the plane, then flipped it back onto the ground.

Pete Keillor


So you had the pleasure of that job also. What was it , counting in
twos to nine which is 18 rows over and over? That's how I learned to
drive, mostly on dirt roads at 90mph. Some fields I'd come back to
fuel the planes and clean the windows and drive back. 12 hours a day
for a whopping $20 a week. I've got lots of stories like cleaning off
that other tobacco from the landing gear and watching them drag the
gear on the reservoirs and throwing up huge rooster tails. Or having
Cokes delivered by parachute and listening to phones line
conversations.

Or the fish out of water starry eyed flopping and ralfing from
methelethelaceketoneparthyon. Or falling asleep when they go back to
fill up baking in the summer heat in the truck and dreaming of some
girl then buzzed by the first plane with spray a flying and the next
plane coming down.

I heard it was the most dangerous job you could have. Wish I could
remember some of the pilots' names , one still owes me $ for back
rubs. My all time favorite was getting blown into the slippery
chemical coated knives of the wing and landing gear while jump
starting the planes. It was probably cause the pilot was ****ed at the
plane and or they thought it was funny, but it ain't no picnic leaning
hard into the changing wind speeds right next to the prop. trying to
unplug the jumper.

Sunshine in the shade


Yup, it brings back memories, not all bad, 14 paces or a chain for
dry, about double that for spray. I've been asleep lying flat on my
back in the rice field (dry) waiting for it to get light enough to
fly. Yeah, the pay sucked, but I got to eat. If we weren't flying we
were driving tractors or shoveling levees.

One of my funniest flagging episodes was when my little brother came
in the house drunk about an hour before we went out to flag one of our
fields. He took the low end, which meant he had to cross through the
woods. He was barefoot and wearing cutoffs when he went through all
the briars, but was feeling no pain. By the time we finished, the
anesthetic was wearing off, and his legs were shredded. Talk about
looking like a sick puppy!

Our plug-ins for the battery cart were behind the wing in the footstep
hole in the fuselage (Ag-Cats), so it wasn't too bad to unplug.

Dad refused to apply methyl parathion. The EPA guys kept promoting it
because of the rapid degradation, but too many pilots were dying.
It's no damn good when you have to use a full face mask and carry an
atropine injector to stay alive while killing some bugs.

Pete Keillor
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Peter Merriam
 
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aircraft identification markers

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.



  #15   Report Post  
john johnson
 
Posts: n/a
Default

They also work for large birds. We have a river crossing where Pelicans seem
to make a habit of flying into the mains, they cause a short and kill
themselves and the power in the area. A few of these balls seems to have
fixed the problem.

regards,,
John
wrote in message
oups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.





  #16   Report Post  
granpaw
 
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Default

"john johnson" wrote in
:

They also work for large birds. We have a river crossing where
Pelicans seem to make a habit of flying into the mains, they cause a
short and kill themselves and the power in the area. A few of these
balls seems to have fixed the problem.

regards,,
John
wrote in message
oups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.




I've also heard that they (the balls) help dampen the swayof the wires in
high winds.
granpaw

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Lew Hartswick
 
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Default

granpaw wrote:

I've also heard that they (the balls) help dampen the swayof the wires in
high winds.
granpaw


No. the things that are used for that are triangular peices of metal
that swing on the wire. They are called ( I think ) vortex sheders.
...lew...
  #18   Report Post  
Martin H. Eastburn
 
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Default

Lew Hartswick wrote:

granpaw wrote:


I've also heard that they (the balls) help dampen the swayof the wires
in high winds.
granpaw



No. the things that are used for that are triangular peices of metal
that swing on the wire. They are called ( I think ) vortex sheders.
...lew...

I've seen those in West Texas. Mars lander on a telephone line :-)

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
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Doctor John
 
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These spheres are the remnants of tofu-eating liberals which Gunner has
carefully placed there as a reminder to us all. He painted them red for
obvious reasons :-)

DJ
wrote in message
oups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.




  #20   Report Post  
Gunner
 
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On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 08:47:46 -0700, "Doctor John"
wrote:

These spheres are the remnants of tofu-eating liberals which Gunner has
carefully placed there as a reminder to us all. He painted them red for
obvious reasons :-)

DJ


Auyp..its no longer legal to simply mount their heads on spikes at the
city gates. Something about sanitation or some ridiculous notion such
as that.

Gunner



wrote in message
roups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.




Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"


  #21   Report Post  
Dave Hinz
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:52:22 GMT, Gunner wrote:
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 08:47:46 -0700, "Doctor John"
wrote:

These spheres are the remnants of tofu-eating liberals which Gunner has
carefully placed there as a reminder to us all. He painted them red for
obvious reasons :-)


Auyp..its no longer legal to simply mount their heads on spikes at the
city gates. Something about sanitation or some ridiculous notion such
as that.


....damn liberals, messing up yet another tradition...
  #22   Report Post  
Gunner
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 17 Feb 2005 18:08:38 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:52:22 GMT, Gunner wrote:
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 08:47:46 -0700, "Doctor John"
wrote:

These spheres are the remnants of tofu-eating liberals which Gunner has
carefully placed there as a reminder to us all. He painted them red for
obvious reasons :-)


Auyp..its no longer legal to simply mount their heads on spikes at the
city gates. Something about sanitation or some ridiculous notion such
as that.


...damn liberals, messing up yet another tradition...


The kids were disappointed too. They used to love our Saturday
excursions down to watch the crows and ravens cleaning out the eye
sockets and cleaning off the skulls. We could always tell when spring
was in the air as they would start pulling tufts of hair to build
their nests with.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
  #23   Report Post  
David Deuchar
 
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wrote in message
oups.com...
I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.




http://www.manairco.com/wm.JPG



  #24   Report Post  
Dale Scroggins
 
Posts: n/a
Default

David Deuchar wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I have looked everywhere,

What are the large red speres you see on high tension wires?

One set specifically where I-95 crosses the Connecticut river.





http://www.manairco.com/wm.JPG




'Round here, these folks sell most of the ones I see. Our state
Aeronautics Dept. gave them away to those in need for years. Don't know
if they still do.

http://www.tanawiremarker.com/default.htm

Dale Scroggins
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