When the Wright Brothers got started, there were no airports. This was not like the chicken and the egg. Airplanes came first, then airports. Early airports did not have miles of concrete. They were mostly pastures that had been hijacked for other uses.
Slowly people started creating purpose built airports but grass was the preferred surface. Now I have landed on grass before but it has been over 20 years. When I owned Mooneys, they had poor prop clearance so I avoided grass. Also with so many nice concrete strips, who need grass but sometimes the location does not have an alternative.
Today there was a Young Eagles event over at a nearby strip. It is private but I had permission to land so I headed over. Now grass can be smooth or rough. It is not so much the grass but the dirt underneath. Also if the grass is too tall it makes takeoff harder as it creates drag.
This was Haller airpark and it has a really nice strip. Very smooth. It is sort of short, 2600 feet with 660 feet at each end then big trees. Getting in was easy, fly on airspeed, watch the trees, once clear, reduce power and gently flare. On touchdown I was pleasantly surprise at the smoothness during the roll out. They had a mess of planes and the Coast Guard had stopped by to do PR. Easier when they are based a few minutes away.
After parking I went over to register to fly Young Eagles. When they put the word out, they thought they needed more planes. When I arrived they were so busy launching planes, that I waited an hour and they still did not have me in the rotation. The guy in charge thought it would be a few more hours so I decided to give up. It was a great event regardless. I soon reversed the process and was headed home. I used the extra time to change my oil, which went smoothly and I was happy with the very clean filter. I am ready for another 50 hours of flying now.
Slowly people started creating purpose built airports but grass was the preferred surface. Now I have landed on grass before but it has been over 20 years. When I owned Mooneys, they had poor prop clearance so I avoided grass. Also with so many nice concrete strips, who need grass but sometimes the location does not have an alternative.
Today there was a Young Eagles event over at a nearby strip. It is private but I had permission to land so I headed over. Now grass can be smooth or rough. It is not so much the grass but the dirt underneath. Also if the grass is too tall it makes takeoff harder as it creates drag.
This was Haller airpark and it has a really nice strip. Very smooth. It is sort of short, 2600 feet with 660 feet at each end then big trees. Getting in was easy, fly on airspeed, watch the trees, once clear, reduce power and gently flare. On touchdown I was pleasantly surprise at the smoothness during the roll out. They had a mess of planes and the Coast Guard had stopped by to do PR. Easier when they are based a few minutes away.
After parking I went over to register to fly Young Eagles. When they put the word out, they thought they needed more planes. When I arrived they were so busy launching planes, that I waited an hour and they still did not have me in the rotation. The guy in charge thought it would be a few more hours so I decided to give up. It was a great event regardless. I soon reversed the process and was headed home. I used the extra time to change my oil, which went smoothly and I was happy with the very clean filter. I am ready for another 50 hours of flying now.
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