Soft-field landing in C172

Use the biggest tires (tyres) available for your aircraft

Bushy wrote:

In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are
anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing
technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land.


How soft can you go? I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding) something
to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up the
rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated for
many years before I purchased it.

The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car muck"
when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is just a
little slippery.....

There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a
light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a
cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of
skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;)

Peter

Gliders typically land on turf strips. Talk with the operators and look at
their tire sizes, etc. There are FAA documents that spec out requirements
for an "official" landing strip. One caution: gopher holes. They are hard
to see while landing and can give the plane a nasty bump.


"jsmith" wrote in message ...
Use the biggest tires (tyres) available for your aircraft

Bushy wrote:

In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are
anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your
landing
technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land.


How soft can you go? I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding)
something
to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up
the
rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated
for
many years before I purchased it.

The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car
muck"
when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is
just a
little slippery.....

There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a
light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a
cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of
skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;)

Peter

"William W. Plummer" wrote in message
news:hQB8c.6087$JO3.12218@attbi_s04...
Gliders typically land on turf strips. Talk with the operators and look
at
their tire sizes, etc. There are FAA documents that spec out requirements
for an "official" landing strip. One caution: gopher holes. They are
hard
to see while landing and can give the plane a nasty bump.

Actually I've found glider tires and undercarriages to be marginal in tough
turf situations. They are typically lighter but only sit on one main tire.
Concentrates the weight but it does allow you to more easily miss soft
spots. A high performance glider at full gross with water in the wings is
real marginal on soft turf - worse than your typical land plane. Any glider
with retracts has minimally sized tires (and typically lousy brakes). And
in the end, if you land but get stuck, you can disassemble.

Looking at gliders makes logical sense but I think you'll find them
optimized for things other than soft field ops.