Maybe the difference in weather between west and east Sierras is that vast, but I landed in Fresno at about 1pm that day after following the western slopes, and there were zero clouds over the Sierra and zero wind at about 12,000 feet. The weather briefer gave me winds aloft over the Sierra to 20,000ft as L&V. Thats what I saw at that place time at that time.

I don't think there are any liars here, just some interesting weather phenomena and maybe some timing differences (we hit building cumulus at Gorman on the way into WHP taht day at about 3pm)

mr scout wrote:Where is Gump he was on the mountain that day

Does he know how to use a rocket launcher by chance?

...was the door found with the plane?

patrol guy wrote:...was the door found with the plane?

John,

Your not thinking he pulled the red lever and left are you?

Check the upper right corner of that photo above. Looks like chew marks to me. Perhaps canine?

C.

N131CP wrote:Maybe the difference in weather between west and east Sierras is that vast, but I landed in Fresno at about 1pm that day after following the western slopes, and there were zero clouds over the Sierra and zero wind at about 12,000 feet. The weather briefer gave me winds aloft over the Sierra to 20,000ft as L&V. Thats what I saw at that place time at that time.

I don't think there are any liars here, just some interesting weather phenomena and maybe some timing differences (we hit building cumulus at Gorman on the way into WHP taht day at about 3pm)

There is a vast difference in air flow from this side to yours, lots of days I get the crap bounced out of me over here and as soon as I cross over its fabulous. Not many smooth afternoons occur over here.

And as for Steve, well he didn't end up with a very good morning, weather related or not.

mr scout wrote:

N131CP wrote:I was flying down the west side of the Sierra's on the same morning he disappeared and it was one of the best flying days I've ever seen - light & variable to 20,000, 100 mile visability and nice fall temperatures.

I think your full of shit I was out that day getting the crap knocked out of us coming home from McDermit.

Ok well you did say west side, it sure wasn't nice over here. Gump was on one of the peaks he said he could hardly stand up.

Mr. Scout:
It was not "smooth as glass" at 9500ft on our trip from Yuba City to Battle Mountain but rather what I considered mild for mountain flying. We elected to fly the interstate between Lovelock and BM because we thought it might be a little rough as the crow flies between these two points. We flew this altitude all the way to Salt Lake #2 because it was about 65 Deg F and comfortable flying. Did not hear about Fossett until Wednesday back at home.
If it was kicking you ass coming accross, maybe it did him in.
HC

Skylane_Guy wrote:Check the upper right corner of that photo above. Looks like chew marks to me. Perhaps canine?

C.

I thought the exact same thing.....

I drug a dead horse off here a few years back, and went back by a month or so later, and everything was gone, no bones, hair, hide or anything...

Ma nature cleaned er up good.

I heard porkypines eat bones. Not sure if true.

58Skylane wrote:I heard porkypines eat bones. Not sure if true.

Porkies eat bark...... Dogs bark and eat bones

Here's the latest...

http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/30092434.html

The intrepid balloonist, pilot and all-around thrill-seeker was scouting locations for an attempt to break the land speed record in a rocket-propelled car.

Not too many places to drive a rocket propelled car in that area. Is there? What is the nearest airport to the crash site?

Lets talk grassy knoll here. What was his real destination?

Tim

Skylane_Guy wrote:Check the upper right corner of that photo above. Looks like chew marks to me. Perhaps canine?

C.

They look like they come from smallish teeth. Raccoon? Wolverine? Ferret? Paris Hilton?

Sounds like he definitely bought it. Unless they find a parachute buried near by.

mr scout wrote:Gump was on one of the peaks he said he could hardly stand up.

Not to sound like a broken record but...

I was out on the four-wheeler the day Fossett crashed, starting out early morning on the southwest corner of the Flying M Ranch, and worked my way up to the ridge tops between Bodie and Masonic by mid morning. The winds were howling, and along the ridgelines it was hard to stand. I am guessing steady winds pushing 50 KTS with gusts much higher. It was not a nice day to fly.

It was severe clear, and along the valley floors nice and calm, but as I started climbing the wind got nastier and nastier, which is a common occurence around here. Coming from a flying career in Arctic Alaska, I find this high desert country of central/northern Nevada to be just as tough, or many times even tougher to fly.

Gump

bumper wrote:For what it's worth, I too was flying my Husky in the early afternoon (12:30) on the day Steve went missing. We flew from Minden, about 102 miles north of the crash site, east to Sunrise Pass. An observer saw my plane descend into a canyon and, "not come out". This prompted both an air and ground search of Sunrise Pass! - - Even though I called CAP and told 'em it was me (go figure).

Anyway, at 12:30 conditions over the Pinenut mountains were not too bad, only light turbulance with winds about 15 knots or so and getting worse as the day wore on. In the lee of the Sierra, where the crash occurred, it could and probably was much more severe.

bumper

I live in a valley or two just west of the Hilton ranch. The morning he flew, the weather was good. That afternoon it did get windy. He was supposed to be back at the ranch for lunch and then leave for his home in Colorado. He wasn't looking for a lake bed for a land speed record. It's unimaginable how he, with his experience level, could fly into a mountain in the clear.

For the record, I was not flying in that area, or anywhere else at that time!

I live in a valley or two just west of the Hilton ranch. The morning he flew, the weather was good. That afternoon it did get windy. He was supposed to be back at the ranch for lunch and then leave for his home in Colorado. He wasn't looking for a lake bed for a land speed record. It's unimaginable how he, with his experience level, could fly into a mountain in the clear.[/quote]

We may never know what happened. Living and flying in Nevada, like other more challenging areas, I do know that Ma Nature can dish it out. Sometimes more than man or machine can handle. Consider:

Convective conditions. A strong thermal lifts off ahead of aircraft. As the bubble of hot air goes up, air rushes in from all directions creating a strong tailwind gust for our hapless plane, perhaps strong enough to stall the wing.

A small aircraft is flying next to sharply rising terrain. A strong thermal kicks off ahead of, but downslope of the aircraft. As the aircraft approaches, the wing furthest away from the slope enters the rapidly rising air of the thermal. This would be bad enough alone, but it gets worse as there is inrushing air from all directions filling the surface low pressure void created by the rising thermal. Below the thermal trigger point, this air is blowing upslope. But above the thermal trigger point, the inrushing air is flowing *downslope*. The aircraft wing nearest the slope enters this down flowing air at the same time it's other wing enters the upflowing air. This causes a strong rolling moment into the terrain that may well overpower the the aileron's ability to counter it. The phenomena is thought to have been a factor in several glider crashes that have taken some very experienced and capable pilots.

When I ridge soar, I keep the speed up and some distance from terrain if it's convective.

bumper

Skylane Guy wrote

Check the upper right corner of that photo above. Looks like chew marks to me. Perhaps canine?

Maybe its heat from a fire. Distorted the plastic.

Bill

I think he got one last record...... Shortest landing.