I am seriously looking for a peice of land to build a grass runway to
fly gliders from. There are lots of things I hope to fulfill with
this, one of them is hosting an annual glider contest. Land has
fallen to a very cheap price - 1,500-2,000 an acre. In the near term
the plan would be to have some cross country racing between a half
dozen friends, then in the future, host a regional contest.

I have a good relationship with the FAA and County Government to
receive a blessing for this. One of the head officials in the county
government has his own airstrip and is a big aviation enthusiast who
offered his political help in getting this approved. My FAA friend
built a grass strip about 3-5 miles away and is also an aviation
enthusiast.

I'm looking in the Slayden, Mississippi area which has good
predictable soaring conditions. For the past three years I have been
soaring through this area and found consistent lift. The area has
good drainage, great landable fields and lots of private airports that
are glider friendly.

So here's a couple questions for you die hard racers out the



If a gliderport at 350 ft MSL elevation is located 3-5 miles under the
edge of a Class B airspace with a floor of 4,000 MSL is that any big
issue?

If "half" of the start cylinder is located under the Class B is that
an issue?

What is the Minimum length and width for a grass runway? (not
including turn off areas for trailers, RV's, etc)

What size and spacing is necessary for a grid of 40 gliders?


Any thoughts and or suggestions are welcome. Last week I had
everything set for a purchase on a specific peice of property, until a
last second problem with the land made the property a no-go. So now
it's back to square one on my hunt for land.