Yesterday, between 12:30 PM and 1:45 we had seven aircraft pass between West Towers and Kagel on approach to Burbank. Since altitudes were pretty good, many of these were even or below. I spent a large portion of my flight craning my neck around looking for traffic. At Mt Lukens I had two more aircraft encounters. One of these did a few laps around me but left plenty of room. The other came within a few hundred yards and flew straight toward Burbank. Then there was the Mylar party balloon encounter at Little T. If you watch the video in 720p and full screen it will give an idea of the distance. This was not the closest encounter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWB0zExShNQ
Please keep you eyes peeled and fly with a working 2-meter radio in order to alert others and stay informed.
Reminder to watch for air traffic
Thanks for the reminder Jonathan. You make a good point, and it is easy to forget that we fly in some of the busiest open airspace on the planet.
A story, for those who are interested:
Many years ago, I was flying from Horseshoe. There had only been a couple of pilots on launch, and I was ahead of all of them. As I passed Gunter, I saw a glider on the ground. Presumably he launched from Gunter. I didn't see another glider (or any other aircraft) for the next couple of hours and 70+ miles. Heck, I don't think I even saw a bird!
Near 7:30 pm, as I set up my landing approach, I heard from my driver on the radio - "Watch out, there's a glider in your appoach path!" I looked, saw, and avoided. This guy had been on long-final from way out, and just flew straight into my approach path without any setup at all. Because he was behind my path to the LZ, I didn't see him. Because I was near Luning NV, in the middle of nowhere, I wasn't looking enough. Obviously, we avoided each other, but we could easily have had a mid-air at 50 feet in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Go figure. The air is never as empty as you think it is.
On a side note: The guy landed on the other side of the road from me. A white van pulled up, and three guys got out. They broke him down in under 4 minutes, and they were gone within 6. I never saw the van before or since. They never talked to us, or as far as I could tell even looked at us. Cue the Twilight Zone music here....
A story, for those who are interested:
Many years ago, I was flying from Horseshoe. There had only been a couple of pilots on launch, and I was ahead of all of them. As I passed Gunter, I saw a glider on the ground. Presumably he launched from Gunter. I didn't see another glider (or any other aircraft) for the next couple of hours and 70+ miles. Heck, I don't think I even saw a bird!
Near 7:30 pm, as I set up my landing approach, I heard from my driver on the radio - "Watch out, there's a glider in your appoach path!" I looked, saw, and avoided. This guy had been on long-final from way out, and just flew straight into my approach path without any setup at all. Because he was behind my path to the LZ, I didn't see him. Because I was near Luning NV, in the middle of nowhere, I wasn't looking enough. Obviously, we avoided each other, but we could easily have had a mid-air at 50 feet in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Go figure. The air is never as empty as you think it is.On a side note: The guy landed on the other side of the road from me. A white van pulled up, and three guys got out. They broke him down in under 4 minutes, and they were gone within 6. I never saw the van before or since. They never talked to us, or as far as I could tell even looked at us. Cue the Twilight Zone music here....
Fly High; Fly Far; Fly Safe -- George