aloft
New Member
Just got back from 6 fun-filled days out in Minden, NV searching for Steve Fossett, thought some of you might be interested in what mountain SAR flying is like. I've attached a Google Earth .kmz file that will show you the GPS track from my flight Saturday afternoon in 3D.
The first portion of the flight was a departure out of the search base at Minden, then landing at a dirt strip in Dyers, CA to pick up part of a crew that had been stranded. Their aircraft had engine trouble so they set down at the dirt strip, which just happened to be owned by an A&P, who fixed their problem. The mission base decided to have the pilot fly the aircraft back to Minden solo, then have me pick up his crew and finish their grid assignment. That was my first takeoff and landing on a non-paved runway, the surface was more sand-like than dirt. Good times.
Once we were airborne we resumed searching the grid the crew had been assigned, which is the 15 minute x 15 minute area south and west of 118 deg W and 38 deg N. As you'll see in GE, the terrain was half flat valley at about 5,000 ft, and mountainous terrain with peaks above 14,000 ft. Most of the flying was drainage searches, flying down from the top at 1000 ft AGL and 90 kts. Maintaining those parameters required idle power and full flaps, which resulted in a descent rate in excess of 1500 fpm.
I wish I'd had my digital camera clipped to the glareshield so you could see how cool flying down those drainages was, but alas, you'll have to settle for this. The return leg isn't on there as the batteries in my GPS died just as we ceased our searching and started to head for Minden. (If you're wondering why we neglected the southern third or so , the crew had already covered that area pretty good with their other pilot.)
Just to give you an idea of the scope of the operation, we were but one of 12 CAP aircraft operating out of Minden; another 15 or so were operating out of Bishop, CA, in addition to Nevada National Guard helicopters and a C-130, and another dozen or so private helicopters and fixed wing aircraft funded by the Hiltons and Fossetts out of the Flying M Ranch.
[EDIT: Whoops, the .kmz extension isn't allowed...I'll add the file if a mod or somebody can add it as an accepted file type.]
The first portion of the flight was a departure out of the search base at Minden, then landing at a dirt strip in Dyers, CA to pick up part of a crew that had been stranded. Their aircraft had engine trouble so they set down at the dirt strip, which just happened to be owned by an A&P, who fixed their problem. The mission base decided to have the pilot fly the aircraft back to Minden solo, then have me pick up his crew and finish their grid assignment. That was my first takeoff and landing on a non-paved runway, the surface was more sand-like than dirt. Good times.
Once we were airborne we resumed searching the grid the crew had been assigned, which is the 15 minute x 15 minute area south and west of 118 deg W and 38 deg N. As you'll see in GE, the terrain was half flat valley at about 5,000 ft, and mountainous terrain with peaks above 14,000 ft. Most of the flying was drainage searches, flying down from the top at 1000 ft AGL and 90 kts. Maintaining those parameters required idle power and full flaps, which resulted in a descent rate in excess of 1500 fpm.
I wish I'd had my digital camera clipped to the glareshield so you could see how cool flying down those drainages was, but alas, you'll have to settle for this. The return leg isn't on there as the batteries in my GPS died just as we ceased our searching and started to head for Minden. (If you're wondering why we neglected the southern third or so , the crew had already covered that area pretty good with their other pilot.)
Just to give you an idea of the scope of the operation, we were but one of 12 CAP aircraft operating out of Minden; another 15 or so were operating out of Bishop, CA, in addition to Nevada National Guard helicopters and a C-130, and another dozen or so private helicopters and fixed wing aircraft funded by the Hiltons and Fossetts out of the Flying M Ranch.
[EDIT: Whoops, the .kmz extension isn't allowed...I'll add the file if a mod or somebody can add it as an accepted file type.]
