Advice needed: building my own grass strip

jfrye01

jfrye01

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Sep 24, 2013
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El Dorado, KS
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Jacob Frye
I live on a crop field in the middle of Kansas (stereotypical, yes...). This field is ~3000' long and 1000' or so wide. About a month ago, the farmer cut the soybeans on our field, and I have landed my 172 here a few times just for fun. The field is smooth, but there are 30' trees on each end. I am wanting to put in a nice, smooth grass strip and I am needing some advice...As is, the field is somewhat rough (still more smooth than many grass strips in the area) and I'd like to know the best grass to use, how to grade for drainage, what paperwork is required, etc...If anyone has any advice, please post it here!! Thanks!!
-Jacob
 
Check the EAA's website. I believe that is where I've read about runway construction or Texas grass root airstrips.:confused:

As far as grass, the recommendations was to get with your LOCAL soil conservationists agency for the best results.:yesnod:
 
Along with other resources, you might visit or call local grass strips to see what works.

As far as drainage is concerned, that can be an issue of soil type and topography. Surface grading is always cheaper and more effective than tile, unless you really have to have the tile.

You want to avoid a bunch type grass. Bluegrass is good. Fescue can work. You can take some soil samples or maybe ask the farmer to see if you need any lime or fertilizer for the grass.
 
Airport grass. Dunno if it still exists but back in the day good ole govt cooked up grass just fer landing strips.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
There are literally well over 30 grass strips within 20 miles of Wichita. I've see neighbors with grass strips right next to each other...
Click to expand...

should be easy to determine the direction of the strip then
 
Boreal Red Fescue, doesn't grow too tall, hardy and likes gravel.
 
As for orientation, if you have a choice, base it on the prevailing winds. Not sure where to get the official weatherservice info, but talk to pilots that fly a lot at the nearby airport. Usually they will know which way the wind is blowing most often.
 
Most of the primary runways in Kansas/Okla/TX run mostly due North/South. Sometimes a shade to the west. 35/17 or 36/18 would be my choice unless your regional topography (oxymoron for most of KS, lol) causes wind irregularities.
 
I assume you dont want to start grading to establish your strip. I looked at a place in FL the other day and the owner did 'just a little bit' of grading to take a slight bump out of the middle and to get a nice crown on the runway. It ended up being 100k cubic yards of soil that had to be moved around.....

Your local extension service may be helpful to determine what grass is able to maintain a stable cover year-around without irrigation in your area.
 
Yes, I definitely would check the local county extension agents or perhaps the ag departments at your local universities. They typically know what grasses grow best. When I was a University Administrator at Rutgers, we had one of the world experts on growing grass over at Cook College (of course, that expertise didn't seem to extend to the campus my office was on).
 
Do you have a tractor and bush hog to keep it mowed? Maintaining it is a big job.
 
I'd be happy to run a weather analysis for you. I can pull the latest 10+ years of weather from your closest reporting station and determine the prevailing winds.
 
I live on a grass runway. We have never had need of a brush hog to maintain the strip. We have a large deck lawn mower with an additional cutting deck on an outrigger. That lets us get the runway done in a couple of hours, but I know those who use regular lawn tractors (fine if you have all day to do it). Ours is about 3000x75. It's more of a pain to mow around the runway lights, etc.... than the actual field of the runway itself.

Ours is in NC and is primarily whatever native grass was there plus some bermuda grass on one end.
 
With regards to prevailing winds, a good indicator is a public use airport. You mentioned a Class D is close, what is their runway configuration?
 
For those who keep mentioning prevailing winds...this is Kansas. It is either blowing from the North or from the South. The only time it is not is during frontal passage when it is swapping from one to the other.

The local Air Force base and major airport have their longest runways around 1/19. The general aviation airports are either 36/18 or 35/17. Grass strips tend to be straight North South to match the road grid layout.

Look at it on Google. For someone from Tennessee, it is kind of weird to look at!

Jim
 
If he doesn't have a tractor/rotary cutter or doesn't want to mess with it, it's usually fairly cheap to have someone who does brush hogging work come by once every few weeks to clean it up. Probably cost a few bills each time, but may be worth it if he doesn't have the $4-5K worth of equipment to do it himself + time.
 
I have a bunch of documents relating to this subject. Pm me your email and I'll send them to you.
 
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Thanks for posting this thread I am thinking of building a grass strip as well. Lots of good info.
 
I built my own runway,, 100' X 3000'... Had it graded with a nice crown for drainage.. Got talked me into using Sodar Streambank Wheatgrass seed.. Guy claimed it was alot better then Kentucky 31 Fescue... He was WRONG... Ps , I did the FAA legal route, airspace study,etc,etc,etc.... My airport id is 2WY3
 
I flew out of a 2200 foot grass strip for years . It was 4-22 , 15 aircraft kept there. always a cross wind. It was mowed with an old ford low profile tractor with a bush hog rotary that the farmer-FBO kept sharp as a razor. ( very important) it ran cheap and was fast. North west probably best. I'd consult the airstrip owners near you to get the straight story. Seems logical.
 
It may not apply to your 'in the middle of nowhere' locale, but look at your counties zoning and land use regulations. In many places a 'landing strip' requires a variance or special use permit if it is not located on land zoned as light industrial.

The state tends to be helpful. They may have regs on obstacle planes and believe it or not the micron size of the filter you have to put in your fuel pump. They may send a guy with a GPS out to take the exact coordinates for you to put on your FAA notice.

The FAA can create some issues. In recent years, they have taken to finding private strips 'objectionable' if their 'traffic pattern' overlaps with that of another little farm strip. They can't keep you from building or operating the strip, but if your county zoning reg says that they only allow strips that have an 'FAA permit', a finding of 'objectionable' could be a problem. So if you have any other nearby farm-strips, talk to the owner and draft a letter of agreement on where to place your 'traffic pattern'.

Of course, if all you do is build a 'hay field' and you happen to land a plane on it 5-10 times per year, you can just do it by talking to nobody. Be prepared that the last neighbor who moved to your area from the city will be at the planning commission the day after you use it the first time. If you go through the hoops of getting everything approved, you are also grandfathered if down the line some change in state or county law restricts the building of new 'airports'.
 
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