Calvert cliffs Sunday

[mcgowantk]

Hey Mark

Thanks for writing up your experience at Gary's Beach. I don't think your mistakes were as obvious or as significant as you described them.

Gary's Beach is a new site to us. We have not flown that site enough to worked out procedures for what to do in your situation. I like to remind new pilots that every site is different and needs to be flown in a manner that is appropriate for that site. Gary's Beach is an extreme example of that observation. No other site in our area is similar to it. I for one have not experienced those conditions and would likely have reacted too slowly as well. Your description will help greatly on my next flight there.

Landing in water is a big deal. However, landing downwind into the sand is a big deal too. Even though a couple of pilots have done that now and walked away from it, it doesn't mean it is a good option. Perhaps the wind on the beach is pretty much non-existent to there is no real down wind component. However,you can get hurt on sand too, and I know pilots who did not walk away from hard landings in sand. Given the choice, I would have brought around into the water there too, especially given the water is supposed to be relatively shallow.

Gary''s Beach is an intense site to fly. We launch off a low cliff in strong winds and have little time to react if we don't get up. I love that site but my adrenalin flows pretty hard when launching there. With luck, I will remember your experience and handle a similar situation as well as you did.

Take care

Tom McGowan