flying to Burning Man

Ben Hallert wrote:
Ah, I found the info:

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...t/faq_air.html

From same:

Q. Is it safe to land my Beechna Pipermman Super-Duper-High-Flyer on
the playa?

A. The playa surface is suitable for anything from a tiny-wheeled
Vari-eze to tail-draggers with tundra tires to brand new turbo-charged
Mooneys to C-130s. This is the surface on which a car went faster than
the speed of sound. The space shuttle could land here.

That seems just a tad optimistic and misleading, IMO.

I've never ventured into that particular area but I know alkalai desert
flats can look quite solid and actually be a crusted over bog that will
swallow a small car up to its axles in very rapid fashion. The Black
Rock Desert would not be an area where I would assume I may land
anywhere without hesitation.

A 7000' landing strip appears to be at 40.73515, -119.2355
-----

- gpsman

gpsman wrote:
http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...t/faq_air.html
...
That seems just a tad optimistic and misleading, IMO.

That the thing about the whole web site: it seems a tad
optimistic. For instance, the part about camping out in the
desert, in summer, with a crowd of, shall we say, colorful
characters, being all rosy and neat and nothing to worry
about is one thing that made me a bit suspicious; hence my
request for first hand accounts :-)

--Sylvain

Sylvain wrote:
That the thing about the whole web site: it seems a tad
optimistic.

That was my first thought, but some of the following excerpts offer a
different view:

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...ort/index.html
" This is a warning! Read it!

Flying in mountainous desert regions is dangerous. Don't do it. Stay at
home with a cold drink and watch the event on television. If you choose
to disregard this sensible advice, take all reasonable and unreasonable
safety precautions. Read all of the information and advice in the links
above. Attend a seminar on mountain flying. Practice with an instructor
at a hot and high airport near you.

The desert is treacherous; winds are hellacious, storms are sudden and
violent, density altitude is high, and hospitals far away. The landing
surface is unpaved and safe landing conditions are not guaranteed. You
are entirely responsible for your own safety and that of your
passengers."

There appears to be a mailing list of Burning Man aviators where
answers to all of our questions would probably be available.
https://lists.burningman.com/mailman.../aviators-list

They also have a page on specific flying challenges in the desert:
http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...rt/flying.html

This page also discusses the quality of the ground. It appears that
the runway area is carefully inspected and chosen to avoid the "sinking
buick" situation described elsewhere in the thread. With the big crowd
of planes their photos show, it doesn't look like the hacked together
amateur-fest I was expecting. UNICOM advisories, ground crew, NOTAMs,
it looks pretty promising.

I've been wanting to attend, but the 10 hour drive has been a bit of a
barrier. The 1.5 hour flight, on the other hand, suddenly seems pretty
reasonable. Well, I've got a year to get ready.

"Ben Hallert" wrote in message
oups.com...

With the big crowd of planes their photos show, it doesn't look like the
hacked together amateur-fest I was expecting.

Negative, sir. The airstrip isn't established by the Burning Man
organization, it's done each year by the pilots themselves; volunteers fly
out there two weeks in advance and spend those scorching days grooming the
surface, setting up markers and the UNICOM and testing the conditions, and
they're out there for a month afterward cleaning up every boa feather,
pistacio shell, cigarette butt and bottle cap in he desert. The BLM
inspects the event overall and their permits are provisional upon passing
the inspection. Those pilots fly people around all day long (everything
from experimentals to a KingAir and an An-2....they're trying to get
approval to bring in a DC-3 next year) so the "spaceport" is a product of
their love for flying and desire to preserve their own airplanes.

The only serious aviation accidents they had out there have involved
trespassers or idiot hotdoggers who violated the rules and tried to land at
night.

I've been wanting to attend, but the 10 hour drive has been a bit of a
barrier. The 1.5 hour flight, on the other hand, suddenly seems pretty
reasonable. Well, I've got a year to get ready.

If you have any questions about any of it from an aviator's perspective (ie,
non deadhead/raver/hippie/college partier), e-mail me at
and I'll help you. In 2005 a dozen friends and I
built the Star Castle and Infinite Improbability Root Beer Saloon and served
16 kegs of homemade rootbeer (free, of course) during the afternoons. I
ended up being too busy to make it out to the airstrip.

The aviation community has already planning for next year.

The 10 hour drive, by the way, is nothing. People return year after year
from all over the world and once you've walked through Black Rock City at
sunset, it's clear why. The -only- reason we didn't go this year is
because last year while we were there, my wife and decided after seven years
to take the next step in our life and have a child.

-c

"Sylvain" wrote in message
t...
http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...t/faq_air.html
...
That seems just a tad optimistic and misleading, IMO.

That the thing about the whole web site: it seems a tad optimistic.

It puts on the best face the way Disneyland.com would, but...

Imagine being in a temporary city where everybody is positive emphasis is on
self-reliance and helping others, there are no garbage cans because by and
large the people it attracts don't believe in litter, and there are no ATMs
or concession stands and the only things for sale are ice and coffee
(fundraiser for the local 4-H and a retirement community.)

The $250 ticket keeps out the fratboy riff-raff and Girls Gone Wild
mentality. The heat and dust keep out the casual tourists and wimps, the
police keep the crime well under control, and once you're there there's
nothing to buy, but people spend thousands, tens or hundreds of thousands of
dollars on art that has no place in the real world (largely because it's
pointy, metal, dangerous, shoots fire, etc.) There is no overall message,
agenda, religion, anti-religion, leader, or point: It's what you bring to
it, what you make it, and what you choose to take from it.

For instance, the part about camping out in the desert, in summer, with
a crowd of, shall we say, colorful characters,

I can't even tell you without sounding like some sort of gushy, preachy
born-again cultist idiot.

Here's the city from space. The airfield is on the lower end extending to
the northeast relative to the photo. The open area between the center (the
man) and the circular city is about a half-mile across.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2...-Rock-City.jpg


-c