"Craig Prouse" wrote in message
...
In article m,
"Maule Driver" wrote:

I've flown around Tucson and saw very little if any landable terrain.
If
man hasn't processed it, it's usually unlandable. That sparse desert
vegetation is more than tough.

I refer to the classic definition of a "good landing." The airplane
might not fly again, but as for my own skin I'd rather take my chances
with some rocks and scrub compared to the tree-covered mountains in
Oregon and N. California.

No doubt we glider guiders are looking to save the ship too. But rocks and
scrub that stop a wingtip or the nose present a real survivability problem.
I remember looking at the country between Hobbs NM and Carlsbad Caverns.
From high it just looked bumpy. On the ground, say goodbye...

Up there, the best option might be to find a clearcut and try to land
amongst the stumps and scrag. That would be about the same hazard as
landing in the desert provided that you can find a clearcut on
relatively level ground and not a hillside.

I was with you until you mentioned clearcuts. Clearcuts in the east I
consider unlandable and deadly. Totally random mixture of big debris and
immovable stumps. Deadly. Never seen a western one but I'm just imagining
bigger and more gnarly. I've seen enough eastern tree top 'landings' in
gliders and airplanes to consider that more classically survivable than a
clear cut.

Hmmm, I'm going have to go out and walk a clearcut.