The Flames.

The pilot killed Wednesday night when his light plane crashed into a San Fernando Valley residence was identified Thursday as Lewis M. Brody of Northridge, a lawyer whose specialties included air-crash litigation.

Brody, 41, died when his Piper Aerostar crashed into a residence at 9545 Ruffner Ave. in Sepulveda.

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Brody was an experienced, safety-conscious pilot who had survived being shot down while an Air Force flier in Vietnam, according to Jeffrey Matz, Brody's partner in the Encino law firm of Matz, Brody & Albert.


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"The tower flew him around to the north end of the airport. As he was making the U-turn to land, he had to bank the plane, and about that time the right engine caught on fire. In order to get in faster, he pushed the left engine to the firewall. That means pushing the accelerator all the way to the floor. When he did that, the plane stalled, and it just went straight into a house.

"He used to tell me, if you're going to lose an engine, you don't want to do it on final approach because you're very close to the ground, and you don't have much time or room to make a correction.

Sentinel Rock (called Loya by the Indians) faces the Three Brothers, and is to the right of the traveler when driving up the Valley. It is the most conspicuous eminence of the southern wall, and has a dominant influence in the scenery of the middle part of the Valley, just as El Capitan and the South Dome have in the lower and upper parts, although each of the three is of a character wholly distinct from that of the others.
The shape of Sentinel Rock, is from many points of view, not unlike a broad-based obelisk. Its tip is 3069 (Wheeler) or 3043 (Whitney) feet above the river.
The side fronting over the Valley is pyramidical in general outline and nearly perpendicular for at least 1500 feet below the apex.
From the bottom of this imposing tower down to the level of the Valley the wall has a little greater slope, and is composed of masses of fallen rock. The direct trail to Glacier Point ascends among this heap of debris, and at one place runs not far from the vertical face of the Sentinel. (See Route No. 3.) The summit of the Sentinel is accessible, but the feat of climbing to it is so difficult and dangerous that it has been rarely attempted. At one time there was a small flag flying from a staff planted on the highest point by a lady.

Sentinel Dome.—This rock does not spring immediately from the Valley wall. It begins to define itself about half a mile to the rear and southeast of the Sentinel Rock. It is a great, roughly hemispherical protuberance with very little vegetation on the upper part. The vertex is 4160 feet above

Sentinel Rock
[click to enlarge]
SENTINEL ROCK.
the Valley. From the crown of the dome the view includes a vast scope of the high Sierra, and is spoken of by all visitors in terms of unlimited admiration. The dome is reached from the Valley by taking the trail to Glacier Point, from which place to ascend the dome calls for an easy walk or ride, the distance from and back to Glacier Point being less than 2.50 miles. Several of the routes in the Itinerary herewith are laid out so as to include this dome. (Routes Nos. 3, 12, 14, and others.) The road between Glacier Point and Wawona passes at no great distance from the dome on its eastern side.

Yosemite Point.—From the road underneath the Sentinel one looks straight across the Valley to the Yosemite Falls. The projection of the wall on the eastward side of this cataract is called Yosemite Point. Whitney gives its height as 3030 feet, and Wheeler says 3220. A matter of 100 or 200 feet, however, is of no consequence in comparison with the tremendous whole.
On the western side of the outer extremity of this projecting mass, and close to the top, is a spur of granite separated, except at its base, from the main body, and which is known as the Giant’s Thumb.

The view from the summit of Yosemite Point is one of distinguished grandeur, even among so many others of signal fame. The lower as well as the upper end of the Valley is overlooked from the Point, a comprehensive panorama of the floor, as well as of all the higher eminences surrounding the Valley, being spread before the eye.
The trip to and from this place may easily be accomplished in a day, with plenty of time to linger on the trail, or to rest at the summit or elsewhere. (See Route 10, Second Day, and succeeding Routes in Itinerary.)

With every waking moment
Laced with the smell of camp smoke pine dirt
Pounded home the headache lost fearsleep
What stars had me there for
Dancing to the mandolin
Beneath the walled up deep