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Landing on sand-bars

teeweed

GONE WEST
Hempstead, Texas
Brand new, at landing on anything other than a dirt road or grass air strip. Have some knowledge with limited experience. I have been shown how to, and what to look for in landing on river banks. My question. Is it legal? How much of a risk is it? The Brazos River, when the water level is down, has a few really nice spots. I have landed there several times and have really loved the area. I keep waiting for who ever owns the land to put an end to my fun. The river changes with each flood so if you where to try and locate owners at every sand bar, well it might take the fun right out of it. I would hate to have my plane taken. Thanks Mark
 
"It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission"

Just don't be a nuisance and avoid bars that have people already on them unless they are known friendlies. I have no idea what the regs are in TX for off airport operations, here in WA it is my understanding that riverbanks are public access up to the high water mark. So far, nobody around here has had any grief from the locals if they abide by the above.
Enjoy (and easy on the brakes)
Chris
 
If you land anywhere near the ocean, be sure to check the tide tables. Those bars can get real short real fast when the tide starts coming in. :oops:
 
Brazos River Authority owns the land. They outlawed four wheelers tec on the river banks but we got confirmation from way up that that did not include airplanes. Have it in writing somewhere.
 
Shouldda been at 8D1, Steve. These guys flew out to the sandbars, landed, and bar-b-q'd jalapeno poppers on the beach! And on one trip the owner came over and told everyone to bring tents next time!
 
Hopefully next year. Found out this weekend that a friend of mine from Lubbock sold your SC to CC several years ago.
 
Flew the Brazos this morning for several hours with a buddy. He didn't like the idea of landing on the sand bars. Might have had something to do with helping me hike the gear in several miles to fix my plane when I collapsed the gear a couple of years ago.
 
I take it you had safety cables when your gear failed? I still need to do that and shoulder harnesses. I landed this morning on the Brazos near Hempstead,Tx. There are alot of large sandy areas now that the river is down. Several broken beer bottles that could have spoiled my day, I was lucky. Dragging the landing areas only shows up the large stuff I quess insurance covers the rest.
I set a trot line the night before which yelded two soft shelled turtles and one 4 foot aligator garr. I was thinking catfish. I have a friend who says that the soft shelled turtles are great to eat and that I should have kept the garr and ate it. I never have. I might try it next week and I will be prepared to do some cleaning. Harvested some nice horns off a cow that had been dead I quess since the last time the river was up. The horns slipped right off. They still had a little smell but not bad. Not near as bad as the bate I left in the cub from the days before. My 26 inch goodyears look so small on the cub sitting out their on the sands of the Brazos. I have also found the best place to attach a vedio camera is up agaist the strut next to the jury strut. I had made a braket to attach my camera to the tail handle, I have given that up, to much vibration there and poor view. Mark
 
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