Has anyone definite info on the legality of landing on back country roads, particularly on FS and BLM land? I've done it in the past... watch out for fence posts and ruts! It seems to be accepted practice in eastern Oregon and Nevada. However I was recently told it was illegal to land on state highways in Oregon; this also inludes the beaches as they are classified as highways in Oregon as that is the way Gov West claimed them for the public back about 1910.
Bob

Hi Bob,

I've read the Oregon laws and they say that it is illegal to land an airplane on any highway in the state. I checked on the state's definition of highway and it includes all roads.

As far as USFS land, you must get permission from the "controlling agency" unless it is a designated airstrip. I've gotten permission from several forest managers including the Deschutes, Ochoco, and Umitilla. What I did was call the forest headquarters and ask whoever is working at the desk. They've always said they would have to ask around and call me back. I've gotten an OK every time I've asked.

On BLM land, the Central Oregon office says "Do whatever you want. Don't hurt anyone or start a wild fire" A permit is only required for groups of over 50 people, events where admission is charged, or for profit ventures. We often use dry lake beds and sometimes have as many as 35 powered parachutes and 45 people camping and flying from a dry lake bed.

Q (Bend)

I have landed at Fields, OR. There is an old airstrip there, besides the road. It is east of the settlement and if I recall rightly, is aligned east and west.
For the most part, no one seems to care about aircraft using back country roads. I have asked around, including OR and NV state police officers. Off the record, none said they would write a citation for landing on a road. The NV officer said he knew of several places where the paved highway was the accepted town aiport.
I think, "don't ask don't tell" is probably the accepted practice. A motor vehicle is a motor vehicle... how it got on the road really does't matter.

A couple years ago, I followed a friend of mine & we flew from Priest River Idaho up the Clark Fork River to Noxon Montana (35-40 miles SE of Sandpoint) for lunch. We landed on an old railroad grade dirt road right in town. Standard practice to do so-- for a wind check, there's a sock mounted atop the adjacent tavern. My friend had to do a last minute go-around cuz some nitwit in a 4WD whipped off the highway & down the RR grade right in front of him-- yeehaw!
Landing on that road between the highway & the river was the high point of my trip.

Eric

One thing about the Oregon statute is that it says it's illegal to land an airplane on any highway, but it doesn't say it's illegal to take off. It's pretty easy to spot a cop from the air before landing. I doubt that a rural county sheriff knows the law anyway.

I can't remember if I posted this here before or not but I called the Oregon State Police a few weeks ago to ask if I might get a ticket for taking off from a local chain-up area on the road to our local ski area (Mt. Bachelor). The lady said she didn't think it would be a problem but would have someone call me back. A guy from the Department of Transportation called me back and said that while he couldn't give me a specific OK to use the chain up area as a runway, he didn't know of any law against it.



Q

Q,

Was that in your Powered Parachute? That is hilarious! On Cascade Lakes Hwy?

Z

Was that in your Powered Parachute? That is hilarious! On Cascade Lakes Hwy?

Yes, with the PPC.

I've used Winoga Snow Park (near Mt. B) before but it's a little tight for takeoff even for a PPC. Plenty of landing room though. We generally use a forest service road when we want to fly around the Three Sisters and Mt. B but they close it during the winter for wildlife habitat.

Another place we use as a runway is the shore of Wickiup Reservoir when the water is low.

Q

That is really cool. What kind of takeoff performance can you expect at that elevation? Is yours a 1 or 2-seat?

For those who don't know, a powered parachute is a cockpit/pod with tricycle gear made from tubing, usually a Rotax engine in a pusher configuration, and a paraglider wing.

Z

Zane,

At 5000' I can usually get off the ground in around 150'. My machine was a 2 place but I just finished rebuilding it into a single place that meets part 103 ultralight specs. Didn't want to hassle with $port Pilot.

Here's a pic I took last summer while flying with my friend Harv near Brokentop, with the Sisters in the background and Green Lake below in the shaddows.

Q

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Road landings:
Don't ask.
Don't let anybody see you.
If someone does see you and asks you why, mumble something about "the engine sounded funny".
Don't screw it up for the rest of us!
In this age of cell phones..... its a whole different deal then in the past, a quick 911 call by a well meaning citizen could bring the news media, police, and other unwanted attention. Most non flyers can't begin to comprehend that yes we can land on roads pretty much anytime we want, and its no big deal. Recently Dell Montana (the road by the schoolhouse cafe) was shut down due in part by some Super Cub pilot taking off and prop blasting a car with gravel. The local sheriff reluctantly stated he was going to start ticketing pilots caught doing it. Too bad, it was a great deal for a lot of years, but no more.
Courierguy

A very close friend of mine (Zip Franklin) departed from the Lovington Airport in his Super Viking to run to San Angelo, Texas to visit one of his sons. Zip always took his "constitutional" before each flight, but this morning he was in a hurry and besides he would be in San Angelo in less than an hour anyway. Well things did'nt go as planned (do they ever?) as when Zip got to Angelo there was an unexpected fog bank over the city! He flew back and forth along the fog bank looking for a way to get thru when Mother Nature came calling. Zip always came prepared with any thing from vienna sausages to tolet paper on each trip (every plane he owned, which was several had a box of "supplies" in it). As he was flying to and fro he kept looking at a Paved County Road that was perfect for landing on. It even had a turn out for a lease road where he could park the Viking. No cars in sight, Power back, Gear down, Flaps down, made an uneventful landing and grabbed that tolet paper! When the "deed" was done out in the mesquite bushes, he headed back to the Viking only to find one of "Texas Finest" parked by the plane. Mister are you having trouble? Its against the Law to land on public roads! You can only land on public roads in an "EMERGENCY"! Zip was standing there with a large roll of tolet paper in one hand trying to think of some excuse that would satisfy the State Trooper and said "you're not going to believe this but I had to go the the bathroom so bad that the pain was killing me and well this road was here and the tolet paper was there and here am I"! The Policeman laughed long and hard and replied " Mister if thats not an emergency I don't know what one is"! How much room do you need to take off and I will go block traffic.

Ed C-140 0-290-D

hahahaha. that is one of my biggest fears actually. having that kind of emergency enroute or shortly after takeoff, i'm afraid my judgment would suffer and i would be forced to do something similar. great story Ed.

zane

Noticed there hadn't been much comment about this recently . In my early aviation career(early-mid 1960') I landed rarely on paved surfaces. My boss told me it was to save the tires. I worked for a Crop dusting service -Blue Mt. Avaition & Crop dusting in Walla Walla,Wash. -they operated a mix of Ag-Cats and whaterver else was avaiable(Streamans,Cubs<Supercubs ,N3N etc.) We had "soft field" tires much like the Alaskan Bushwheel of today. Large wheels with no tread and low air pressure. Only paved airport was back at Walla Walla regional . We took the loading trucks to the fields where it was close to the work and the aircraft landed there for fuel and chemicals. With mutlipal aircraft working at the same time dirt trail soon became "international airport" A "small" wheat ranch in southeastern Wash. was 2000 acres and most times much bigger -so finding a landing -operations strip was not a problem . Landing up hill and departing down hill became the norm. Low areas were to tested with a pickup or on motorcycle(about 40 mph will do) befor a airplane landed there. That is because if there is any erosion to the sufface it will be most pronanced in low area. If your flying out to the area and want to check where your stall will be for that weight-density altitude Level off about 1000 agl. Pull the nose up to stall-or just before it > note the airspeed indicator > add 10% to this figure and use this for your approach-final approach speed. This will give you a ball park figure to work with. Slower landing speeds will also save your brakes and wheels.
At slow airspeeds the RUDDER is the controling agency. Remember wings Level with nose up. When your very close to the ground (2-4 ft) hold what you've got and let airplane settle in. I use the spot method - Put a spot on my windshield -pick a spot about 200'ft short of where I want wheels to go to ground. I set my speed and put the spot > control the speed with the flight controls and the altitude with the power. Oh yes I have some "landing on Highway " events -most recently was Southern Oregon -Northern NV. Bill Reid

A young friend & I landed near Fields on the dirt road. No cars in sight...Untill, of course we were down, and blocking the narrow road with our wings! She & I muscled the 172 around so the tail stuck out beyond the edge of the road, and the surprised travelers & locals gawked as they crept by, as we looked and laughed.
As far as insta-potties: I keep some 1/2 gallon yogurt tubs w/ lids, in the back, and my wife uses 'em quite effectively for relief. I prefer to wait 'til on the ground, usually. They also make good barf bowls, if it comes to that.

The yogurt tub idea is hard to picture. How does one sit on that in an air plane? I carry one gallon zip loc bags for upset stomachs, never had to use one, but I sometimes wonder what it would look like hitting the ground.

Come to think of it, I would rather try to sit on the yogurt tub than the zip loc bag.

We don't have the fun terrain that you guys in the west do, but we can land any where. I don't think landing on a road here is an issue, but after the crops are off a field is a better choice than a road.

Bill

If your caught landing on public roads of any kind here it is usually up to the discretion of the law enforcement individual checking you. For the most part the general public is still in awe of aircraft and enjoy the opportunity to see one close up. If your cordial and willing to answer innocent questions about the aircraft most anyone would be willing to help you out.

On the other hand if you do something stupid with an arrogant attitude. The very least they could get you on is operating an unlicensed motor vehicle on a public roadway, careless operation if there was much traffic, lack of proper lighting, vehicle that exceeds width limits etc.

Best to pick a remote area with little or no traffic and be very nice if someone does drive up and don't park on the road you landed on.

Years ago I landed on the dirt road that goes by Fort Churchill. Walked over to the campground and had lunch with my ma and pa. When I returned to the plane (which I pushed into the bushes) there were three Lyon County Sheriff Deputies waiting for me. They ID'd me with my driver's license, didn't ask to see pilot's license, aircraft registration, or anything aircraft related. They were convinced that landing was illegal, but could not cite the particulars. They threatened to impound the plane, but after reasoning with them, they blocked the road and allowed me to take off. I thought that was the end of it but about 6 months later I got a subpoena in the mail. I ended up in court in Dayton, Nv. The Nv Revised Statute that I was charged with had to do with missing the scales in a 18 wheeler. Up to 6 months in jail and $10,000 fine. My lawyer plea bargained it down to "blocking a public road". $125 fine. I took it and ran. The feds don't care. The state doesn't care either. 3 Lyon County cops care. Anyhow, I still land on roads, dry lakes, etc but I'm a little more observant about who's watching. Next time, it will be because of an overheated engine............

Now I have to get rid of the mental picture of sombody trying to squat over a ziplock and still controlling the plane. Situational awareness.

Tim

Some years back I and my gf were taking an M5 Maule over to England the northern route. On top at 11000msl and looking for a hole to decend through to Glasgow Scotland, I spotted one over the airfield. As ATC cleared me down in 500ft increments circling this tight hole I got a sudden case of runs. Suli took the yoke, a plastic bag in a Ritz cracker box for strength and I perched on the seat for the deed. The stink was bad, the window was opened, the knotted bag had to go and we circled on down.
On landing, we were directed by a ramp attendant to the customs area, the customs man came out to look things over, the manager came out to welcome us, the gas truck came over and parked in front. I set the ladder, ascended and while pumping my fuel was looking at the side of the plane.....all covered in frozen s.... The gas man and all looked at me quizically, 'large birds up there' I said.
The stiff upper lip of my countrymen saved the day.

maules.com wrote:The stiff upper lip of my countrymen saved the day.

Possibly the funniest thing ever written on this website. I literally laughed out loud.