Yosemite LZ

[miguel]

A while back, there was a thread about landing/crashing in the Yosemite lz. Here is a recent pic of the lz. It is under water. In the summer, it dries out somewhat. The area, at the end, near the trees becomes mostly dry. The rest is swamp with islets of dry land.

The lz is not visible from launch. Many pilots sightsee and come into the lz low. They try to stretch the glide to dry land and come up short.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dJn7J7JtKmk/TAwtf4kCPzI/AAAAAAAAA14/Ie1Zt1WIJZU/s1600/IMG_0996.JPG

[Tad Eareckson]

Gotta register to see that photo. Haven't done that yet but did explore the lay of that land using Google Earth well enough to figure out which way was up.

Thanks. You may have just saved Zack the trouble of drying out and repacking his parachute.

P.S. 2012/07/17

By the time I got around to registering (2012/06/26) so I could see the photo it was no longer available. So miguel found something similar which I edited in above.

[miguel]

Check on lz conditions and layout with the site monitor at launch before launching. Ask where the best spot to land is.

Fly conservatively and arrive at the lz with enough altitude to evaluate the lz in a leisurely manner. You can see the progression of water to mud to dry land with careful observation. Pick your dry spot and hit it. Do not try to stretch the glide while prone at low altitude. The water is not deep. If you are going to get wet, flair hard and get wet. You have all afternoon to dry out.

[Tad Eareckson]

1. Pick a dry spot and land when the glider tells you to. If your shoes get wet your shoes get wet. Better than beaking and falling on your face - probably after you've gotten your shoes wet anyway and before you've cleared the swamp.

2. Do not EVER try to stretch a glide over anything less dangerous than a crocodile infested river or molten lava.

3. If you NEED to stretch a glide stay prone. You can go farther and bellying in will be a lot less dangerous than whatever it is you need to stretch your glide over.

[miguel]

1. Pick a dry spot and land when the glider tells you to. If your shoes get wet your shoes get wet. Better than beaking and falling on your face - probably after you've gotten your shoes wet anyway and before you've cleared the swamp.

You are not riding a cruise missile; You are the pilot in command. Exercise some control over the glider and pilot the glider to dry land.

2. Do not EVER try to stretch a glide over anything less dangerous than a crocodile infested river or molten lava.

True dat

3. If you NEED to stretch a glide stay prone. You can go farther and bellying in will be a lot less dangerous than whatever it is you need to stretch your glide over.

Staying prone and low is how the last two pilots got hurt. The terrain reached up and grabbed the basetube.
Bellying in is not a good option in lumpy terrain.

[Tad Eareckson]

You are the pilot in command.

Sorry, I was always too much of a total fuckup to ever consider myself worthy of that title. But I do know several pilots in command who've spent a lot more time in the hospital than I have - one of them a real righteous stuff carrier pilot dude.

Exercise some control over the glider and pilot the glider to dry land.

I'll try to exercise SOME control over the glider to get it to dry land - but I won't argue with it too much if it has other (and possibly better) ideas during the last five or ten seconds.

Staying prone and low is how the last two pilots got hurt.

I didn't say stay prone and low over the seasonal Leidig Meadow swamp. I said stay prone if you NEED to stretch a glide. And that swamp doesn't sound like you anything anyone really needs to stretch a glide over. Do whatever it is that's most likely to result in the least pain and/or bent aluminum for any given circumstance. But also try not to fly too often into a given circumstance in which not landing and staying on your feet is likely to result in significant pain and/or bent aluminum.