How to land on a grass airstrip

drclive wrote:
Can anybody point out a good bibliography or article that describes the
differences in landing on a grass airstrip for the first time, tips and
advices? Thanks

Actually, I find my landings are better on grass that hard surface. I
feel real good then go to my homme airport with asphalt and do terrible.
A friend of mine has a 3000' E/W grass strip right up on a lake. Fun to
fly in and out of. However, you have to watch landing in the evening to
the west. The sun will blind you. Because of the upslope, protocol is to
land up hill to the west and take off downhill to the east and over the
lake, unless the wind is such that that you should use the appropriate
runway. 90% ofthe time the wind is out for the south.

--
Regards,

Ross
C-172F 180 hp
KSWI

Ross wrote:

drclive wrote:

Can anybody point out a good bibliography or article that describes the
differences in landing on a grass airstrip for the first time, tips and
advices? Thanks

Actually, I find my landings are better on grass that hard surface. I
feel real good then go to my homme airport with asphalt and do terrible.
A friend of mine has a 3000' E/W grass strip right up on a lake. Fun to
fly in and out of. However, you have to watch landing in the evening to
the west. The sun will blind you. Because of the upslope, protocol is to
land up hill to the west and take off downhill to the east and over the
lake, unless the wind is such that that you should use the appropriate
runway. 90% ofthe time the wind is out for the south.


I agree. I love landing on grass. In the C150 I learned in, I could
hear and feel the blades hitting the tires and knew just when touchdown
was going to occur. It made for consistly smoother touchdowns. Also,
grass is much easier on the tires and brakes.


Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
snip

I agree. I love landing on grass. In the C150 I learned in, I could
hear and feel the blades hitting the tires and knew just when touchdown
was going to occur. It made for consistly smoother touchdowns. Also,
grass is much easier on the tires and brakes.

It would appear that some read into the original enquiry things that he
didn't ask.
Practice grass landings on your home airfield.
Then find a Gliding Club strip. Good surfaces and friendly people.
Of course if you -really- want to fly off topdressing airstrips I
suggest getting a C180 and a friendly topdressing pilot based in a
hilly location :-)

I learned in a J-3 on a grass strip. I got a single sentence instruction for
my first hard surface landing. That was to be sure to track the runway in a
crosswind. You can be a little sloppy on grass, but not on asphalt,
especially in a taildragger.

Never gave it any thought before, but taildragger pilots are always going to
touch down nose high and slowed to near stall in any craft, on grass or
asphalt. If there are any taildragger pilots around now days, watch 'em
landing tri-'s sometime.

Sounds like some of you guys are talking about landing in a cow pasture.
Most dirt fields I've flown into had a distinct path marking the strip used
as the runway. No way would I ever intentionally, i. e. on purpose, set one
down in a uniform field of grass about which I was unfamiliar.

There is distinct advantages in becoming proficient in a taildragger and one
that is not spin-proof. I guess all of this dates me.

Pastures are nice, but fresh cow patties must be washed off
before they dry too much.

Everybody should fly a taildragger some, perhaps the new
Sport Pilot Cub re-creations will help with that.

Tundra tires make landing safer, but slow cruise.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"birdog" wrote in message
...
|I learned in a J-3 on a grass strip. I got a single
sentence instruction for
| my first hard surface landing. That was to be sure to
track the runway in a
| crosswind. You can be a little sloppy on grass, but not on
asphalt,
| especially in a taildragger.
|
| Never gave it any thought before, but taildragger pilots
are always going to
| touch down nose high and slowed to near stall in any
craft, on grass or
| asphalt. If there are any taildragger pilots around now
days, watch 'em
| landing tri-'s sometime.
|
| Sounds like some of you guys are talking about landing in
a cow pasture.
| Most dirt fields I've flown into had a distinct path
marking the strip used
| as the runway. No way would I ever intentionally, i. e. on
purpose, set one
| down in a uniform field of grass about which I was
unfamiliar.
|
| There is distinct advantages in becoming proficient in a
taildragger and one
| that is not spin-proof. I guess all of this dates me.
|
|

birdog wrote:

I learned in a J-3 on a grass strip. I got a single sentence instruction for
my first hard surface landing. That was to be sure to track the runway in a
crosswind. You can be a little sloppy on grass, but not on asphalt,
especially in a taildragger.

Never gave it any thought before, but taildragger pilots are always going to
touch down nose high and slowed to near stall in any craft, on grass or
asphalt. If there are any taildragger pilots around now days, watch 'em
landing tri-'s sometime.

Sounds like some of you guys are talking about landing in a cow pasture.
Most dirt fields I've flown into had a distinct path marking the strip used
as the runway. No way would I ever intentionally, i. e. on purpose, set one
down in a uniform field of grass about which I was unfamiliar.

There is distinct advantages in becoming proficient in a taildragger and one
that is not spin-proof. I guess all of this dates me.

It dates you, but it also suggests that you had good primary
instruction. I didn't learn in a tail dragger, but I learned from an
old instructor who has about 50,000 hours, a good share of that
instructing. It appears the more that I read here that newer
instructors aren't teaching folks how to really fly under a wide range
of conditions. The thought of needing a CFI to go from asphalt to grass
just strikes me as so hilarious.

Matt

Grass can be long, short and even cut grass is a possible
problem since it can be trapped inside of wheel pants.
Animals live in grass and often dig holes or burrow and make
soft spots. In the winter, long grass can poke up through a
foot of snow and look OK.
A good, well maintained grass runway is a joy to land on.
It is mowed and raked, rolled and smoother than a golf
fairway.
Wet grass has very poor braking action. But a tail dragger
with a skid uses the grass as a brake.

Always call ahead if possible and find out about the current
condition of the grass and any problem spots. Always do a
soft field landing. Always do a low pass to look for
anything in or under the grass that could be a problem.

When you get there, walk the strip on foot.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"drclive" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Can anybody point out a good bibliography or article that
describes the
| differences in landing on a grass airstrip for the first
time, tips and
| advices? Thanks
|

In article X0%kg.49056$ZW3.38990@dukeread04,
"Jim Macklin" wrote:

Grass can be long, short and even cut grass is a possible
problem since it can be trapped inside of wheel pants.

Watched a friend's RV-6 head for the corn and go tail up after the left
wheel pant filled with cut grass and grab the wheel. Be very carefull if
you have tight fitting wheel pants and operate of a freshly cut grass
strip where the grass was long before cutting.
The incident required a year to rebuild the aircraft. New wood prop,
engine teardown and rebuild, rebuild the lower cowl, new wheel pant.

"drclive" wrote in message
oups.com...
Can anybody point out a good bibliography or article that describes the
differences in landing on a grass airstrip for the first time, tips and
advices? Thanks

One difference which almost bit me in the derrierre' when I was a new pilot
is that a grass strip doesn't have a nice painted centerline or even runway
edges to give you an indication that you're pointed in more or less the
right direction. I had an experience where I drifted well off-line on
takeoff from a grass strip and was more or less oblivious to the problem
until I nearly collected the tree which defined the narrow point of the
strip.

Since then, I've done a much better job of lining up on grass fields and
picking an object at the end of the field to use as an aim point.

KB

If you have a big field of grass, you can always land into
the wind. The British used such fields for the narrow gear
on the Spitfire. It is also harder to bomb the runway when
it is 2,000 foot by 2,000 or bigger.


"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
...
|
| "drclive" wrote in message
|
oups.com...
| Can anybody point out a good bibliography or article
that describes the
| differences in landing on a grass airstrip for the first
time, tips and
| advices? Thanks
|
| One difference which almost bit me in the derrierre' when
I was a new pilot
| is that a grass strip doesn't have a nice painted
centerline or even runway
| edges to give you an indication that you're pointed in
more or less the
| right direction. I had an experience where I drifted well
off-line on
| takeoff from a grass strip and was more or less oblivious
to the problem
| until I nearly collected the tree which defined the narrow
point of the
| strip.
|
| Since then, I've done a much better job of lining up on
grass fields and
| picking an object at the end of the field to use as an aim
point.
|
| KB
|
|