Experience landing in high sierra (burningman)

[OR75]

Anyone with experience with landing a mooney in the high sierra ?

 

 

[Sven]

Ramona will know:    http://www.skychickadventures.com/Display-articles.asp?ID=24

[DaV8or]

If you're thinking of flying your own plane into Burningman and you care about your plane, don't do it! The landing will be fine I'm sure. It's the environment your plane will endure after that is really, really bad. The plateau has a fine cement like powder dust covering everything. This dust will cover your plane inside and out and the worst thing you can do is try to wash it off with a hose. Water plus this dust = cement. I know, I have delt with this dust on my equipment returning from Burningman. I no longer allow any of my equipment to go there. I don't care how much they are willing to pay.

In addition, this dust will clog your airfilter, so if you do fly in, make sure to remove, inspect and clean your induction system before you attempt to fly. A few years back there was a Bonanza pilot who had an engine failure due to a clogged filter, piloted poorly, stalled and killed everybody onboard. Probably had a filter with oil on it. The dust will stick to this immediately and create a thick cake. I know, many of my generators have filters like this and have been there. One returned that no longer ran.  Did I mention this dust is abrasive? Like a very fine sand paper and the wind can do a great job of getting it everywhere. Some years, it rains out there and the dust turns to mud and when it dries you got cement.

It really is a hellish, God forsaken environment out there, but it can be beautiful. Perfect place for people to congregate, get high, get naked, show off their artistic talents, escape it all and burn stuff. Not so great a place to take a plane you care about. If you do go, I would suggest only staying the day and then doing a super good preflight, followed by a thourough wipe down with a dry rag and vacuum when you get home. The plateau out there is super flat, and hard as concrete (assuming no recent rain), so landing and taking off should be a non-event.

My plane's never going there.

[Immelman]

I have flown the sierra many times and really enjoy the east sierra both for flying and recreating. However, I am with Dave on flying to burning man, at least in a retractable gear airplane. From what I understand, the alkaline dirt gets in everything... there are nooks and crannies in the wheel wells of our airplanes that just cannot be cleaned. I would, however, do it in something like a fixed-gear cessna.

[Capt_CrashN_Burn]

FWIW, Black Rock Desert and burning man aren't in the Sierras. They're in the Great Basin, which is part of the basin and range geological province.

 

Do you see how geology has ruined my mind. :-0

[piperpainter]

I've landed on the black rock desert and it wasn't anything significant. I think if you take precautions you can safely go there for burning man and stay. Just ready to clean the airplane. I've been in enough dirt strips to know...dirt happens! :)Oh....and if you land in a cow pature thats just been harrowed and hit mud....it sucks but you still survive!

[OR75]

I ended up doing a fly-over and taking great picture but I did not land.

The landing part does not worry me as much as after even clean up part.

 

[Capt_CrashN_Burn]

Quote: OR75

I ended up doing a fly-over and taking great picture but I did not land.

The landing part does not worry me as much as after even clean up part.

 

[thinwing]

I have a buddy who is a burner...goes every year with a coleman tent trailer,bicycle etc...since the playa is old dry lake bottom and a catchment basin it is akylie and salt based...basically very corrosive to steel and especially alumunum...this powder than gets wet (like when you wash it off)and starts rusting/corroiding everything it touches...every part of the trailor/bike looks rusted...k