Video: Bearhawk on the beach

[Battson]

Some video from the weekend's activities, testing the new tires on sand.

[DesertBearhawk]

Looks fun! Question: any worries of bird strike? Every beach I've ever been to has lots of birds.....

[Battson]

Yes, they are all over the place. I am always on the lookout for the next one.

If you look closely at the video on full screen, you will see flocks of Seagulls taking off in front of me when I land, Black Oyster Catchers flying under the plane, flocks of Starlings, and Blackback Gulls higher up.

They are easy to spot and avoid if you stay alert. If you weren't paying attention or failed to stay away from the flocks you could get into trouble. I never commit to a landing until all the birds have moved out of my way. Trouble is, you clear the beach on one pass, and they are back the next! So it doesn't pay to try and chase them away. Lone birds are usually pretty good at looking out for themselves too.

[mswain]

Fantastic video!

[Enewton57]

Awesome video - thanks for sharing. We have some barrier islands around here that I often flown over and thought about landing on. Sugar white sand but very soft when its dry. I would definitely need big tires and need try it after a recent rainstorm so tye sand is a bit more solid.

[TrueAirSpeed]

What size tires, 26 inch?

[Battson]

Yes they are the "26" Goodyear, which is really 24"tall x 9" wide x 6" wheel.

[Zzz]

Awesome! I want to visit...

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Droolworthy!

[Helidesigner]

Wow, very cool. Where was this video taken?

[Battson]

This is the North Island of New Zealand. The coasts down south are more dynamic and interesting in some ways, more like AK, but it's a lot way to go for an afternoon!