Smokey day at Copalis Beach

If you would like to share where you have flown to today (with pictures and/or stories), this is the new section to go to...
Post Reply
User avatar
TomD
100+ Posts
Posts: 1361
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:13 pm
Location: Seattle area ( S43 )
Contact:

Smokey day at Copalis Beach

Post by TomD »

Flew from S43 (Harvey) to S16 (Copalis beach) yesterday and the smoke was horrible.

Here is a video on the approach and landing on the beach. Check out the smoke in the area.

To answer questions in advance:

1. My degree is in the sciences not English, Smoky vs Smokey??

2. Yes I landed on the wet area on purpose. If you look at the furrow left by my tailwheel at the end of the clip you can see how soft the "damp" sand was just about two feet inshore from my mains.

https://vimeo.com/228436632

not sure how to imbed a video here.

TD

Kirk
100+ Posts
Posts: 725
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:07 pm
Location: KGCY
Contact:

Post by Kirk »

Video looked great! Not a person in sight. That's what we do this for.

Smoky is a description, Smokey is a name. Like Smokey the Bear or Smokey Mountains. But I am just a drop out from North Central Michigan College, home of the Fighting Ferrets.

Kirk

Mountain Doctor
100+ Posts
Posts: 1665
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:31 am
Contact:

Post by Mountain Doctor »

I love the video.

How do you determine the tides?
I am an AME in Richland, Washington. Please call for an appointment!

560 Gage Blvd.
Richland, WA 99352
(509) 628-2843

User avatar
TomD
100+ Posts
Posts: 1361
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:13 pm
Location: Seattle area ( S43 )
Contact:

Post by TomD »

Hi Bill.

There are a couple of sites that come up Googling "Copalis Beach Tide", but the one I like is
http://tides.willyweather.com/wa/grays- ... beach.html

since it gives a graphic that helps to figure the between tides height.

TD

Mountain Doctor
100+ Posts
Posts: 1665
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:31 am
Contact:

Post by Mountain Doctor »

Thanks Tom I'll have to remember that when I can make it out there sometime.
I am an AME in Richland, Washington. Please call for an appointment!

560 Gage Blvd.
Richland, WA 99352
(509) 628-2843

User avatar
ajak
100+ Posts
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 12:20 pm
Location: Wolf Lake, AK
Contact:

Post by ajak »

Nice! I'm just starting to get basic experience with beach landings myself, so getting to see/hear others' experiences is really helpful to me - looking forward to learning lots more.

A few random things I've managed to pick up so far for myself (including some jolting wake-me-up moments but happily no bad results...):

-Wet sand is harder than damp sand
-Damp sand is harder than dry sand
-The lower wet and damp sand strips are often lots smoother than the upper dry sand
-Gradual, wavy undulations in the dry sand are very hard to see from above
-Don't try to land in the dry sand :shock:
-Don't confuse wet beach sand with muddy tidal flat. Wet beach sand = good, muddy tidal flat = bad.

In my locale, taking the tides into account is important, as the tidal range is often 20+ ft. I've been having good luck with an app called AyeTidesXL- it shows easy-to-see tidal graphs for all tidal stations, and most important for me, can be used off-line.
AJ
1983 M-6-235
IO-540W1A5D, 81" Hartzell, 4" ext gear, 31" tires, Atlee exhaust, long wings, VGs, LED ldg/nav/strobes, EDM-900, CiES

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests