the nevada triangle

[old mart]

Looking at Willy's map in post #28, the triangle covers about equal areas of Nevada and California.

[bborr01]

California?

California isn't in Nevada.

[lynnl]

The lee side of a mountain can have sort of a 'compression spring' effect on the down draft when strong winds are blowing normal to the ridge axis, propelling strong turbulence for quite some distance downstream.

I taught the weather course for the AF pilot training program, and we had a training film showing a B-52 that had much of its vertical tail/stabilizer torn off during Extreme turbulence east of the Rockies in Colorado. They landed it safely in Kansas (as I recall), after much consultation with Boeing engineers and various flight safety groups. I don't recall the altitude they were flying, but probably well above the height of the mountains.

[Willy]

Having personally been a passenger several times while flying over the Sierra Nevada mountain range two things were left indelibly carved into my memory.
One was the sheer beauty and size of this majestic mountain range. The other was the incredibly powerful and unpredictable winds that toy with relatively low flying planes that frequently cross these mountains. Due to the proximity of the large population base of central California there are a very large number of flights traveling directly into the gauntlet of the Sierras so it stands to reason that there will be an unusually high number of incidents.

An explanation below that I feel accounts for a lot of the mystery if not all.

https://knpr.org/knpr/2015-09/nevada-triangle-graveyard-planes

Professor Kelly Redmond, a climatologist with the Desert Research Institute in Reno, has looked at wind formations in those mountains seeking answers.
Redmond told KNPR's State of Nevada that much of the problem in the Sierra Nevada is because of the wind.

The mountain range runs almost perpendicular to the Jet Stream, that along with their shape, which is wedge like, creates wild wind conditions.
"So, when the winds are coming up, they come up kind of smoothly on the west side and then they have this very rapid decent and there is a tremendous amount of turbulence that can be caused by such situations," Redmond said.
He said when a small plane, which must fly lower than commercial jets and doesn't have enough power, gets caught in that air flow it can be difficult to get out.
"It's quite easy for a small plane to get caught in the down draft on the downwind side and not have the power or just the capability to get out of the way of that," Redmond said.

[J Tiers]

Pretty sure he meant there's not much population there. Of the human kind that results in lots of air traffic. But you probably knew that too...

Some of the stuff B Houghton's talking about generates some "air traffic" as well....... and it may land on you......

[Yondering]

There's actually quite a bit there, just not at the scale you're probably used to. Stop, get out of the car, lie down on the ground, focus close up, and before you know it, you'll see all kinds of wildlife. If you're unlucky, you'll find you were lying on some wildlife that doesn't like you doing that.

Having said that, I myself would not live in desert country like that unless the alternative was being flung into space without a spacesuit; but some people love it for the starkness of the nature.

Pretty sure he meant there's not much population there. Of the human kind that results in lots of air traffic. But you probably knew that too...

[old mart]

Softtail, your #6 post left something out: too many wealthy people buying aircraft despite not being very good pilots.

[mattthemuppet]

I hope you meant after the sea wall.

you're right, but it doesn't feel like it!

There's also Quito airport, where you get to stare into peoples living rooms if you wish as you descend, and Bogota airport, where the pilot has to remember to take a sharp left or right turn immediately after taking off or the plane hits a cliff.

[754]

That helmet needs tightening up..

you are crazy

That's nothing.... Here is more crazy for you. My wife and I jumping out of all kinds of aircraft, and even at night.

[Bill Houghton]

Most of Nevada is sparsely populated. I've been through a lot of it and aside from Vegas and Reno there isn't much there.

Brian

There's actually quite a bit there, just not at the scale you're probably used to. Stop, get out of the car, lie down on the ground, focus close up, and before you know it, you'll see all kinds of wildlife. If you're unlucky, you'll find you were lying on some wildlife that doesn't like you doing that.

Having said that, I myself would not live in desert country like that unless the alternative was being flung into space without a spacesuit; but some people love it for the starkness of the nature.

[Paul Alciatore]

Legal aliens? Really? Who issued the landing (or hovering) permit? NASA? The Russians? Fidel? Can I see a copy?

Those are legal aliens....

[gambler]

you are crazy

My wife and I have been in many different types of aircraft like twin otters, sky vans, king airs, hot air balloons, and even a Bell Jet Ranger III, but we never wanted to risk landing in them so we always jump out.. It's not even a 1 way, it's more like a 1/2 way ride

[The Artful Bodger]

Aircraft have been known to get too close to those rocks...

https://youtu.be/R3iMw7Q7H68