Powerline Avoidance

can be worth following the route on google earth first,
new lines can go up of course but at least you know when to expect the majority of them
 
It's fun to fly low. It's also dangerous. Powerlines rarely are higher than 100'. If you adopt a personal rule to never fly over unfamiliar places, lower than 200AGL. You'll avoid 99.99999% of all powerlines.

NOTE: The tiny upper wires that are used to STRING-UP the "real" wires are all-but-invisible.
 
I flew an 18A from Tulsa to Houston some years back, and noticed transmitter towers disappearing above me into the overcast (obviously taller than the local ceiling on that day). When you worry about guy wires, you have to plan for them reaching out from the full height of the tower, from a top that sometimes isn't even visible. I give those things a VERY wide berth. They scare me more than "horizontal" power lines, whose locations I'm more accustomed to anticipating.
 
I flew an 18A from Tulsa to Houston some years back, and noticed transmitter towers disappearing above me into the overcast (obviously taller than the local ceiling on that day). When you worry about guy wires, you have to plan for them reaching out from the full height of the tower, from a top that sometimes isn't even visible. I give those things a VERY wide berth. They scare me more than "horizontal" power lines, whose locations I'm more accustomed to anticipating.

I guess it was 20 years ago (or so). There was a military aircraft that hit the broadcast tower guy wires near what is known as the Cedar Hill complex here in Dallas. It didn't take the tower down but it did cause a lot of concern.
 
I suspect there is more to the story.

I suspect there is more to the story.


I fly up that river often and none of the lines are over fifty feet and the old wooden poles are easy to see.

It can get turbulent.

I see the helicopters from Channel Island Flight School when I fly into Camarillo, which is just a few miles from Santa Paula.

I had not met this particular pilot.

Thank you, Vance
 
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