Minden Airstrip Review

As part of my new 12-step crash recovery program, I have taken a sacred vow to never go to a new soaring site without a thorough Google Earth review of all airports/airstrips in the published site waypoint database. When I find that airports in the database aren't there anymore (and there are always some - think Lincoln Station at Moriarty) - I manually modify my personal waypoint database so that I don't try to fly to a non-existent airport (again).

I have completed my preliminary review of the current Minden waypoint database, and although I only found a few missing/abandoned airstrips, I found that a LOT of them are problematic - usually due to a runway that is nominally much too narrow for an 18 (or even a 15) meter glider. I say 'nominally' because such an airstrip might be more than adequate if the surrounding sagebrush or other vegetation is low enough - but that's hard to tell from the GE imagery.

I have placed photo sets (usually 2 but sometimes 3 photos) of each problem airstrip, along with a Word document containing captioned versions of the photo sets on my Google drive at

https://drive.google.com/folderview?...sha ring#list

Each photo set contains an overview shot showing the airstrip's orientation and distance from Minden, along with a closeup of the airstrip itself, with the runway width shown via the GE 'ruler' tool. Some sets have a third photo showing a nearby alternate (usually a real airport with decent runway widthh)

If anyone has additional information about any of these airstrips (or any new ones discovered that aren't in the database yet), please post it here so all Minden-bound pilots can benefit. If someone wants to copy these files over to the Minden Soaring Club site, that's fine by me too.

Hopefully the contest organizers will consider modifications to the database as appropriate ;-).

One last note. One of the airstrips in the database is 'Black Rock City' which turns out to be the site of the annual 'Burning Man' festival. The airstrip itself is nowhere to be found (or at least I couldn't see it), but the GE image was coincidentally taken during the festival period when the city was actually there (in theory, everything is carted away at the end of the festival) - neat!

Regards,

Frank (TA)

Black Rock City Municipal Airport:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.76233...09645&t=h&z=17

On Friday, September 20, 2013 2:28:38 PM UTC-7, wrote:
As part of my new 12-step crash recovery program, I have taken a sacred vow to never go to a new soaring site without a thorough Google Earth review of all airports/airstrips in the published site waypoint database. When I find that airports in the database aren't there anymore (and there are always some - think Lincoln Station at Moriarty) - I manually modify my personal waypoint database so that I don't try to fly to a non-existent airport (again).



I have completed my preliminary review of the current Minden waypoint database, and although I only found a few missing/abandoned airstrips, I found that a LOT of them are problematic - usually due to a runway that is nominally much too narrow for an 18 (or even a 15) meter glider. I say 'nominally' because such an airstrip might be more than adequate if the surrounding sagebrush or other vegetation is low enough - but that's hard to tell from the GE imagery.



I have placed photo sets (usually 2 but sometimes 3 photos) of each problem airstrip, along with a Word document containing captioned versions of the photo sets on my Google drive at



https://drive.google.com/folderview?...sha ring#list



Each photo set contains an overview shot showing the airstrip's orientation and distance from Minden, along with a closeup of the airstrip itself, with the runway width shown via the GE 'ruler' tool. Some sets have a third photo showing a nearby alternate (usually a real airport with decent runway widthh)



If anyone has additional information about any of these airstrips (or any new ones discovered that aren't in the database yet), please post it here so all Minden-bound pilots can benefit. If someone wants to copy these files over to the Minden Soaring Club site, that's fine by me too.



Hopefully the contest organizers will consider modifications to the database as appropriate ;-).



One last note. One of the airstrips in the database is 'Black Rock City' which turns out to be the site of the annual 'Burning Man' festival. The airstrip itself is nowhere to be found (or at least I couldn't see it), but the GE image was coincidentally taken during the festival period when the city was actually there (in theory, everything is carted away at the end of the festival) - neat!



Regards,



Frank (TA)

When Black Rock is open (during Burning Man) if you land there you will have to pay the landing fee, reportedly $250+. The rest of the time, the Black Rock desert is landable, even by the Space Shuttle. You may die of exposure walking out though.

Spaulding is an OK airport, many have landed there. The others that you question I would not consider, in most cases there are suitable alternatives nearby. Keeping in mind that Out There, if you are down to 8 or 9K feet MSL, while you are still 4 - 5K feet AGL, you are struggling and looking for a landing site. Any reasonable day you should be working between 12 and 18.

On Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:08:14 -0700 (PDT), jfitch
wrote:
[snip]


When Black Rock is open (during Burning Man) if you land there you will have to pay the landing fee, reportedly $250+.

I thought everything was barter at Burning Man.

On Friday, September 20, 2013 6:55:09 PM UTC-7, Ralph Jones wrote:
On Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:08:14 -0700 (PDT), jfitch

wrote:

[snip]





When Black Rock is open (during Burning Man) if you land there you will have to pay the landing fee, reportedly $250+.



I thought everything was barter at Burning Man.

Once you get in, maybe. To get in, no barter, only cash. A few years ago I flew over it, thought about landing there to walk around (would have been an easy relaunch with the motor glider). The price put me off the idea.

On Friday, September 20, 2013 7:29:52 PM UTC-7, jfitch wrote:
On Friday, September 20, 2013 6:55:09 PM UTC-7, Ralph Jones wrote:

On Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:08:14 -0700 (PDT), jfitch



wrote:



[snip]











When Black Rock is open (during Burning Man) if you land there you will have to pay the landing fee, reportedly $250+.







I thought everything was barter at Burning Man.



Once you get in, maybe. To get in, no barter, only cash. A few years ago I flew over it, thought about landing there to walk around (would have been an easy relaunch with the motor glider). The price put me off the idea.

One is able to land for free at BRCMA but you cannot enter the gate without a ticket. Tickets are no longer available at the gate as in years past. Burning Man is a gifting economy, not barter. Trading and monetary deals are frowned upon once inside the gate. It is not some 'hippie' event.

I camped at Black Rock City airport (FAA airport code: 88NV) for the whole Burning Man event period this year.

The landing fee was $20 this year, as long as you stay at the airport and do not enter the Burning Man event area (the airport is half mile away from the Burning Man event area). If you want to enter the Burning Man event area, then you need a ticket which has to be purchased online in advance but not sold onsite. This year's ticket was $380. But again, ticket is not sold onsite, so no amount of money will get you in Burning Man event if you arrive without a ticket.

As you said, the surface condition of 88NV and surrounding area is very good in general. In the past, Citation X jet landed on 88NV multiple times.

However, 88NV is very busy during Burning Man event. There were 30+ airplanes and helicopters at the airport at any time, and quite a few of them were giving rides to passengers over and around the city constantly during daytime. There were two charter flight companies operating flights to and from Reno. All aircrafts follow defined pattern to avoid collision in this crowded airspace. FAA officers were present to monitor any unsafe activities. If you plan to fly near Burning Man site during the event, I strongly recommend reading information on the following website thoroughly beforehand.

http://www.portofentry.org

If you land, expect no cell phone coverage at the airport or in Black Rock City. The airport had wifi but it was very sporadic.

The playa dust is alkali and corrodes metal when combined with moisture. If you land anywhere on the desert, I recommend washing your glider very carefully especially around the landing gear. Some told me that it's better to spray vinegar first to neutralize alkali, then wash.

In conclusion, I believe it's best to stay away from 88NV as much as possible. As Ramy said, landing near Gerlach is probably a much, much better option. You will have much less problem with the dust there too because it is likely that the ground surface is not disturbed since the last rain and still is packed. Note that there are traffic around 88NV a few weeks before and after the event because hundreds of workers are on the site to build and clean up the city. The cleaning is still happening as of today.

FWIW, there is no bartering at Burning Man. Everything is given away for free without expectation of gaining anything in return.

-Gen


On Friday, September 20, 2013 4:08:14 PM UTC-7, jfitch wrote:
On Friday, September 20, 2013 2:28:38 PM UTC-7, wrote:

As part of my new 12-step crash recovery program, I have taken a sacred vow to never go to a new soaring site without a thorough Google Earth review of all airports/airstrips in the published site waypoint database. When I find that airports in the database aren't there anymore (and there are always some - think Lincoln Station at Moriarty) - I manually modify my personal waypoint database so that I don't try to fly to a non-existent airport (again).







I have completed my preliminary review of the current Minden waypoint database, and although I only found a few missing/abandoned airstrips, I found that a LOT of them are problematic - usually due to a runway that is nominally much too narrow for an 18 (or even a 15) meter glider. I say 'nominally' because such an airstrip might be more than adequate if the surrounding sagebrush or other vegetation is low enough - but that's hard to tell from the GE imagery.







I have placed photo sets (usually 2 but sometimes 3 photos) of each problem airstrip, along with a Word document containing captioned versions of the photo sets on my Google drive at







https://drive.google.com/folderview?...sha ring#list







Each photo set contains an overview shot showing the airstrip's orientation and distance from Minden, along with a closeup of the airstrip itself, with the runway width shown via the GE 'ruler' tool. Some sets have a third photo showing a nearby alternate (usually a real airport with decent runway widthh)







If anyone has additional information about any of these airstrips (or any new ones discovered that aren't in the database yet), please post it here so all Minden-bound pilots can benefit. If someone wants to copy these files over to the Minden Soaring Club site, that's fine by me too.







Hopefully the contest organizers will consider modifications to the database as appropriate ;-).







One last note. One of the airstrips in the database is 'Black Rock City' which turns out to be the site of the annual 'Burning Man' festival. The airstrip itself is nowhere to be found (or at least I couldn't see it), but the GE image was coincidentally taken during the festival period when the city was actually there (in theory, everything is carted away at the end of the festival) - neat!







Regards,







Frank (TA)



When Black Rock is open (during Burning Man) if you land there you will have to pay the landing fee, reportedly $250+. The rest of the time, the Black Rock desert is landable, even by the Space Shuttle. You may die of exposure walking out though.



Spaulding is an OK airport, many have landed there. The others that you question I would not consider, in most cases there are suitable alternatives nearby. Keeping in mind that Out There, if you are down to 8 or 9K feet MSL, while you are still 4 - 5K feet AGL, you are struggling and looking for a landing site. Any reasonable day you should be working between 12 and 18.

On 2013-09-20, jfitch wrote:

... the Black Rock desert is landable, even by the Space Shuttle. You may die
of exposure walking out though.

I never thought of that. Around here, "die of exposure" means "freeze
to death".


--

Rob Brown

Sorry to contradict in light of your unfortunate experience at Region 9, but
we routinely look down at the Lincoln Station airstrip. Renny Rozzoni drove
out there after your accident and took several pictures from the road and
from the strip. If I still had them, I'd post links. Maybe someone else
will.


wrote in message
...
As part of my new 12-step crash recovery program, I have taken a sacred vow
to never go to a new soaring site without a thorough Google Earth review of
all airports/airstrips in the published site waypoint database. When I find
that airports in the database aren't there anymore (and there are always
some - think Lincoln Station at Moriarty) - I manually modify my personal
waypoint database so that I don't try to fly to a non-existent airport
(again).

I have completed my preliminary review of the current Minden waypoint
database, and although I only found a few missing/abandoned airstrips, I
found that a LOT of them are problematic - usually due to a runway that is
nominally much too narrow for an 18 (or even a 15) meter glider. I say
'nominally' because such an airstrip might be more than adequate if the
surrounding sagebrush or other vegetation is low enough - but that's hard to
tell from the GE imagery.

I have placed photo sets (usually 2 but sometimes 3 photos) of each problem
airstrip, along with a Word document containing captioned versions of the
photo sets on my Google drive at

https://drive.google.com/folderview?...sha ring#list

Each photo set contains an overview shot showing the airstrip's orientation
and distance from Minden, along with a closeup of the airstrip itself, with
the runway width shown via the GE 'ruler' tool. Some sets have a third
photo showing a nearby alternate (usually a real airport with decent runway
widthh)

If anyone has additional information about any of these airstrips (or any
new ones discovered that aren't in the database yet), please post it here so
all Minden-bound pilots can benefit. If someone wants to copy these files
over to the Minden Soaring Club site, that's fine by me too.

Hopefully the contest organizers will consider modifications to the database
as appropriate ;-).

One last note. One of the airstrips in the database is 'Black Rock City'
which turns out to be the site of the annual 'Burning Man' festival. The
airstrip itself is nowhere to be found (or at least I couldn't see it), but
the GE image was coincidentally taken during the festival period when the
city was actually there (in theory, everything is carted away at the end of
the festival) - neat!

Regards,

Frank (TA)

On Friday, September 20, 2013 2:28:38 PM UTC-7, wrote:
As part of my new 12-step crash recovery program, I have taken a sacred vow to never go to a new soaring site without a thorough Google Earth review of all airports/airstrips in the published site waypoint database. When I find that airports in the database aren't there anymore (and there are always some - think Lincoln Station at Moriarty) - I manually modify my personal waypoint database so that I don't try to fly to a non-existent airport (again).



I have completed my preliminary review of the current Minden waypoint database, and although I only found a few missing/abandoned airstrips, I found that a LOT of them are problematic - usually due to a runway that is nominally much too narrow for an 18 (or even a 15) meter glider. I say 'nominally' because such an airstrip might be more than adequate if the surrounding sagebrush or other vegetation is low enough - but that's hard to tell from the GE imagery.



I have placed photo sets (usually 2 but sometimes 3 photos) of each problem airstrip, along with a Word document containing captioned versions of the photo sets on my Google drive at



https://drive.google.com/folderview?...sha ring#list



Each photo set contains an overview shot showing the airstrip's orientation and distance from Minden, along with a closeup of the airstrip itself, with the runway width shown via the GE 'ruler' tool. Some sets have a third photo showing a nearby alternate (usually a real airport with decent runway widthh)



If anyone has additional information about any of these airstrips (or any new ones discovered that aren't in the database yet), please post it here so all Minden-bound pilots can benefit. If someone wants to copy these files over to the Minden Soaring Club site, that's fine by me too.



Hopefully the contest organizers will consider modifications to the database as appropriate ;-).



One last note. One of the airstrips in the database is 'Black Rock City' which turns out to be the site of the annual 'Burning Man' festival. The airstrip itself is nowhere to be found (or at least I couldn't see it), but the GE image was coincidentally taken during the festival period when the city was actually there (in theory, everything is carted away at the end of the festival) - neat!



Regards,



Frank (TA)

Minden data base, like many others contain many old (questionable) entries. We update the new, but nobody removes any of the old stuff. I fly the place by selecting the best airport in each valley and then selecting it in the alternates page on my SN-10. If I can't make it over the Pine nuts, my alternate is back to Minden. In the Topaz Valley, I'm putting it on Topaz International (dirt strip on northern end). Same thing in the Palameno Valley, there are several marginal strips shown, but I just use Air Sailing if I get in trouble up there.
Hope this helps, looking forward to your accident review,
JJ