A big thank you to all of those that came from around the planet! We had Israel, Check, Aussi, China, Japan and so many more! Over 2000 people, 4-500 planes (guessing) and 3 incidents. 1 ground loop, 1 flip over on a Mtn top and the parachute moto tow (Darwin takes over). All of our controllers crushed it! So thankful for them and there continued efforts to increase the safety aspect! Here's a few of my favorite photos starting to pop up.



AKT


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No photos , But a big shout out of Thanks man for what y’all are doing for our passion. Aviation is still very interesting to the masses. I see it all the time in my travels in the south. Can’t go anywhere but what people don’t know about you guys on the West Coast keep up the good work

Good job, Kevin! That’s an excellent job of coordinating if those are all the oopses, and minor at that. This gets any bigger, you may have to rent Bonneville.....

MTV

Kinda has that “Burning man for airplanes” look to it.....[emoji41]

I like!!!


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No photos. I was way to busy getting drunk...... you know for Kevin’s birthday and all. It was awesome seeing old friends!

Wow, thanks for the pics!

Another good time in the desert! I am about 1/2 way through cleaning up all the playa dust. Here's some of my pics:

Sierra Victor wrote:Kinda has that “Burning man for airplanes” look to it.....[emoji41]

I like!!!

My (83 yo) father asked me last week if I was going to go to "Burning Plane"

Yes, Dad. But we would prefer you use the term "Flying Man"


good times out there on the playa

repeat post.. my bad

Kevin, are those times for a 3/4 mile course?

Pierre

Great photos, Alex! Thanks for posting!

Fantastic shots Alex!

Hey I know this Cub! It used to live in northern Minnesota.

Kevin-

Awesome job, awesome event. I can't believe its taken me so long to get there. I saw the Parasail accident... can still see it in my minds eye. Later I wandered over there and almost talked to you, but you were crazy busy getting the Helicopter vectored in.

This is My Bonanza thinking of growing up to be a Backcountry airplane.

gunny

https://youtu.be/yYAbHeFi7ek

Getting there and getting home was almost as much fun as being on the playa. That is certainly true for my time there on Saturday when the blowing dust kept me in my tent reading about sailing...

Here's some more shots of my journey

Clouds over the Olympic Mountains of Washington as I started my trip


Mount St. Helens with Mt Adams peeking over her shoulder. Note that there isn't much snow on Adams


Willamette National Forest in Oregon


Sisters and Clear Lake


Old volcanos


Landing at a nearly empty Dead Cow on Tuesday, 10/15


Campsite surrounded by - nothing!


My campsite 3 days later. Yes, there was noise from generators, burning man cars, AWD toys and drunken conversations most of the night. It's all part of the package.


Some other planes and cool campsites:





















And my flight home. Heavy turbulence around Summer Lake between Lakeview and Prineville


Terrain North of Madras


Fruit trees approaching Hood River


Landing Hood River where I stayed for 2 days waiting out weather:


Once weather let me get going again, I had some REALLY strong winds in the Columbia River Gorge - 40 knots+ on the nose. I was doing 110 knots through the air when I took this picture. 54 knots over the ground!


Mount Adams after the storms - look at all the new snow!


Fall colors near home


I enjoyed myself at this event, and honestly believe the High Sierra Fly-In is doing a GREAT job of getting young people interested in aviation. That said, this was probably my last visit. Overall, there was just too much non-aviation noise and bright lights on the playa at night for my tastes, I'll probably shift my future desert aviation events to quieter gatherings on the Alvord Desert where I can enjoy the night sky with a smaller number of just aviation folks. I won't be doing much to promote aviation to a new generation of potential pilots, but the High Sierra seems to have that task well in hand. Congratulations on a wildly successful event from that perspective, and thanks for all the safety improvements Quinn and company have made since I was last there in 2015. It really is a remarkable achievement.

Couple pics from my trip:
Gratuitous Grumpy shot

View over Pyramid Lake

Saturday afternoon, we sat in the plane since the tent was too noisy

I've been nudging my girlfriend to get her PPL so I can nap in the plane. Her first small plane ride with not me was a loop around the lake with Cathy in the race Piper - Thanks Cathy!


Great event, what a hoot! Put 14 hours on the Pacer all said, had some squirrely winds on the way down and dodged some decent weather on the way back north.
First timer, so I ended up camping in the back 40 a bit as that's the first open spot against the shore I saw Thursday morning. That's more my style anyhow, a bit quieter if a bit further from the outhouses.
Well orchestrated event, was easy to get in and out thanks to the controllers and planning committee. I agree with Flyhound - this event(and the footage from it) probably does more to promote aviation with the younger crowd than anything else I've encountered. Very cool.

We had a great trip out to HSF this year. My brother in law and I flew out from San Antonio meeting up with 2 friends in their 182 from Little Rock along the way. We camped the first night at Happy Canyon in Utah. The next day I got a flat at Angel Point, the quickest and easiest option for me to get up and running again was to grab some 6.00x6 tubes and tires in Moab (big thanks to Red Tail Aviation for letting me borrow a jack and tools). The next day we stopped at Smith Creek hot springs for a backcountry bath then into Fallon to check out our friend Justin’s new place on a private strip. Then into Deadcow to see old friends and meet some new ones. On Saturday we left early due to the weather and stayed at Justin’s place again. The next day we took off early and had awesome tailwinds up high (70mph at one point) for most of the 1400 miles back to Texas.

Another truly awesome HSF, I can't thank Kevin and his elves enough. I am always intimidated by the sheer numbers, but its a tight ship. The Airboss crew really make it safer. Thanks Ryan. Anyone who is hesitating to go should go. Great location, cool panes and super friendly pilots. My annual aviation highlight, and this year was the best yet for me.

I took a week to get there, Cle Ulum, Johnson Creek, Thomas Creek, Nampa, Alvord, Denio, Truckee and three days struggling home. All well worth the effort.

And that tailwind Rob enjoyed was on my nose. Last 157 miles took 3.2 hours.