Drug chopper???

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dannedry

dannedry

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2009
Messages
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Location
Mason, MI
So for the past 2 years I have had Tri-County drug choppers that typically sweep the vast corn fields in my part of Michigan searching for pot plants, circling my house, and essentially parking over my hops trellis in the back yard. My trellis is 20' high, and the chopper was hovering about 10' above that... looked to be taking pictures or something. 2 years in a row. I know that hops and marijuana are very much related, do they give off a similar heat signature that would attract these guys searching for pot plants with an IR system???

Kind of a Good Fellas feeling... haha. Waiting for SWAT to come break my door down. Hahaha.

Thanks! :mug:
 
Keep us posted on what happens with your hops and the cops!

By the way, my wife's side of the family lives in Mason!

glenn514:mug:
 
lol that is insane!

You should put a sign facing the sky that says the hop species/genus/variety.

Id be pissed if the rotor wind ripped up my precious crop, I'd tell you that much
 
It might be a good idea to call the police station and let them know what's going on. Tell them you don't appreciate their choppers damaging your hop plants and ask if they'd mind coming out so they can see for themselves what you're growing and put a stop to the nonsense. :mug: You have to think, when they come raiding your Weed crop, they're sure as shit going to confiscate that meth lab you say you brew beer with.
 
I agree with IP, just call them and ask why they are flying so low to your hops, in a nice way.
 
...or you could go the other route and get some poles and camo netting and blacken out all of the windows in the house. Change all of the downstairs lighting to plant grow bulbs.
 
Or, you could do nothing, feel safe that the eyes in the sky are doing their job, and calm yourself considering that they have taken notice of your hops for the past two years and have yet to raid you likely because even from 10 feet in the air they are smart enough to realise that Marijuana doesn't climb up a trellis.

:drunk:
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Or, you could do nothing, feel safe that the eyes in the sky are doing their job, and calm yourself considering that they have taken notice of your hops for the past two years and have yet to raid you likely because even from 10 feet in the air they are smart enough to realise that Marijuana doesn't climb up a trellis.

:drunk:
Click to expand...

Haha, I'm not worried at all. I was just curious if anybody knew about whether or not Hops and Marijuana had similar heat signatures, to trigger their interest in the first place. I think it's funny, and gives me very cool stories to tell at the beer parties we host every so often. Though, it would be funny, if my wife and I and the dogs took off running, out of the house, under the chopper, across the corn field, and into the woods! Haha. ARE WE ON COPS???

:mug:
 
The pilot was pointing something outside of his door window also... some sort of IR gun or a camera I would expect. When they came last year, they sat parked above my trellis for several minutes, while at the same time, I had 300,000 BTU worth of burners roaring in the garage, mashing in on back to back all grain recipes. Haha.
 
I'd wonder about the cost of chopper fuel used to ogle your hops plants. Complain about government waste.
 
Notify the Michigan State Police as it is most likely their chopper here is the public affairs number.
Public Affairs Section
Information------------------------------------------------------------ (517) 241-0955
Fax-------------------------- (517) 241-0991
 
I would actually go above the police level. Call homeland security and give them the tail #'s from the side of the helicopter and report it as very suspicios activity. I would also complain to the FAA, I doubt it's within FAA guidelines to fly so low in a residential neighborhood. Police or not the pilot has to have a license that I'm sure can get revoked for dangerous maneuvers like this. Just because they are police they don't have any more rights than you. Also get it on video as evidence and post it on you tube.
 
. . . or you could give them a nice 'full moon' the next time they come to visit. Hopefully they're not the types that like that kinda stuff - or they may keep coming back for more! Your call~
 
I have had them over my fields every year I would suspect that they do put off a similar IR signature Cheers Glen
 
Here's what the FAA has to say about minimum safe altitudes

§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

(d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface—

(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA; and

(2) A powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section.
Click to expand...

Paragraph c probably applies, so if you live in a "sparsely populated area" they have to be at least 500 feet away from you and your house.

Paragraph D1 probably doesn't apply, there isn't likely to be a special helicopter route at 10 feet over your hops plants.

Of course, I'm sure they could get special permission from the FAA to break these rules but it still may be worth looking into.
 
cheezydemon3 said:
I'd wonder about the cost of chopper fuel used to ogle your hops plants. Complain about government waste.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

At the very least, wouldn't it be better for those dollars to be spent trying to eradicate meth labs (which are a much bigger public safety hazard?)

Who the hell would be growing weed out in the open, on a trellis, in their back yard, anyway?
 
That's intense!
If pot is such a huge problem in Michigan, maybe the local law enforcement need an upgrade. Maybe next year this will be hovering over your house.

I'll drive!

image-4273696753.jpg
 
the_bird said:
Exactly what I was thinking.

At the very least, wouldn't it be better for those dollars to be spent trying to eradicate meth labs (which are a much bigger public safety hazard?)

Who the hell would be growing weed out in the open, on a trellis, in their back yard, anyway?
Click to expand...

Uh, time to change farming techniques?
 
better yet next time fly over.. run out and start taking pics of them.. LOL :)
 
Gear101 said:
better yet next time fly over.. run out and start taking pics of them.. LOL :)
Click to expand...

Haha, my wife did! She ran out and got a couple pictures as the chopper was flying away... but no sign of them after the initial "fly over"... more of a "fly over and linger..." No SWAT teams breaking down my door... no DEA tanks rolling onto my property... if this happens again I will be sure to get better pictures of the chopper license, and how close they are flying relative to my house, and make some phone calls... this is the 2nd year in a row. While I have nothing to hide, they were pretty damn close to my house, and even CLOSER to my hops trellis. The Drug chopper pilot thinks my hops plants are WEED and my neighbor thinks I am "growing green beans" on my dual hops trellis, both of which are 18' tall and 40' long. Haha, must be some magic effing beans!!!

:mug:
 
If this is truly becoming an issue I suggest you get the N-Number of the aircraft and note the date/time, then call the police you believe to be of local authority. Let them know about your hops. Also let them know that you have pictures of the helicopter flying/hovering significantly less than 500' and will call the local FAA or Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) next time.

Below is the local Michigan FSDO office numbers.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/index.cfm?state=MI
 
i don't know...but if it was me i would transplant my marijuana plants in the neighbors yard..... that way when they do bring swat they will leave your hops alone...
 
i remember when maverick's fly bys would spark the ire of everyone in the control tower. And his monkeyshines ultimately led to the demise of his very best friend, who was also a goose. You should see if they know that lesson of morality.
 
Just a little FYI, marijuana/hops/corn/tomatoes do not give off IR heat/thermal image/IR signatures. Now the fact you were heating up your garage probably triggered the IR thermal imaging sensor. As for hovering over your hops, they are seeing if you are hiding anything among the hops. The do the same to people who plant grapes, or many other large plants planted in clusters. What the pilot was pointing was probably a camera mounted onto a pistol grip for easier operation... These are all speculations, except for one thing- hops don't create IR, IR is just another spectrum of light to "look around" with.
 
IrregularPulse said:
It might be a good idea to call the police station and let them know what's going on. Tell them you don't appreciate their choppers damaging your hop plants and ask if they'd mind coming out so they can see for themselves what you're growing and put a stop to the nonsense. :mug: You have to think, when they come raiding your Weed crop, they're sure as shit going to confiscate that meth lab you say you brew beer with.
Click to expand...


This is exactly what happened to me my very first year growing hops. We have several agencies who use choppers for spotting pot and one of them was the State Police. I called them and they did indeed show up that same day and said sorry and I said take a peak around if you want and they said no thanks and went on their merry way never to be seen again (at least in MY yard).
Also, they said they don't always look for pot in the flowering times either, this was when my bines were only 4' tall.
 

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