Route 395 cross country outlandings

[Maurizio Cocchi]

Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
Thanks - Maurizio

[fcnorton]

Check out this site.

http://www.socalsoaring.com/index.php?page=landout

FC Norton
HpH 304CZ (FCZ)

[Frank Whiteley]

On Aug 30, 2:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
> Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> Thanks - Maurizio

Be sure to attend the Region 12 Soaring Safety Seminar, normally in
February. Desert land out options are sure to be on the agenda.

Frank Whiteley

[Tim Taylor]

On Aug 30, 2:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
> Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> Thanks - Maurizio


Carl Herold's database:

http://soaringweb.org/TP/ch.html

[Ramy]

On Aug 30, 10:06*am, Tim Taylor > wrote:
> On Aug 30, 2:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
>
> > Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> > next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> > from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> > following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> > outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> > outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> > fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> > Thanks - Maurizio
>
> Carl Herold's database:
>
> http://soaringweb.org/TP/ch.html

And of course the TurnPoint exchange where you can download various
databases:
http://soaringweb.org/TP/NA.html
Look for California City, Truckee, and Tonopah (Cross Country Camp).
The later has the most landout options, including dirt roads, but is 6
years old.
The one in socalsoaring web site mentioned earlier looks most current,
I wonder if it is available in downloadable format on the TurnPoint
Exchange. John Leibacher can quickly generate downloadable files for
all flight computers if provided with the data.

Ramy

[bildan]

On Aug 30, 12:38*pm, Ramy > wrote:
> On Aug 30, 10:06*am, Tim Taylor > wrote:
>
> > On Aug 30, 2:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
>
> > > Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> > > next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> > > from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> > > following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> > > outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> > > outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> > > fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> > > Thanks - Maurizio
>
> > Carl Herold's database:
>
> >http://soaringweb.org/TP/ch.html
>
> And of course the TurnPoint exchange where you can download various
> databases:http://soaringweb.org/TP/NA.html
> Look for California City, Truckee, and Tonopah (Cross Country Camp).
> The later has the most landout options, including dirt roads, but is 6
> years old.
> The one in socalsoaring web site mentioned earlier looks most current,
> I wonder if it is available in downloadable format on the TurnPoint
> Exchange. John Leibacher can quickly generate downloadable files for
> all flight computers if provided with the data.
>
> Ramy

Three or four years ago I was driving up 395 to Ridgeway. I came over
a low hill to find a 1-26 sitting on the highway. I braked hard and
backed to the top of the hill and turned on my 4-way flashers to warn
the next driver then ran ahead to pull the glider off the highway.
That incident could have had a sad outcome.

[[email protected]]

You can land out there???? :)

Seriously, the Owens Valley is probably some of the most friendly of
the Tiger Country that can be the Great Basin. Most "locals", myself
included, work hard to land on airports,dry lake beds and a very few,
very well documented other sites in order to to mitigate the risks and
have assitance and resources when we hit the ground. There are safe
landing sites every 30-50 miles which works out very well in
"modern" (-20, LS-4, etc) 15m ships. In most stretches, there are
intermediate landing sites which offer a way to land safely, albeit
with increased risks. However, there are some stretches that are
problematic: Cal City - Inyokern, Cinder Cone - Lone Pine, Bishop -
Hawthorne, Mammoth - Bridgeport have all gotten my attention at some
point. All of these have reasonable options; they just require more
pilot awareness and caution.

Retrieves can be long and given the high temperatures and lack of
facilities and services, it is critical that the pilot and crew
vehicles be very well-prepared and well-equipped so you can maintain
your own situation for 24-48 hours which means WATER, WATER, WATER in
the summer. Everything else is secondary. If you land in some
horrendous spot (E side of the Inyo/Whites in Saline or DEATH
Valleys), 5 gallons for the pilot may barely be adequate for a poorly
planned and executed situation. Cell phone service in the Owens
Valley proper is generally good.

Come on out and (safely) enjoy our spectacular playground!

[jb92563]

On Aug 30, 1:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
> Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> Thanks - Maurizio

I just did some flight planning for my trip up the Owens to Minden.

Granted I flew my motorglider, Grob 109, but it was reassuring to know
that I was never more than 30 miles from an airport, either to the
next one ahead or back to one I just passed.

The terrain seems landable everywhere south of Bishop, being rather
desert like but once passed Bishop the terrain is treed
up till a bit north of Mono Lake.

Even in the treed areas there seemed to be options at the side of the
395 Highway and the odd clearing hear and there.

Interestingly, the best lift on my trip took place over the treed
areas, and pegged my vario a few times.

It took only a handfull of cicles to gain 1,000' in those monster
thermals.

[Maurizio Cocchi]

Guys thank you so much for all your kind answers.
It made me feeling even more excited to fly there with such a friendly
gliding collegues group.
It sounds like it will be a lot of fun !
3.000 to 5.000 meters high flights are really unusual here .
Outlandings are possible but it is better to know where to go land,
using the many data bases we did put together during the many years
and competitions. The good think is that many times, when you land
out, you'll become "an hero arriving from the moon" for the farmer's
family that will bring you to their home and feed you with a lot of
specialties and good wine to taste .. that will make you very
unusefull when your friends will arrive to pick up you and your
glider ...
If any of you need assistance in Italy please let me know
Hope to met you around flying out there next year !
Ciao
Maurizio




On Aug 31, 4:59*pm, jb92563 > wrote:
> On Aug 30, 1:05*am, Maurizio Cocchi > wrote:
>
> > Hi everybody, I am from Italy and will come to fly in California area
> > next year. I am following with great interest the wonderfull flights
> > from Crystal Ca / Mountain Valley all the way to the north basically
> > following HWY 395 . Where can I find a complete data base of
> > outlandings for that area ( see you and Zander ) ? How are
> > outlandings ? Do you guys usually go by airports ? Are there many
> > fields for landings outside airports? And what about the retrieve ?
> > Thanks - Maurizio
>
> I just did some flight planning for my trip up the Owens to Minden.
>
> Granted I flew my motorglider, Grob 109, but it was reassuring to know
> that I was never more than 30 miles from an airport, either to the
> next one ahead or back to one I just passed.
>
> The terrain seems landable everywhere south of Bishop, being rather
> desert like but once passed Bishop the terrain is treed
> up till a bit north of Mono Lake.
>
> Even in the treed areas there seemed to be options at the side of the
> 395 Highway and the odd clearing hear and there.
>
> Interestingly, the best lift on my trip took place over the treed
> areas, and pegged my vario a few times.
>
> It took only a handfull of cicles to gain 1,000' *in those monster
> thermals.

[John Cochrane]

>the farmer's
> family that will bring you to their home and feed you with a lot of
> specialties and good wine to taste .. that will make you very
> unusefull when your friends will arrive to pick up you and your
> glider ...

I suspect you're in for a bit of a gastronomic disappointment if you
land out in the Western U.S!

John Cochrane BB

[Darryl Ramm]

On Aug 31, 1:23*pm, John Cochrane >
wrote:
> >the farmer's
> > family that will bring you to their home and feed you with a lot of
> > specialties and good wine to taste .. that will make you very
> > unusefull when your friends will arrive to pick up you and your
> > glider ...
>
> I suspect you're in for a bit of a gastronomic disappointment if you
> land out in the Western U.S!
>
> John Cochrane BB

Ya all midwest types have something against Rattlesnake stew? Catch
and cook yer own. Come and git it.

--

To the original question, there is obviously a lot more to flying the
Sierras or Whites than landout options. If you don't otherwise have a
plan to hook up with some local experienced XC piltos for some
orientation/local mentoring you might want to check out commerical
operaitons like Soaring NV or Carocale Soaring that should be able to
give you a lot of advice and help in flying XC safely in these areas.

Darryl