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#31
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Unpaved Landing areas
In article
, Orval Fairbairn wrote: BTW -- my pax was test pilot for the Lunar Module training vehicle. He voiced no objections, as we had plenty of start/stop distance. You had Neal Armstrong as your pax? WOW!!! |
#32
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Unpaved Landing areas
In article ,
John Smith wrote: In article , Orval Fairbairn wrote: BTW -- my pax was test pilot for the Lunar Module training vehicle. He voiced no objections, as we had plenty of start/stop distance. You had Neal Armstrong as your pax? WOW!!! No -- Scott MacLeod -- he was the Astronaut rep at Grumman and also flew the Lm Testbed. -- Remove _'s from email address to talk to me. |
#33
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Unpaved Landing areas
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:06:07 -0700 (PDT), "Ol Shy & Bashful"
wrote: How often do you get to land or take off from something other than a paved runway? The current books don't give it much thought and I suspect because the writers are so new at this aviation thing, they have little or no experience on anything but paved runways. Part of the reason for this post was the resistance to more than a few to not land on a great 2000' grass strip that has an Interstate on one end, and trees on the other. I have no idea why they are afraid to land on this strip. There are at least three grass strips of 2000' length in this area and some that are longer (one is about 4000'). What has your experience been? I have no idea how much time I have operating off strips of 1200' or less, grass, gravel, sand, etc and no problems. Must be at least thousands of them, both in terms of take off and landings as well as hours. Ol S&B I think it relates to experience and availability; occasionally to the type of aircraft. We don't have too many grass strips to operate out of here in the NE, that are also suitable for my aircraft. For rental aircraft, there may be prohibitions agains landing on unpaved runways. I have a "mature" Mooney which (if the donuts are in good shape) has about 9" prop clearance and maybe 3-5" clearance at the gear doors. So, although I'm not hesitant to operate off properly maintained grass, (and have done so numerous times), I do have to be careful about those limits. (On the newer Mooney's, removal of the gear doors is recommended in those circumstances). Probably my most challenging was 65B (Lubec, ME) which is about 2,000' with trees at both ends, on a hot summer day. 1B2 (Katama) on Martha's Vineyard is a popular destination and, when we lived closer, used to go there frequently during the summer (5 minute walk from "beach parking" to the beach). Heck, when I was based at KASH, I used the grass adjacent to the runway when the runway was being repaved, some years ago. --ron |
#34
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Unpaved Landing areas
How often do you get to land or take off from something other than a
paved runway? Not very often. I'm still in primary training however and since I'm about to take my test soon, I asked my FI to let me try some landings on a nearby grass field used mainly by glider pilots but also PPR for powered aircraft. Almost all other airfields in the vicinity have at least one paved runway so these were my first landings on grass and probably the only ones for a long time. Here's a picture http://www.eddh.de/x-files/appr-pics/EDLC.jpg Apart from being a bit bumpier than a paved strip and the runway being several feet lower in the middle than at the ends...no big deal at least when it's dry. And wind correction is also easier because you dont get that annoying sound when you don't fully decrab before touchdown. I liked it. I can't understand why insurance companies want higher rates for the permission to land on unpaved strips...unless it's got something to do with the many private airfields in the US in dubious condition. Couldn't happen here in Germany...you are not allowed to land outside an officially approved airfield and if it's an official airfield, the operator has to guarantee the safety of the field. |
#35
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Unpaved Landing areas
How often do you get to land or take off from something other than a paved runway? Not sure if this counts, but I flew ultralights back when I lived in Arizona, and the runways were all dirt. The biggest problem was when there was monsoon the night before, the strip turned to soup and would be closed for at least a day. |
#36
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Unpaved Landing areas
On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 13:11:35 -0700 (PDT), Rocky Stevens
wrote: Not sure if this counts, but I flew ultralights back when I lived in Arizona, and the runways were all dirt. The biggest problem was when there was monsoon the night before, the strip turned to soup and would be closed for at least a day. You should try flying from a grass field in New Hampshire! From December to April, it's always an adventure. I once taxied up to the gas pump to find Bonnie the flight insturctor had gotten out her ice skates and was twirling about on the glaze. I have literally been blown off the runway *sideways* when a crosswind combines with glare ice. With one Cub, I found that I could negotiate the turns better if I switched to Left magneto; the engine ran slower and I was more likely to make the turn. And that's only when it stays cold! Inevitably, a freeze is followed by a thaw, and the surface to mud. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942 new from HarperCollins www.FlyingTigersBook.com |
#37
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Unpaved Landing areas
"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in message news:8644438bd8ae6@uwe... Mike wrote: Such is the case with my insurance. I suppose I could probably pay more for the privelege, but there's not that many in which I care to land and the wear and tear to my nosewheel plane just isn't worth it. Besides I can always hitch a ride with a tailwheel buddy or rent a Citabria if I have a turf runway itch I need to scratch. Strange. I've never had a policy that prohibited unpaved runways and I've been buying 'em since 1990. Out here in the west, a large number of public use airports have unpaved runways. Unpaved doesn't necessarily mean wear and tear on the nosewheel. I've been landing my Cherokee on strips like these for more than a dozen yrs. and have never had any nosegear problems : I agree completely. A well maintained turf runway is no problem. It's the unmaintained ones that are hard on aircraft. Naturally unmaintained paved runways are a problem too, but there aren't as many. http://members.cox.net/jgalban/12f70900.jpg http://members.cox.net/jgalban/1c180890.jpg http://members.cox.net/jgalban/1ed9bf40.jpg http://members.cox.net/jgalban/1fa9bf40.jpg http://members.cox.net/jgalban/13e15900.jpg There are a lot of very unique unpaved public airports in the country. Your missing out. I've got probably 200 or so take-offs and landings on turf fields. The number of them that I miss can be counted on one hand. Gastons, Cedar Mills, and McGehee's come to mind, but as I said, I can always go with someone else if I want to and I rent a tailwheel 3-4 times per year anyway. |
#38
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Unpaved Landing areas
On Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:28:24 GMT, "Mike" wrote:
Naturally unmaintained paved runways are a problem too, but there aren't as many. Actually, I find it just the opposite. I know of three grass runways, all of them smooth as could be. And the two paved runways I most often fly to are terribly rough. Indeed, one of them is blacklisted by the home airfield because it's too hard on tailwheels. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942 new from HarperCollins www.FlyingTigersBook.com |
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