Free advice notwithstanding, there's no substitute for *current*
feet-on-the-ground airport information. As for "hard numbers"...

On 5/26/2016 6:52 AM, akiley wrote:
I'm a member of a club that has marginal trailers for our ships. Because
of this, and the multitude of small airports in our area, I usually just
airport hop for cross country flights. We also have unpredictable landout
options because 90% of the fields seem to be corn, which at the wrong time
of the year are dangerous. So I'm looking for land and tow out airports

I'm mapping out good airports in various directions but have some
questions:

1. In a standard class ship what might be the narrowest runway for landing
when there are runway edge lights?
Will prolly depend (a lot!) on your "acceptable crosswind component. That
said, if the lights/runway-edge-markers are lower than wings-roughly-level
taxi-height, then arguably they won't matter, and, if a veer is in your
future, it may be possible to do so while holding the critical wing above the
obstacle. It's been done...
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2. What about for an unassisted tow from (how narrow with runway lights)
Will almost certainly be affected by whether you've a nose or CG-only hook,
and X-wind again, not to mention tug grunt and how "tuned in" might be your
tug pilot...
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3. Will a wing runner make much of a difference on a narrow strip
Quite possibly...and in both the "good" and "bad" senses. Ad-hoc education is
good!
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4. Turf/grass v asphalt, is one easier than the other given runway edge
lights?
In crosswinds, directionally speaking, asphalt tends to "bite" while grass
tends to "slide." Asphalt will likely have better braking, though turf may
well have considerably more wheel drag...meaning predicting rollout length
isn't a hard science. Don't overlook "grass height" when it comes to assessing
turf acceptability.
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It's all about clipping a light.

I've also noticed from satellite views that there is often a grass parallel
area located at many asphalt strips, but no way of knowing if these are
landable.


Again, there's no substitute for feet-on-the-ground knollich...wet spring days
can be good for obtaining it. Be very wary about accepting others'
assessments, particularly if power-only types, no matter how well intended.

In all seriousness, this sort of stuff/planning/self-education is part of the
great fun of doing XC. Enjoy your journey!

Bob W.