Pilot Rick Anderson expertly lands his glider in a hay field after running out of enough lift to allow him to return to the Warner Springs Gliderport. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo
A glider made an unplanned landing in a hay field in Anza Saturday, July 31. Both aircraft and pilot were unscathed.Pilot Rick Anderson left the Warner Springs gliderport that morning and made his way to Mount San Jacinto, wafting on the warm air thermals. As thunderstorms erupted in Anza, the uplift became undependable and he was not able to soar across the mountains to get back to the airfield in Warner Springs. The glider could not attain the proper altitude for the last leg of his journey.“This isn’t going to happen,” he said.He found a flat expanse of stable earth and landed safely in a hay field off Kirby Road, much to the delight of local residents.“I was outside looking at the s
