Lots of stuff mixed into my lesson today. Gps turned "off", sectional handed to me shortly after takeoff. Short xc to the nearest grass strip which was perpendicular to our flight path so I was pretty much on top of it before seeing it. What an experience as far as the actual landings and takeoffs. Steep approach with full flaps which were necessary to clear a road. Very hard and bumpy strip. Takeoffs were totally different from simulated soft field! Hard to tell when I was actually airborne vs just a big bounce. Really fun and challenging day. Can't wait to do it again.
Actual soft field today
- Thread starter 48dodge
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Captain
Final Approach
Hehe, same elevation. I could just imagine a logging truck crossing by at the same time. 2200' strip which butted up right next to the road. Definitely more of a mental thing than physical with avoiding the road
VanDy
Cleared for Takeoff
I as thinking the same thing!!Exactly how high off the ground was the road next to the grass strip?
lol
You did not have an actual soft field then, you had a firm grass strip, still quite different from a soft field.
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
Kinda what I was thinking.
If he didn't sling mud all over the bottom of his wings and cover his horizontal stab then it wasn't very soft.
BTDT...
Best to take the wheelpants off first though!
I don't think anyone intended to burst your bubble, rather to set your expectations correctly. As pilots, we do best when we know what to expect; if your expectations are based on thinking you've experienced something but you have not, you set yourself up for something more serious down the road.
Regardless, it sounds like you had fun, and that's important!
No I know something with tall grass and soft sod is going to be a totally different animal. The main thing I learned was simulated soft field was good practice but is really nothing like taking off an actual grass strip. I can't wait until spring to do it again. Not sure I'd want to do it in the summertime at least on this field.
SkyHog
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Everything Offends Me
Just keep in mind - grass strips, even in the summer time when the grass is long and green and luscious, aren't often soft fields. You can do a normal takeoff without any concern for performance (or at least, not much).
If you want to try your hand at a real soft field, do a dirt or grass strip after a severe rain storm. That's a soft field.
Bill Watson
En-Route
....and takeoffs and landings can be the easy part when doing soft field operations. Getting to and from the runway is often the main challenge where you have to keep the plane moving and light on the wheels in order to avoid getting stuck.
Sounds like some good short field/rough field work.
tehmightypirate
Line Up and Wait
Definitely good to see you checking that off your training. I still to this day have only done simulated soft field landings (experienced soft-field once, though). Every damn plane I've flown came with the stipulation of paved surfaces only. I consider it probably the biggest deficiency of my training. Maybe one of these days I should "miss" the runway and land where the gliders set down. 
Captain
Final Approach
I have 10,000 hours and exactly 1 (one) grass strip (non-asphalt) landing. Even that was dry compacted dirt with mowed grass growing on it.
Wait a tic...I had to do a check flight before I flew my dad. Make that 2 (two) soft field landings! WhooHoo! I just DOUBLED my experience! That's a 100% (one hundred percent) increase!!!!
Wait a tic...I had to do a check flight before I flew my dad. Make that 2 (two) soft field landings! WhooHoo! I just DOUBLED my experience! That's a 100% (one hundred percent) increase!!!!
SkyHog
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I have about 20 non paved strip in my logbook. Only once did I ever need to do a soft field takeoff and that was because it was sandy.
Grass, dirt, gravel, sand and even turf. None are actually soft field unless it's soft.
Grass, dirt, gravel, sand and even turf. None are actually soft field unless it's soft.
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
I'm probably pushing 4 figures...at the very minimum 500. But I've been based at 3 grass strips over the years.
Love grass...loved it back in the 70s too!
Captain
Final Approach
Bill Watson
En-Route
Probably 4 figures here too... did a snowy grass TO & Landing today. Done some corn, cotton, soy beans, disked fields (the worse), even a tree top.
Nothing sweeter than lit grass at night with a tailwheel!
Captain
Final Approach
corn, cotton, soy beans? Doesn't the plane screw up the crops? What farmer allows you to do THAT???
Depends how far along the crop is. If you destroy crop, you typically owe the farmer the value.
Captain
Final Approach
I guess that seems fair. So what costs more? Landing fee in JFK or farmer Bucks field of soy beans?
Probably JFK for a small plane, you won't do that much damage as you stop really quickly once you go in.
tehmightypirate
Line Up and Wait
Probably JFK for a small plane, you won't do that much damage as you stop really quickly once you go in.
Plus isn't it mostly the fuselage that does the majority of the damage? I've heard the wings tend to just bend the crops over during all but the initial touchdown (unless at really high speeds).
Bill Watson
En-Route
Those were all off field landings in gliders. I did aproximately 46-48 of them in the 80s and 90s. All unplanned before takeoff.
I was never asked to pay a cent. Learned a couple of things about farms and farming along the way;
-Farm fields are typically worked by people other than the actual land owners. From VT, PA, NJ, NY to TX, MT, and CA, I never met the actual owner of any farm field I landed in, ever.
- Farm fields are large relative to the landing track of a glider (or airplane). To the farmer, I just didn't hurt anything of significant value.
- Farmers are really helpful people. Most crop damage was done by the farmer and his friends driving thru the fields to find out what happened and to help me get out.
- Farmers are really helpful people. Even though it only takes my 5' wife and I 10 mins to disassemble a sailplane and put it in it's trailer, it's best to give everyone who shows up a job.
- Some fields are planted primarily for insurance - think unirrigated TX cotton fields. There's nothing to damage, it's just sham activity.
- The Amish are always on the most fertile land, in the most fertile valleys and have the most prosperous looking farms - good places to land. When they come out to see what happened, no damage is done and they will arrive on foot, possibly with horses and carts.
- All pastures suck, they are a crap shoot. Cows in pastures are curious, very curious. Cattle in pastures are curious and horny, very horny.
All landing fees are more $$$ than any farmers field.
Indeed you do! But it's always cheaper and less painful to stop slowly if you can. The plane and facial reconstruction are both pricier than corn.Probably JFK for a small plane, you won't do that much damage as you stop really quickly once you go in.
Hitting crops with your wings will do more $$$ damage to your wings than any crops. Avoid geese.
tehmightypirate
Line Up and Wait
Oh, to heck with the original topic, you can't post that without explaining everything.
flhrci
Final Approach
Got video or pics Tim? I wanna see what the plane looks like after a mud bath.
David
flhrci
Final Approach
Bill Watson
En-Route
Well, my very first outlanding was "aux vaches" or "with the cows"
When I landed there wasn't a cow in sight. Slowly they appeared over the horizon ambling towards our equipment. Finally had to be shoo'd off from trying to lick everything we had; sailplane, trailer and car. All in all, quite an adventure for a first off-field landing.
Years later during a race, I chose to land in a relatively small cattle pen that was clearly filled with the beasts. Not being my first time to this rodeo, I knew they would need to be held off until help arrived. I didn't realize that beef cattle are kept in coed conditions and that my presence in the pen would get all the females nicely lined up trying to figure out what I was. The bulls took up the rear and, well, took advantage. Several would mount up thrusting the herd forward towards me and mine. I'd shout and wave maps backing them back up to the delight of the bulls and later the rancher. Repeat, and finally rinse. A long losing day at the races.
tehmightypirate
Line Up and Wait
Bill Watson
En-Route
Ha! Actually the licking itself wasn't as scary as the thought of them licking the racing numbers "UH" and then lifting their half ton head into the horizontal stabilizer - SNAP! That's why it was removed by the time we took the pic. However, it's worth noting that I've placed the sailplane between me and the cows. Glad you enjoyed the story.Hilariously fascinating story and great picture. Looks like a true "soft-field" landing, too. Also, it could have been worse, you could have landed by some horses prone to cribbing.
Seriously, like I said this was my first off field excursion and much was learned beyond bovine behavior.
Pastures are pastures because they are rocky or too hilly or otherwise unsuitable for planting crops. This field was rocky and hard and lumpy - not a good place to put an aircraft down on. Agriculture is your friend. Planted fields have been worked, leveled, plowed, disked, whatever. They are smooth though too often soft. They will tend to catch your gear but you won't hit anything hard or unexpected. That's worth something if you have a choice.
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe
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No pavement, but a nice airport. Fuel was from drums in the back of a pickup.
This one was pretty soft. On the bright side, it was soft to sleep on.
This one was actually pretty nice for a runway (and nothing else) miles from anything except a river and the Alaskan highway.
Nice grass in Indiana farm country. The downside was the bug density - they coated the airplane.
Pavement is nice in the winter since it can be plowed. But it sure is hard on tires and is way less forgiving than grass.
This one was pretty soft. On the bright side, it was soft to sleep on.
This one was actually pretty nice for a runway (and nothing else) miles from anything except a river and the Alaskan highway.
Nice grass in Indiana farm country. The downside was the bug density - they coated the airplane.
Pavement is nice in the winter since it can be plowed. But it sure is hard on tires and is way less forgiving than grass.
Jim Logajan
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If landing and taking off on a grass field in a C-152 causes the leading edge of your prop to become green, is the grass tall enough in spots for the field to be considered "soft"?
No, but the same technique applies. Soft is soft ground.
Bill Watson
En-Route
Looks like that C-140(?) had some good times. Alaska....
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe
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C-120. Yes, it was fun.