Ben Jackson wrote:

On 2005-05-11, Kyle Boatright wrote:

What's the narrowest runway you've ever used? At what runway width are you
comfortable?


The narrowest was at Woodland State (W27) which is 1965x25, in a 172
when I had about 14 hours.

I must be comfortable with 2500x48 since that's where my plane is based.
It still freaks me out to land at night (the lights are significantly
wider, maybe 80-100' apart). It makes the runway look short and stubby.
I don't think I've ever used more than the center 20' of the runway
except once when a brake grabbed a little and I swerved. Closest I've
come to groundlooping a tricycle gear plane!


I don't remember which field was narrowest, but I believe it was near
Pittsburgh, PA. I'll have to check my log book. I DO remember the
shortest I landed at. It is K9B1. It is less than 1700' with
obstructions at both ends. Landing the Skylane was no problem,
requiring only about 1000' with light braking. However, the sight
picture when I turned final was unnerving. The book said I had plenty
of space so I trusted the numbers.

I learned to fly at a 1900' strip, but that had trees at only one end.
Taking off from Marlboro was very interesting. It was a hot summer day
(about 90 as I recall), but I was loaded fairly light, just me, one pax
and about 4 hours of fuel. I don't recall the exact details now, but I
think the book said I needed about 1500' to clear a 50' obstacle. I
pulled onto the runway with my tail feathers almost touching the chain
link fence at one end, ran up to nearly full RPM and then released the
brakes. We cleared the trees by 30-40'.


Matt