How to land on a grass airstrip

I fly at about 20 feet, just to the side of the runway and
look it over. I do the same with water landings, looking
for rocks, logs and even alligators.

I had an Air Force tanker pilot come to me for a CFI rating.
He had never been on grass and in fact couldn't find an
airport that did not have radar vectors and navaids on the
field. We did a lot of grass strips and pilotage to get him
up to speed. He did the SEL add-on in a few days and took
his CFI check with the feds the next day. A very good pilot
and fast learner, but the USAF doesn't teach T-38/KC 135
pilots to find grass strips in the middle of a world of
grass. The US Army and USMC do a better job at that task.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"A Lieberman" wrote in message
...
| On 17 Jun 2006 11:43:34 -0700, Doug wrote:
|
| Depends on the grass. Grass strips vary from putting
green smooth to
| plane riping holes, rocks and logs. Examine grass
beforehand.
|
| *smile*
|
| How does one do this from pattern altitude at an airport
they have never
| been to?
|
| Allen

Jim Macklin wrote:

I fly at about 20 feet, just to the side of the runway and
look it over. I do the same with water landings, looking
for rocks, logs and even alligators.

I had an Air Force tanker pilot come to me for a CFI rating.
He had never been on grass and in fact couldn't find an
airport that did not have radar vectors and navaids on the
field. We did a lot of grass strips and pilotage to get him
up to speed. He did the SEL add-on in a few days and took
his CFI check with the feds the next day. A very good pilot
and fast learner, but the USAF doesn't teach T-38/KC 135
pilots to find grass strips in the middle of a world of
grass. The US Army and USMC do a better job at that task.

No wonder the rescue operation in Iran was botched so many years ago.
This is truly scary that a military pilot has no training in landing in
unimproved areas. Wow.

Matt

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

No wonder the rescue operation in Iran was botched so many years ago.
This is truly scary that a military pilot has no training in landing in
unimproved areas. Wow.

You need to consider the difference between Army, USAF, Marine,
and Navy pilots and the types of flying they do. A T-38/KC-135
pilot training to land in unimproved areas would be wasting
training time.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Bob Noel wrote:

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:


No wonder the rescue operation in Iran was botched so many years ago.
This is truly scary that a military pilot has no training in landing in
unimproved areas. Wow.


You need to consider the difference between Army, USAF, Marine,
and Navy pilots and the types of flying they do. A T-38/KC-135
pilot training to land in unimproved areas would be wasting
training time.

Yes, I see your point. Hopefully, those flying cargo airplanes get such
training. :-)


Matt

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Bob Noel wrote:

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:


No wonder the rescue operation in Iran was botched so many years ago.
This is truly scary that a military pilot has no training in landing in
unimproved areas. Wow.


You need to consider the difference between Army, USAF, Marine,
and Navy pilots and the types of flying they do. A T-38/KC-135
pilot training to land in unimproved areas would be wasting
training time.

Yes, I see your point. Hopefully, those flying cargo airplanes get such
training. :-)

Desert One was a C-130 and HH-53 operation.
Herc drivers know unimproved strips.
HH-53 operators know LZ's and PZ's.