ET wrote in message .. .
The guy complaining about the next door airport got me thinking more about
a question that's been rolling around in my head for some time.

I'm not a pilot (yet), don't own a plane, or even any significant land, but
I've kind of wondered..... If I owned enough land somewhere "could" I just
land my plane on an appropriate surface? or would it have to be a
registered airport? Would it matter if it was an Ultralight, or an "N"
registered plane??

What are the rules (federal) that govern this? or is it a state by state
thing (I'm in Texas if it really matters).

In Texas you may land on your private airstrip or your otherwise
wide-and-long-enough patch of land and don't even have to officially
register it as a private airport, but you can register it as such if
you want it published. You can also land and take-off on any road
that's not a federal highway (US numbered or Interstate) as long as
you do not create a hazard to yourself or any ground traffic when
doing so and as long as there are no local county or city ordinances
enacted against doing so. However, the determination of whether or not
you are not creating a hazard is solely up to the discretion of any
law enforcement officer who might witness your doing so. So if you
want to land your Cub on some farm road in rural Bumfork County, TX
and taxi up to cousin Andy's house and park in his front yard, you can
generally do so as long as Deputy Barney doesn't get his knickers in a
wad over the deal.