Which runway location?

[Acroeric]

Tribe- I need some help deciding on my runway at my house.

Option 1 gives me 1200 ft. running North/South and a pretty good grade which will help to slow me when landing North and speed me up when taking off to the South. There is 1700 feet between the trees. The North end is about 30 feet higher than the south end. Minimal grading is required- mainly just smoothing some terraces that are about 16" deep. I would not own the upper 250 ft. but do have permission to use it and have 1st option to buy if it ever comes for sale.

Option 2 gives me 1600 ft. running East/ West fairly level except the last 200 feet on the west end which is about 15-20 feet higher. Takeoffs would be to the east most of the time and landings to the west. Distance between the trees is 2100 and my approach is very protected as our family owns the land for 1/2 mile. ALOT of grading/ clearing would be required as would the movement of my pond. With this option I would probably have to buy a dozer and take a year or so of spare time to get it right.

Which would you do. I want to get started this spring. Here is the link to the photo showing the potential runways.

http://gallery.taylorcraft.org/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=3729

[3Dreaming]

Re: Which runway location?

Why not put in the North South, and then put in the East West as time and money permits? Tom

[Robert Lees]

Re: Which runway location?

What's the prevailing wind, Eric?

[Acroeric]

Re: Which runway location?

I had thought about doing both but time and money seem to elude me. The prevailing wind seems to be from about 240. I could be wrong- just seems that way from the front porch most of the time.

[Victor Gisclair]

Re: Which runway location?

Eric the East/West is more work, but you would have a better runway after you were done. 1200 ft is more than enough runway for a T-Craft until it hot with full load and you have to clear the tree on the end of the runway.

[jgerard]

Re: Which runway location?

The greater slope of the N/S runway actually makes it the better choice. Less work and plenty long.

Rule of Thumb: When computing runway gradient, every 1.0% grade equals approximately 10% change in effective runway length


3% gradient...............= 30% increase in effective runway length
................................= 1200' + (.3 x 1200)

Effective length........= 1560 feet


jason
N43643

[Dano"T"]

Re: Which runway location?

Eric,

Everyone says 1200 is enough...I agree...but how does a clip wing compare? Is 1200 enough on a hot humid day? Do you take passengers? Just food for thought.

[Acroeric]

Re: Which runway location?

1200 is plenty for a light clipwing with a climb prop- with it being downhill On really hot days I could go to my friends strip 3 miles away.

I just looked at the topo map -
The elevation change on the north south runway is 40 feet over the 1200 feet of runway- if I measure to the trees on the south end it drops an additional 15 feet making the total 55 feet. Jason- what does this change the effective length do?

On the east/ west runway it drops from 575 ft MSL on the west side to 555 on the east end with a little dip in the middle.

[flylo]

Re: Which runway location?

I would do both.1200' is OK for a T-craft but it's nice to have friends fly over & the extra 400' will allow a lot more planes in. You saw my 2-1000' strips,it's just T-crafts,Champs,Cubs & ultralights that stop in.I wish one of mine was 1600'. But it is nice to fly out of the backyard.

[rampeyboy]

Re: Which runway location?

Slightly off topic, exactly what is required from the feds and local municipalities to make your own runway/use your "backyard"

[Acroeric]

Re: Which runway location?

Flylo- That is right- yours is 1000 and it looked very do able. I have been into 500ft but that was with really clear approaches and perfect weather conditions.

With Jason's math it is looking like the N/S runway will have an effective length of 1740 ft ( 45 ft drop over 1200 ft = .45 x 1200) and 2805 ft to the trees (65 ft drop over 1700 ft = .65 x 1700) I am beginning to wonder why I worried at all.

The N/S Runway is more cost effective and I can continue to mow hay off either side for the farm tax thing.

The E/W runway would have an effective length of 1800 ft and 2240 to the trees.

[Acroeric]

Re: Which runway location?

There is no FAA involvement unless you make it a public use airport and put it on the map. For my county it just happens to be a field I can land in- not an airport.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Which runway location?

Eric,
Free advice - worth exactly zero : )

I would opt for the 1600 E-W. My experience has been that I need to control the approaches as much as possible. I had another land owner put up a tower on his land but in middle of my approach path.

If the soil is reasonably workable then get a skid-loader. Cheaper and more versatile than a dozer -- and re-sellable when the project is done. Skid-loader can knock out stumps after trees are sawn, or take out smaller trees directly.

Make your cut and drop the fill dirt into the north end of your pond. It shrinks the pond a little, but still leaves a lot of pond.

Good luck - sounds like a fun project.

[selje]

Re: Which runway location?

There is no FAA involvement unless you make it a public use airport and put it on the map. For my county it just happens to be a field I can land in- not an airport.

Eric,

There is an FAA approval required and a state landing permit required as well as any local zoning rules. Contact the AOPA and they will send you a packet with information on how to approach this and the forms required. I went through the process in 1999. The zoning is most likely to be a problem.

[alwaysoar]

Re: Which runway location?

If I were to move from Burlington, VT to Burlington, NC, could I use your strip?