landing on sand

[Jamie]

Saw this and started wondering...

 

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/34647-fun-at-the-beach/#comment_389

 

Is that possible on any sandy beach? What's take off like?

 

[chrisk]

Not even with my 32 year old paint job.

[rbridges]

Not even with my 32 year old paint job.

 

those crazy canadians

[manu damaschin]

I did it once...not so bad, of course not to be done every day. The take off is much longer of course and the aircraft is drifting a little when rolling before Vrot...need to be very smoth with the rudder.

 

But not every sand plot is good for loading...in some regions the sand is mixed with something else making it much stable (not swampy).

 

It's more challenging to land in the night without a centerline...

[fantom]

We have several emergency beach landings a year down here. Better than a water landing and safer than grass

[Oscar Avalle]

Although I land my mooney normally on grass strips... I have never tried sand... somehow I don't feel so confortable with the idea. Also, aluminium and salt water don't get along so well...

[kerry]

I don't see any issues with wet compacted sand.  Just better get out before the tide comes in.

[David Mazer]

There is one official sand runway "airport" in the US in Washington.  I don't remember much of the details but it is only open for a short period during the day and not all year long.

[Igor_U]

There is one official sand runway "airport" in the US in Washington.  I don't remember much of the details but it is only open for a short period during the day and not all year long.

 

That would be Copalis.

 

http://www.airnav.com/airport/S16

 

 

Local flying club from KBFI even organizes a fly-in for their members each year.

I would have a problem with salt getting into wheel wells on my Mooney so I  never tried it.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Igor 

[carqwik]

Canadians also race "snow machines" across open bodies of water...(a real Canadian told me so...he's seen it done) so why wouldn't they land a plane on sand too?

[takair]

I would be most worried about salt water in the wheel well, in the gear, in the spar cap and in the wheels. Magnesium wheels will corrode in a matter of days if subject to salt water. You would want to do a good fresh water rinse as soon as possible, especially in the wheel well.

[David Mazer]

Rent a plane!

[Jamie]

Rent a plane!

 

Fly it like you stole it.

[Scott Aviation]

Golly, I get my own post, I feel special..... this was my first sand landing.

 

to answer a few questions.... Sand was like concrete, land on grey sand, that has just dried enough, that salt water didnt spit up all over the plane.

when I got home and had the hose ready I crawled up underneath the wheel well to assess the " sandamage"  Surprisingly....only a bit of sand spit up at the flaps, the wheel wells were completely clean, I rinsed them well regardless..it added a total of 5-10 min to my day...woopdeedoo.. I was totally impressed...(I do have the wheel well mud flaps though, so I know that helps.)

The wheel hubs or anything didnt even see sand..

Trust me I just spent 3 years restoring my 201, with new paint, interior, engine prop, etc etc etc, if I thought the sandling would even scratch the paint I wouldnt have done it.

 

So to all you non-believers I say......your loss....I've got the beach all to myself then...

 

But with that said I welcome anyone to come try it out.  Nanaimo airport just 20 min north of seattle has customs clearance, and its 35 min to 3 magnificant beaches from there...good salmon fishing and whale watching too.

Vargas Island _mooney friendly

Nootka Island _ 172 and tail dragger friendly

 

There are some youtube clips and even wings over canada tv show with beach landings.

[Jamie]

ok.. I have questions.

 

The beaches I've been on have, in no particular order, people, birds, "stuff", people and more birds. The scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comes to mind. Do you buzz the beach before you land? I mean, I'd love to try this, but I'm not even sure what the rules are regarding landing off airport.

[Scott Aviation]

Location- remote but within cell service and radio contact to nearest tower

Birds- didn't see any

Fly over first - mandatory unless the movie castaway is your thing

Rules- regs say it's legal. Just can't be a national or provincial park and full of people. Then it's jail time and fines.

States is same watch flying Alaska show on discovery they land all over the place.

It's up to each pilot to read the rules on where they can land. Hope that helps Jamie

[Jamie]

It does. Though the chances of finding someplace to land in Florida / Alabama are probably close to zero. Still, it'd be so freakin' cool to land, have lunch and then take off again.

[Hector]

We had a local Mooney driver here in JAX last year that landed in Jacksonville beach, Florida (he was having a fuel problem but I can't recall exactly). As I recall there was no damage to the aircraft at all but it was decided to truck the airplane to the airport rather than take off from the beach. Don't think we have those hard sand beaches around here.

[fantom]

We had a local Mooney driver here in JAX last year that landed in Jacksonville beach....

 

Yep...

 

 

A doctor and his dog escaped injury after a small single-engine airplane made an emergency landing on the shoreline in Atlantic Beach Wednesday afternoon after the aircraft experienced engine trouble.

 

Vaughn Dobalian, a Jacksonville Beach physician, was flying his 1970 Mooney M20F from Jacksonville Executive Craig Airport to St. Augustine when the engine began to sputter about 2:45 p.m., according to Atlantic Beach police spokeswoman Tiffany Layson. “He started circling and flying around. It was actually sputtering,” said Mo Shaughnessy.

 

Dobalian guided the four-seat plane to the beach area and approached from the south into Atlantic Beach and touched down on the shoreline around 10th Street. The pilot got out with his small black dog as dozens of people gathered around to gawk at the strange sight in the midst of a drizzling rain. A mechanic was called from Craig airport to work on the plane and Dobalian was able to fly the plane off the hard pack sand about a day later.

 

Dobalian then made almost as a dramatic take off from the shoreline the next day, as he did when landing his 1970 Mooney M20F. Speculation from Atlantic Beach police was that fuel contamination forced the landing after the plane began to sputter over the beach as it was heading from Jacksonville Executive Craig Airport to St. Augustine. Dobalian could be seen circling the Beaches area near the Beaches Town Center before he swooped down and landed the plane.

 

[N1026F]

...looks like Husky envy...

[Dave Marten]

Very cool.

 

Although for those Mooney drivers who are terrified of even parking on grass (not to mention the horrific thought of actually landing on a grass runway) landing on the beach must be shear terror! They're probably amazed you didn't kill yourself.

 

Just because its not paved doesn't mean its not a great landing surface! Maybe I'm biased since I fly off the airfield with the world's longest sand runways - the Edwards AFB lakebeds.

 

If I'm up in the NW then I'll be sure to visit Vargas Island - In my Mooney!

 

I've got a friend who keeps his 252 at a grass field - he's Canadian too! Don't let the lack of pavement inhibit your flying.

[Scott Aviation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvuoOf2R9jU

Heres my local flying clubs trip to Vargas Island. Its a good video.  It will help dispell any ney-sayers

[Jamie]

Although for those Mooney drivers who are terrified of even parking on grass

 

Until I win a big-ass lottery and can drop $40k on a new engine for this airplane while I fly one of my other airplanes, I'll continue to be "terrified" of grass, and proudly so.

[Bennett]

I've landed my J on hard packed sand (well maybe not so hard packed) in Baja, along with dirt strips, and an occasional grass runway. West Coast Mapa (unfortunately now long gone) would have a picnic once a year at Columbia airport in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The cross runway is grass, and just about all our Mooneys landed on it. My Cessna 120 was a better aircraft for this, and even the 150 that a friend and I took to Baja. I just don't like being the first one in a group to test the hardness. I've also landed at Black Rock (Burning Man) which for a week is an international airport of about 5000" with ten mile overruns. Some years there are more than 200 aircraft parked near the "runway", which is nothing more than 4 drums, or sometimes flags set at the corners, and sometimes oil is used to mark the approach and departure "ends". Soft field technique is a must, except at Black Rock (if you are early to arrive). Wish I could afford a second airplane. Something like a Maule or Husky, or even better, a Carbon Cub.

[ghovey]

The Baja Bush Pilots organize a trip to Baja in March to see the whales at San Ignacio Lagoon. You land on hard pack sand. Definitely some wear and tear on the propeller and paint. Not many Mooneys but definitely doable and safe.

By the way I really recommend that trip.