Plane for Short Field, Grass Strip, Beginner?

writes:

Neither the Cessna 150 or the Cherokee 140 are known for their short-
field performance. We used to run a couple of 150s in the school, and
on warm days the 3000' paved runway, at 3000' altitude, was getting
marginal. Grass would be way worse; the drag of grass or stubble
mustn't be underestimated. I've seen the Cherokees eat a lot of
runway, too. The best bet for a cheaper airplane for this field would
be a Champ 7EC. We had a 7EC that had been converted from the 90 hp to
100, and it outran those Cessna 150s every which way. The later
American Champion airplanes are much heavier and have less useful load
and use a LOT more runway than the old Champs.

Shoot, even an Ercoupe can make a 150 look sick. I flew a 90-hp Alon
Aircoupe, the last iteration of the Ercoupe series, and it took off
shorter, climbed faster, and cruised faster than the 150s. I have no
idea what the 150 is doing with its 100 hp.

Dan

I agree. You'd have to do a lot of mods to a Cherokee 140 to be safe on
a grass field. I have an Alon Aircoupe, and it comes close in cruise and
climb to a run-out C-172. If the OP had a paved field, I'd recommend an
Alon for his needs (200-300 mile trip, ~$20K as I recall). But not from
a short grass strip. The plane he's going to look at, a 100hp C-140,
should be fine.

--
And the users exclaimed with a laugh and a taunt: "It's just what we
asked for but not what we want."