By Cathy Locke and Ron Trujillo
clocke@sacbee.com
A search will continue Friday morning near Placerville for a private plane that was reported missing Wednesday night en route from Minden, Nev., to an airstrip in Tracy.
The plane - a Lancair Legacy - left Minden about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, with only the pilot on board, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Pilot Robert "Budge" Brown - a businessman and winery owner - was not in communication with or being tracked by air traffic controllers, according to the FAA.
Crews with the Civil Air Patrol, Amador County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol searched 18 hours today and will continue Friday morning.
A family member reported the aircraft overdue about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, five hours after Brown left the airport. The Minden-to-Tracy flight should take about 45 minutes, said Civil Air Patrol Capt. Matt Scherzi.
Family members said Brown has flown the Minden-to-Tracy route 200 to 300 times.
Radar has the plane flying over the Sierras toward Lake Tahoe before turning south, "a smart thing to do" to avoid possible thunderstorms that were in the region Wednesday, said Scherzi.
"He got over the bad terrain," said Scherzi, citing the 12,000-foot elevation mountains.
But "access is very limited," for search crews on the ground, who are dealing with six to 10 feet of snow and rough terrain at the 6,000- to 7,000-foot elevation, Scherzi said.
Brown is owner of the former Oakwood Lake Water Park in Manteca.
KCRA: Pilot's son says he was unforgettable - May 20, 2011
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