Plowshare bailout LZ is officially closed

[John Fritsche]

After landing in the "bailout" LZ at Plowshare last Saturday (the nice big one closest to launch, where we typically land if we don't go XC), James Zender and I were confronted by one of the landowners. He was fairly cool and mellow about telling us not to land there. Here's what I can remember: they don't want us landing there, and the rancher who leases our LZ as pasture for his cattle doesn't want us landing there either. The rancher, we were told, is supposedly more hostile when confronting pilots. Fortunately we didn't get a visit from that guy Saturday. The guy who scolded us suggested contacting his brother to see if we could work something out. His brother must be the principal landowner or manager of the property. His name is something like "Rickert" and he has a realty office/company in Santa Barbara. Does that name ring a bell with any of you SB folks?
They are primarily paranoid about liability.....you know, one of us crashing there or getting attacked by a bull after landing, and then we or our families sue. Maybe they would feel better if they saw the waiver we sign as USHPA members and a copy of that state law which states recreational users can't sue a landowner who's not charging for use of his land.
Anyway, until and/or if something is worked out with these people, be aware that it is not cool to land in the traditional LZ. If you risk it, get out of there ASAP and be prepared to catch some flak. That was kind of a bummer after an hour of boating around 1,000 to 2,000 over launch. If somebody recognizes that landowner's name and wants to begin the process of approaching him, cool. I'm willing to help; I just need to know who to call.

[Lew Riffle]

I beleive the family is Rickard(sic). old Santa Barbara Family....they own the Spanish Ranch....father was a Mayor in Santa Barbara I believe a way long time ago. LEW

[Tony de Groot]

That's a bummer. We'll have to talk with some of the other locals up there, John H. and Jeff Stevens and make a plan to talk with the land owners. I spoke earlier with John Hesch about some other areas nearby that are Forestry lands that were acquired not too long ago and they are in a more downwind area that maybe should be the new designated landing area.
Tony dg

[zippy]

just sent USHPA a request for their new site procurement/ preservation packet.

should have plenty of friendly ammo to make them feel warm and fuzzy.

Zip

[John Hesch]

Five or so years ago, the California Land Conservancy acquired property which encompasses the "Big LZ" area in front of launch at Plowshare. That same purchase acquired property in the area of the "gap", on the north side of Highway 166, which runs north all the way to Soda Lake. The land was subsequently turned over to the California Department of fish and game, which in my mind makes it public property(but I've been wrong once or twice before;-). While breaking down my glider in the "Big LZ" shortly after the state's acquisition, I was approached by a couple of Fish and Game wardens who questioned my activity. After explaining what we do and our need for a landing area nearby to launch, they eased up, but wouldn't give permission at that time for using the property as it was very recent after the acquisition and they were still in the planning stages for the property.

One of the first activities on this newly acquired property was to install a new barbed wire fence line, set back from the one by the highway by a short distance. Some of you may have seen this, and it's a good identifier of the "public" land areas. I had obtained the name of a staff member as a contact for questions regarding the property and had several discussions with him over the next year or two. There was a potential south-facing launch site that I wanted to try to obtain access to but it never came to fruition and I lost interest.

This property provides abundant landing opportunities, both in front of launch and down-range, that are not on private land. Anyone interested in defining which areas are state-owned can scrutinize the map found on the website below. Hope this helps.

http://imaps.dfg.ca.gov/viewers/dfg_properties/app.asp

[John Hesch]

PS, I just tried the link and found that it brings up the whole state. Just center the crosshair over the site on the map that is obviously Cuyama valley and click to zoom in.

[Tony de Groot]

Thanks John for responding and helping out. I was wondering if we could mark the area somehow so that newer pilots could see, at least the closest good spot from the air. I know that everyone that flies really wants to land in the appropriate place if only they could identify where that is exactly. I'm thinking just some colored rocks in the corners of the right field would be good enough. Then, maybe, someone who is designated can approach the other old main LZ ranchers and show them Zippy's warm and fuzzy forms and tell them we will avoid there area as much as possible, we will even pick a new main landing area, but that, if it's o.k., we could still use there land as an emergency landing area if pilots can't make the other, new, main LZ.

I think showing Zippy's paperwork to the forestry people wouldn't be a bad idea either. Maybe ask them if we could put some marked rocks that we could see from the air in the corners of one, or preferably more allowable landing areas.
Tony dg

[Lew Riffle]

Possibly going on here is that the DFG has leased the land back to grazing. Yes they can do that. Talk with Jim Rickard....rickardrealty.com...his office is on upper state just above the El Prato Inn. LEW

[John Hesch]

I'm not too hot on the idea of putting piles of painted rocks out there. To be of any use, they would have to be quite large, in order to be seen while a pilot is still high enough to make changes to the flight plan which can be a challenge there at times. The US Forest Service doesn't control this property so they wouldn't be the appropriate folks to talk to this time. We've been through similar situations in the past. Sometimes the less said, the better. As little as this site gets flown, I think that it should be relatively easy to learn the locations of the "public" land areas, and use them. I'll be happy to give more info or point out the locations sometime we are out there together. If you study the maps, they are pretty self-explanatory, for those that have flown the site before. The river is the boundary to the south. The spot where the river dips north, close to the highway is the boundary to the west, and the eastern boundary is in the vicinity of the windmill on the N side of 166, about a mile west of Spanish Ranch's driveway. All this is(was) marked my double barbed wire fencing with Fish and Game placards on it. The property on the north side of the highway, in the vicinity of the "gap", is similarly marked. It is bounded on the west about a quarter mile east of Spanish Ranch driveway and on the east it ends roughly across from Dos Padres arena. To locate the lz for the newbys flying the site for the first time, a windsock fastened to one of the fence posts(and removed when through) and a thorough intro by a knowledgeable pilot should get them in the right lz.

[zippy]

I consider myself savvy, yet I can't figure out where Plowshares is located. It's not on the Google Earth world-wide site guide.

I would suggest that a map is made up of what fields we have been asked not to land in, and where better LZs are. Use Google Earth please.

[Lew Riffle]

Zippy this is just an image not an active link but you can see the lay out maybe LEW

[henderthing]

FWIW--Attached is a hand drawn map that Bill Hartwick made a long time ago. It shows the various LZs, launch, landmarks, etc.

The best LZ that lies within the Fish and Game land--as far as I can tell--is labelled "H." The one we should now avoid landing in is labelled "B."

There is another, wider view map of the area in the same style that I can post if anyone's interested.

-m

[Ramey]

I love Bill's map. Looks like a Robert Crumb Cartoon. Just needs "Keep on Truck'in"

BUT I think its out of date. If I understand John Hesch's post correctly. I advises landing in the "Big LZ"
which I looks on Bill's map to be marked "H" - "The Best - but most likely to be visited by Threats, Madness or War!! Signs posted". I landed (sort of) there last week and saw no signs.

Anyone want to clarify this?

Robert Ramey

[henderthing]

Yeah... That's exactly what I was trying to say. I wasn't indicating that the info that Bill put down some 20 years ago was still valid. Just that this map has the LZs clearly marked, along with landmarks, etc.

So--overall good news that the best LZ (H) is now unlikely to be met with violence and probably our best bet for an easy glide! It sits squarely within the fish and game region of the map that John H. posted. Also--probably NOT a good idea to land in "B" anymore (which is shown in the western extension of the map.)

I think Bill made this map after a SLO XC pilot was unable to adequately describe his location to a driver upon landing, and much time was spent retrieving.

[henderthing]

Just to keep the set complete--here is the other page of that map.

It appears that the inspiration for the map can be found in the gentle ribbing----lower right corner!

Cheers

-m