Farm strip

[mulwyk]

I have 3 weeks to decide on the location of our farm strip. Please help.

What's most important in selecting a landing strip? length? width? obstructions? wind direction?

We are about 2000' above sea level here. It's often quite windy, and the dominant wind direction is NorthWest.

I have 3 potential sites for a strip. Each has its drawbacks:

#1 is grass, 300' X 2000' North-South, trees and buildings on the North end. The problem here is both ends slope toward the middle. By GPS it's 30' lower in the middle than at either end. Will the T-Craft be able to climb out of that hole and still clear the trees?

#2 is 50' X 1000', North-South, grass, quite level but narrow with fence on all sides and power lines on the North end.

#3 is 100' X 800' , NW-SE, no obstructions except fence on ends. Rough. Surface varies from grass to dirt.

Any thoughts?

[1938BF50]

Re: Farm strip

Bob,

#1 has my vote.

300' wide offers a lot of cosswind liberty. As far as the dip in the middle....you should be 50' in the air before you even get there. As for the trees on the north end. Are they yours or on the line? If it's a linefence, a couple rides for the neighbor might go a long ways towards permission to remove.

I too am working with a neighbor to get a strip on his farm. I have a 100' x 1200' option. The nice part is a 20 acres approach of clear flat field on each end. Bad part is NS orientation with predominant W winds and 1/2 mile of flat field to the west.

Google and post an ariel view for us to ponder.

[M Jones]

Re: Farm strip

Bob,

#1 gets my vote for a couple of reasons. My thought is that having twice the length, you would still be airborne long before you got to the dip in the 2000' runway. Having 300' of width would let you "cheat" by using more of a diagonal track in cross winds also. Of course seeing them and the obstructions might make a difference... Whatever you end up, it sure sounds nice to have a runway handy!

[barnstmr]

Re: Farm strip

Pick the one farthest from any government influence... away from class B airspace... away from the city...

[Pearson]

Re: Farm strip

Be Careful! Don't forget Density Altitude!!! At 2000' above sea level on a eighty two degree day your plane will respond as if it is at approx 3800'. Your engine, if it was making rated power at sea level, will be making 13.3% less horsepower. That is only 56.5 ponies to pull you up over that uphill end of the runway. On even hotter days, the effect will be even greater. For each 10* above standard you will lose approx 3.5% hp.

If it is at all possible, I would move earth from each end to fill in the middle. Or possibly you could tear down the obstruction on the north end. I would certainly sit down with an E6-B and do some serious calculations. Maybe you could create a table that shows the maximum temperature you could safely operate out of this strip. Whatever you end up doing, just keep in mind that you are not at sea level and higher temperatures are going to drastically affect your performance.

I took my wife into a fairly long paved strip (2300') at Packwood, Washington 55S. It has a 1057' elevation. I don't recall the temperature that day, but it was on the warm side, maybe 80 degrees. Even though we were heavy with both of us onboard, I didn't think it would be a problem with 2300' of paved runway. We were very light on fuel. There were 80-90 foot trees about 300 to 400 feet off the west end of the runway, in the direction we were taking off. We departed just fine and I was looking out across the tops of the trees and climbing as we passsed over the end of the runway. Suddenly we hit what we call a sinker. The airflow was comming across the tops of the trees and spilling down into the clearing where the runway was. The only thing that kept us from going into the trees was there was a gap in them slightly to our left. I did a knife edge through the gap into a very small clearing, which gave me time to level out and climb back up above the tree tops.

So, even though the E6-B may show you have enough runway for that density altitude, the fact that you say there are strong winds should alert you to the possibility of "sinkers" that can throw all calculations out the window. I suggest you approach your first takeoff with extreme caution.

[waltermrich]

Re: Farm strip

My opinion is to get the longer of the 3 options, I have 1800ft of grass runway and when I aquired it the seller originally offered me more land if I wanted it but I thought it not nessecary , now I find it would have been a wonderfull opertunity to have it but he has since changed his mind. A sloping runway is not that bad especially one that long, it will work fine. My opinion is to get as much LAND !!!, as you can. You will be glad you did.

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Farm strip

How is the zoning? Any requirements from the County?

[larryarcher]

Re: Farm strip

Hi Yall, I finished my farm strip last summer it is only 920 ft long. It runs east and west with trees on the west end and open on the east end.It also has a droop in the middle.I have a 40 mod.BL-65 and have no trouble getting in or out. I would not want to chance flying two out but it does great by my self.I am always off by half way and climbing.You should be fine with the first choice location. Good luck .

[fearofpavement]

Re: Farm strip

#1 is likely the best choice. Being able to take off downhill in either direction is beneficial and having your landing rollout going uphill is helpful as well. Sounds ideal to me. Slope will negate the effects of quite a bit of wind. ie, taking off downhill and downwind may get you off sooner than uphill upwind. You will have to probe the envelope some to figure where the break even point is but a little slope really makes a difference. and having a dip in the middle is way better than having a rise in the middle. enjoy.

[mulwyk]

Re: Farm strip

Thanks for your help, guys.

Sounds like most agree option #1 is best...the 2000' length being key.

Filling the dip in the middle is not an option (for financial reasons). But maybe a good rule on this strip would be: "you're off before the dip, or you abort the takeoff", something like that.

Howard, you must have done this before. Relations with the county planning board are going to be critical. I'll be talking with them next week. I'll present the project as a package: building a modest hangar and adapting the pasture to a primative runway.

I don't know if there are any other government types that would want to stick their noses in my business. I don't intend to go around asking.

It's Class G airspace.

And Richard, you're scaring me. Be careful out there.

I'll post an aerial photo later.

[Pearson]

Re: Farm strip

I don't mean to scare anyone. I know everybody on this forum knows about density altitude, but it is something that a lot of pilots don't think about when they need to.

I used to fly Lears out of a 4000' elevation airport. It was mandatory that prior to each takeoff and landing the required runway length was calculated. It was amazing how much the temperature affected the runway needed. It was a real eye opener.

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Farm strip

Yup. Spent 6 years on board of zoning appeals in Frederick Co. MD. If you haven't done it yet, look at a copy of their zoning ordinance and copy the requirements for a landing strip in your zone. Where we are the way the ordinance was written, you had the right to build a strip in the ag zone but had to go thru the board of appeals in a public meeting where neighbors could get up and voice their opinions.....But if you met the criteria of the ordinance they had to give you the strip but could put limitations on it's use.
h

[lfries]

Re: Farm strip

I'm in Calif. One private strip owner did it without permits as he only knew of one person who got a permit in our county. That person had $$$ and connections. He went in with the idea that if a neighbor complained that would be it. Many years later no complaints.

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Farm strip

Yeah that's what triggers a zoning violation here. If someone complains then the zoning enforcement people pay you a visit.....The Co. doesn't go looking with out a complaint. h

[mulwyk]

Re: Farm strip

If I did it right this should be a link to a satellite photo of the proposed strip. It's the dark colored inverted "L" shape in the center of the photo. Trees and buildings on the north end, roughly 1/2 mile by 300 ft., native grass.