Burning Man and flying in

N2124v

N2124v

Line Up and Wait
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N2124V
Ok, fir some reason I have gotten the bug to go to Burning Man. I'm not sure if it is the challenge of planning for a week long camping trip in the desert, 1800 miles from home, looks like a cool event ( my wife is an artist type), or I've just lost it. Anyway, I was looking and it looks like they have a small airport set up on the playa. So here are my questions.
1. Has anyone been?
2. Worth it?
3. Is flying in really a viable option?

Tell me I'm crazy, but it sounds like it would be a heck of an adventure.
 
N2124v said:
Ok, fir some reason I have gotten the bug to go to Burning Man. I'm not sure if it is the challenge of planning for a week long camping trip in the desert, 1800 miles from home, looks like a cool event ( my wife is an artist type), or I've just lost it. Anyway, I was looking and it looks like they have a small airport set up on the playa. So here are my questions.
1. Has anyone been?
2. Worth it?
3. Is flying in really a viable option?

Tell me I'm crazy, but it sounds like it would be a heck of an adventure.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a blast. I looked into it once a few years back, and my concern was the wind and dust storms but don't know how common they are. I'll be reading the responses.
 
BM Tickets are rationed starting last year using a lotto. Don't know about the aviation aspect on getting in but if you land, you pay a fee whether you get in to BM or not. Might be costly to find out. It's a private runway, get permission in advance. I flew over, and around one year but didn't land cuz I'm cheap.
 
I flew into bm charter last year it was amazing. Do it.
 
Don't remember if it was here or another forum but I remember reading about a pilot who flew into BM and said his plane got absolutely trashed inside and out from sitting on the "ramp" with all the dust.

Planes that flew in then right out were not so much a problem.
 
Find someone who's flown their airplane in there. Ask how long it took them to get all that gritty Playa dust out of every nook and cranny of the airplane.

And if it rains ... :rolleyes2:
 
Pilawt said:
Find someone who's flown their airplane in there. Ask how long it took them to get all that gritty Playa dust out of every nook and cranny of the airplane.

And if it rains ... :rolleyes2:
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Beat me to it, THAT.

Hey, if there is any FBO that owes you money or something, nothing flies like a rental.
 
If you fly in, bring cowl plugs and covers for all the glass. Also get a roll of wide 3M blue tape to cover every opening and seam that you don't want sand/dust getting into. (Some of it is fine enough it'll find its way into your gyros) If you get lucky, your plane gets sandblasted and you get new paint and windows out of it.

It is really a hash environment for a plane, I would not take a plane I was fond of its condition there.
 
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What's more important a clean plane or drugs and sex?
 
I have spent some time at Black Rock Desert piloting a motorcycle streamliner (Tenacious) around 1982.

It is a very large dry lake with lots of places to land.

When it was too windy for the streamliner we would fly a Cessna 172 around that we were using as an air ambulance.

The nearest town is Gerlach, Nevada.

It is indeed a very harsh environment.

The dry lake was used during World War II as a USAAF aerial gunnery range and still has some large craters that are hard to see.

Dust storms are common and the dust is very abrasive.

I have never been to the Burning Man Festival but I have heard it is a lot of fun with revelry and artistic expression.
 
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Lots of information on the BM website on the operation of the airport and what goes on there during the event.
 
txflyer said:
Hippies, dust, drugs, and mud?



No thanks. :loco:
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I live in Austin so am surround by two out of four all the time.....

Now, if we could get a hold of that C182 that's been sitting on the ramp at 11R fly able, it looks like it could use a good sandblasting!
 
Vance Breese said:
I have spent some time at Black Rock Desert piloting a motorcycle streamliner (Tenacious) around 1982.

It is a very large dry lake with lots of places to land.

When it was too windy for the streamliner we would fly a Cessna 172 around that we were using as an air ambulance.

The nearest town is Gerlach, Nevada.

It is indeed a very harsh environment.

The dry lake was used during World War II as a USAAF aerial gunnery range and still has some large craters that are hard to see.

Dust storms are common and the dust is very abrasive.

I have never been to the Burning Man Festival but I have heard it is a lot of fun with revelry and artistic expression.
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Air ambulance in a 172 :goofy:
 
N2124v said:
I live in Austin so am surround by two out of four all the time.....

Now, if we could get a hold of that C182 that's been sitting on the ramp at 11R fly able, it looks like it could use a good sandblasting!
Click to expand...

The dust on the lake bed is very different from the topsoil dust you are used to. When the wind picks up, it's downright painful to be outside.
 
It's a good place to take a RENTED plane not your own plane.;)

I've heard horror stories of what that alkaline dust can do and where it gets into it and how difficult it is to clean. I wouldn't do it. Fly in close by and drive the rest of the way.
 
James331 said:
Air ambulance in a 172 :goofy:
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I had crashed the streamliner the time before and some of the people involved with the effort felt that being able to get me to a hospital in an hour in a 172 was better than two and a half hours by truck would be a safety improvement.

So they rented a Cessna 172.

I crashed the streamliner four times on this visit to Black Rock Desert.

All the safety equipment worked and I drove home so the air ambulance went unused.

When I race at Bonneville an ambulance is standing by for the two hour drive to Salt Lake city and a helicopter can be called in in about a about 45 minutes making the time from the upset to the hospital about an hour and a half.

Black Rock Desert is somewhat more remote and this was not a sanctioned event.
 
txflyer said:
Hippies, dust, drugs, and mud?

No thanks. :loco:
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Even the hippies are starting not to go. I have an acquaintance that let's just say he fits the stereotype and is actually a brilliant architect and helped build a lot of the large scale "art" for the event over the years...

He saw Elon Musk spend over a million bucks to have others transport in his "art car" whenever that was... last year, year before... I don't track these things... and posted that he's never going again.

It's a commercial event now. It's way outgrown what it started as.

As far as the airport... the online info doesn't point out that wearing clothing in the pattern, is optional. :)

I wouldn't subject the 182 to that dust/mess. I've seen videos from the same acquaintance when the dust storms come through during the event... no thanks.
 
You're a pilot and she's an artist. If you go to Burning Man, you better get some of these.
 
My brother flew our Cessna there last year, he loved it. Just remember it's easier to prevent dust than to remove it. If anyone from your area is driving in, convince them to haul some of your gear...
 
JasonM said:
You could not pay me to go hang out with all those wackos...
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I'd way rather hang out with people who aren't afraid to be who they are compared to the average semi religious, chase the Jones, agree with anything govt says, nutter types.


What if I told you spending the prime part of your life in a office, in a cube, just to make money to pay mortgage, car and credit bills generated by buying chit you don't need/couldn't buy outright, was a better definition of a wacko. :goofy:

Or better yet all the Fox News fans who will scorn the folks dancing and being active at burning man, because they took some shrooms and smoked some weed, all while they sit on their couch judging, while eating processed food and popping RX pills
Guess who lives a longer better life :dunno:
 
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The taxi areas are so soft you can get stuck.
 
James331 said:
I'd way rather hang out with people who aren't afraid to be who they are compared to the average semi religious, chase the Jones, agree with anything govt says, nutter types.


What if I told you spending the prime part of your life in a office, in a cube, just to make money to pay mortgage, car and credit bills generated by buying chit you don't need/couldn't buy outright, was a better definition of a wacko. :goofy:

Or better yet all the Fox News fans who will scorn the folks dancing and being active at burning man, because they took some shrooms and smoked some weed, all while they sit on their couch judging, while eating processed food and popping RX pills
Guess who lives a longer better life :dunno:
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You can hippy away all you want. Instead of burning joints and buildings, I will go burn some calories on the motocross track or maybe take a flight with the family and just sit back on a beach somewhere. Hanging out at that event is nothing my life needs, wants or aspires too. My brain and lungs hurt just watching the documentary on that place. Enjoy that life style!
 
Henning said:
Another thought is to Saran Wrap it.
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That's pretty brilliant. I'd consider that if I were going, and I have thought about it...

EDIT: As hot as it gets there...I wonder if the wrap would melt and stick to things and cause general chaos.
 
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bullwinkle said:
That's pretty brilliant. I'd consider that if I were going, and I have thought about it...

EDIT: As hot as it gets there...I wonder if the wrap would melt and stick to things and cause general chaos.
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Not in my experience. I have used the stuff to protect deck loads in extreme heat conditions and never had an issue with it.
 
Henning said:
Not in my experience. I have used the stuff to protect deck loads in extreme heat conditions and never had an issue with it.
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I think it'd take at least 250 degrees to melt saran wrap. Not sure how much it would take but I think it'd work quite well. Probably 400 sq ft to cover the wings with one coat on a typical GA airplane. 1000 would probably do the whole plane. More if you wanted a lot of overlap.
 
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N2124v said:
I live in Austin so am surround by two out of four all the time.....

Now, if we could get a hold of that C182 that's been sitting on the ramp at 11R fly able, it looks like it could use a good sandblasting!
Click to expand...



If you're talking about the 172 that was a drug bust airplane, it sold for I think $8500.00 just this past weekend.

The logs are incomplete, the prop is un-airworthy, and it's been sitting outside for more than a year on three flat tires. And it has the undesirable 'H' engine or whatever engine it is that you don't want in a 172 according to our A&P.

But yeah, it landed here full of pot, and I guess it could fly to BM full of pot ... :lol:
 
JasonM said:
You can hippy away all you want. Instead of burning joints and buildings, I will go burn some calories on the motocross track or maybe take a flight with the family and just sit back on a beach somewhere. Hanging out at that event is nothing my life needs, wants or aspires too. My brain and lungs hurt just watching the documentary on that place. Enjoy that life style!
Click to expand...

Hippy, not even close.

It's cool if you're not into it, just down put down people who are, there isn't a single thing wrong with folks getting their burning man on.
 
jesse said:
I think it'd take at least 250 degrees to melt saran wrap. Not sure how much it would take but I think it'd work quite well. Probably 400 sq ft to cover the wings with one coat on a typical GA airplane. 1000 would probably do the whole plane. More if you wanted a lot of overlap.
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Probably go to Office Depot or some shipping goods store and get a roll of the big wide stuff used as pallet wrap, it's slightly heavier gauge as well.
 
James331 said:
Hippy, not even close.

It's cool if you're not into it, just down put down people who are, there isn't a single thing wrong with folks getting their burning man on.
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I haven't been since the first 2 years, I'd like to get back and see what it's turned into. Some friends are yay, some are nay, wouldn't mind seeing for myself. I'd call it more neoBohemian than hippie.
 
bullwinkle said:
That's pretty brilliant. I'd consider that if I were going, and I have thought about it...

EDIT: As hot as it gets there...I wonder if the wrap would melt and stick to things and cause general chaos.
Click to expand...

I too have thought about attending just once in my life.... Maybe next year, altho I heard ticket prices are astronomical...

The Saran Wrap is a GREAT idea and unless I hear of a better one.. That will be my method of cocooning my plane.... :yes:
 
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