Funny, you guys take for granted Landing on beaches at will in the Western U.S. and the Pilot's on the East Coast are regulated to death. Living in Coastal South Carolina for over ten years, Ive been a pilot for as many years. Many stretches of barrier islands, Beaches and remote inlets, sand bars.

Even though we are far from the wilderness of the west. South Carolina has vast stretches of National Forest lands and remote Coastal area. Along with the often hot and humid temp's of the summer bringing sizable density altitude numbers, there are numerous backcountry aircraft and a fair amount of challenging airstrips. One thing that always bothered me, is a state ordinance banning motor vehicles from the beaches.

Anyone have any beach landing spots or landings on the East Coast?

Here in Montana all shoreline below the high water mark is public, as is all water. You don't have similar laws there?

"Public" does not necessarily imply you can land an airplane on it legally, in Montana or elsewhere.

MTV

I have learned from reading posts on this forum that if you inquire about beach or other off airport landings on public property try asking the question, "Which law would I be breaking to land an aircraft on the beach? " Try it on each of the government agencies involved. Rather than asking permission which requires some subordinate official to give their stamp of approval and risk their pay grade.

You would probably have to take some time to find it, but I believe there's been discussions about beaches landings on a thread somewhere here. Even some talk about landing spots on the east coast of Florida.

One thing that always bothered me, is a state ordinance banning motor vehicles from the beaches.

Not sure about now but I remember my dad taking me to a service station in Maryland in 1966. The guys there were splitting rims and making them wider for fat tires to put on Jeeps so they could surf fish on the Atlantic beach's.

so they could surf fish on the Atlantic beach's.

Surf fishing on the beaches of the NC Outer Banks is a traditional pastime in which I have often partaken. Beach driving areas have been changing somewhat over the past few years due to concerns about the piping plovers, sea turtles, and probably some other critters. As you can imagine it's been a pretty contentious argument.

In spite of this I know folks who have had Park Rangers threaten to impound their aircraft after landing on one of the remote beaches. I don't know what kind of trouble you'd have if something like carb ice forced a precautionary landing, but I've heard people consider it...

RDUStinson wrote:

so they could surf fish on the Atlantic beach's.

Surf fishing on the beaches of the NC Outer Banks is a traditional pastime in which I have often partaken. Beach driving areas have been changing somewhat over the past few years due to concerns about the piping plovers, sea turtles, and probably some other critters. As you can imagine it's been a pretty contentious argument.

In spite of this I know folks who have had Park Rangers threaten to impound their aircraft after landing on one of the remote beaches. I don't know what kind of trouble you'd have if something like carb ice forced a precautionary landing, but I've heard people consider it...

Yes, flying from CHS to JAX is about 1.7 hours on a good day in a Cessna 150. The most direct route never takes me more than 1.5 miles off the coast when flying what i call the "armpit" of the South East. Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, Brunswick, and Jax. I have often thought about the "possibility" of a precautionary landing. However, I have always been a renter. In my opinion my Short/soft field landings are better than average of the east coast guys i see around the local airport. Been known to land in cub strips, and land short of a lot of runways intersections, less than 150ft.

I have never landed on the beach, but a "precautionary" landing for carb ice might be in order. However if I were ever caught, fines might coming my way regardless of the circumstances. Sad but true.

To my knowledge, there is only 1 legally landable beach on the west coast of the lower 48, and that is Copalis, WA.

I have never landed on the beach

My big concern would be knowing the condition of the sand beforehand. There are a few beaches I know of (just south of Wilmington for example) on which the sand is always nice and hard packed. Others change dramatically and unpredictably. What appears to be hard packed sand could just be soft muck that could suck your tires in and flip you on your back. Surely that's far less of a concern with tundra tires, but it's sure tough to tell without walking it (or dragging a wheel?) beforehand...

I completed a miniMax kit (my first taildragger), powered with a 28 hp Rotax 277, in 1996 and kept it hangared at St. Augustine airport (KSGJ). I often flew it very early in the morning or late in the afternoons (before and after work). Anastasia Island State Park was only 3-4 miles south along the coast. It has a great beach, wide and flat with hard packed sand. I'd land my miniMax there quite often (early in the morning before anyone else was out). It was a blast, and some of the most fun flying I've done yet. I'm sure it's against the law, and the beach is probably more crowded now than back then, but you might get away with it. Good luck.

Zane wrote:To my knowledge, there is only 1 legally landable beach on the west coast of the lower 48, and that is Copalis, WA.

Last Summer there was a guy (who might resemble a fellow that visits here once in a while) giving rides (to relatives) from the beach at Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border in a Cessna 180. It was in the Fish Haven area. Courierguy has some photos somewhere around here of a similar beachline runway.

There are still a few freedoms afforded folks out West....you can count them on two hands now, but they exist-

That said, I have no clue if its legal or not. I'd land there until someone kicked me off

CG?

When I landed there, 4-wheeler's and dirt bike tracks (2 wheelers) were everywhere. So, nothing against motorized vehicles on the shoreline I figured. From there it was a short leap to figuring my three wheeler shouldn't be a problem. Then, I looked for a spot so remote from others that even the most litiguos (?? that isn't right, sue happy is what I meant) A-hole couldn't say I was causing a problem. After all that, I didn't let down my guard. I didn't stay long, and if anyone or thing started to approach I'd have hit the road, so to speak. I need to check it out on skis this winter.....

From what I have been told; there are no places to legally land on the beach. However, if you are interested in visiting the beach with your plane, there are at least two options here in the outer banks of NC. One is Billy Mitchell field (can't remember the identifier) at Hatteras and the other is Ocrakoke Island. Both have paved airstrips that are right on the beach. The latter is my favorite as it it affords the easiest access to the beach. Just tie your plane down and walk a short distance and you are at one of the best beaches in the country. Both are close to camp sites which makes overnight stays far cheaper than what you pay for lodging in the summer. wind can be a problem on the beach, even on these rather lengthy runways. Mitchell field has a worn out wind sock obscured by a sand dune so its impossible to judge surface winds. I look for kids flying kites to see what the winds are doing. There can be lots of traffic on nice weekends too. If you visit during the week or before/after peek tourist season, it's very quiet and secluded.

SixTwoLeemer wrote:That said, I have no clue if its legal or not. I'd land there until someone kicked me off

'Tis better to do and beg forgiveness than to ask permission and be told NO.

Just don't do it like this:

courierguy wrote:When I landed there, 4-wheeler's and dirt bike tracks (2 wheelers) were everywhere. So, nothing against motorized vehicles on the shoreline I figured. From there it was a short leap to figuring my three wheeler shouldn't be a problem. Then, I looked for a spot so remote from others that even the most litiguos (?? that isn't right, sue happy is what I meant) A-hole couldn't say I was causing a problem. After all that, I didn't let down my guard. I didn't stay long, and if anyone or thing started to approach I'd have hit the road, so to speak. I need to check it out on skis this winter.....

Well, I inspired myself to check out whether or not Bear Lake freezes over, the answer is sort of.
I wanted to make sure I landed on the beach, so I landed near this gazebo thing on the assumption that it was on the sand. Not many people on the beach yesterday!

Thanks for the recon beta CG- you really should get out and explore sometime...

On the way back from Bear Lake I saw some ski plane tracks in this field, taxing right up to a truck stop. It looks like the pilot parked, after getting as close as possible to the parking lot so he wouldn't have to get his snowshoes out, went in and had breakfast, probably 2 eggs over hard, wheat toast, hash browns and coffee, just guessing, and then resumed flying. I'm not real sure if you'll be able to see the tracks.........

courierguy wrote:On the way back from Bear Lake I saw some ski plane tracks in this field, taxing right up to a truck stop. It looks like the pilot parked, after getting as close as possible to the parking lot so he wouldn't have to get his snowshoes out, went in and had breakfast, probably 2 eggs over hard, wheat toast, hash browns and coffee, just guessing, and then resumed flying. I'm not real sure if you'll be able to see the tracks.........

Dang, you're good or I'm screwed up. I looked real close, blew the picture up some, and from the tracks figured that pilot must of had an omlet.