Resurrecting this old thread, I have to ask:
Can anyone point to a specific rule or regulation (FAA or BATF, I suppose) that would prohibit the following:
1. Fully legal shotgun (nothing fancy, just the same one we use to shoot coyotes for predator control already)
2. Hard mounted to experimental aircraft (thus not requiring field approval(?))
3. Flying over completely uninhabited area hunting coyotes as part of otherwise legal predator control operation
My initial suspicion is that there's probably a rule against it somewhere. However, I don't see the practical difference between that and having a gunner in the back seat (except you would no longer be shooting over the tire, ahead of the strut, behind the prop and under the wing).
All the other "guns mounted on planes" discussions I've seen have pertained to the legality of machine guns on old warbirds. I'm not talking about that. Instead, I'm asking about something which is otherwise fully legal in all respects, with the only difference being that the shotgun is attached to the experimental aircraft rather than in the hands of the gunner.
With the references to it "no longer being legal" in Sheldon's case, are those references to aerial wolf hunting in general, or to having the shotgun in question hard-mounted to the aircraft? If it is the latter, does the certified vs. experimental make any difference?
Purely hypothetical (no need to send the agents to my door, I don't even own an airplane right now), but I am curious to know if anyone can point me to a rule.