Speaking of shooting a pilot, my aviation hero, Wally Olson, of
Evergreen Field in Vancouver, Washington once told me about the time
that he was flying a small airplane (I think it was his BC12D, but it
might have been his Champ. He saw a man who was walking with his dog,
point a rifle up at the airplane, so Wally pointed the airplane at the
man, who then dropped his rifle and ran very fast! Wally had several
planes for rent, cheaper than anywhere else, ( the 172 was $25 per hour
wet, the 150 was $20, and this was in the early 1990's!) but the
airworthiness was debatable. His 150 had a bullet hole in the airframe,
less than a foot behind where the pilot was sitting. I think about this
sometimes when I am flying low during certain times of the year, and
then I fly higher to avoid the "farmers" who may want to protect their
"agricultural products".