Challenging landing Cessna 182 gravel bar.

motoadve

motoadve

Pre-takeoff checklist
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motoadve
This approach gets challenging since there is a tight turn just before the landing area.
Tried different approaches but coming high like in the video works best since the tight turn to the right can be made with the nose down and just a small amount of power.
At least the go around its easy
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All jokes aside, that's the type of flying that I could see the practicality of an AOA. Fun to watch!
 
Yes , extremely useful on this approach.
 
I hope one day I can fly like that!
 
Looks like a nice gravel bar to learn on. Wide, long, plenty of room. I didn't see a need to follow the river on take off unless they just wanted to. Otherwise there was plenty of room over that nice, large hay field just across the river.

The problem I see is that you would have to be able to visualize the landing area while in the turn. I have met people that when they lose sight of the landing area like in that turn, they lose their situational awareness.

CC268 said:
I hope one day I can fly like that!
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If I can you can too. It is not inherently dangerous, just gotta realize that there is more that can bite ya. No two off airport landings are the same.
 
You get a lot of prop / belly damage with the gravel or is it not a factor?
 
Velocity173 said:
You get a lot of prop / belly damage with the gravel or is it not a factor?
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Gravel dings in the prop are going to happen. To minimalize possible damage it is best to not stop until shut down, and keep power settings as low as possible. The prop will create a mini vortex on the ground under the prop that can pull gravel off the ground and into the prop. I always tried to time pulling the mixture so the prop stops as the plane stops.

Also heavy braking action will cause the wheels to pull the gravel off the ground and put it into the leading edge of the tail. So the less braking used the better, but that is usually not possible on short strips.

I have flown some C-207s in Alaska that the leading edge of the tail were beat to death. Mostly caused by inexperienced FNGs.

I have better than 6000 hours on gravel strips/off airport and have never damaged a prop worse than the occasional gravel ding. And when I say ding I mean a little spot that you can catch your fingernail on when running it down the leading edge of the prop, not a gouge half way through the prop blade.
 
Zeldman said:
Gravel dings in the prop are going to happen. To minimalize possible damage it is best to not stop until shut down, and keep power settings as low as possible. The prop will create a mini vortex on the ground under the prop that can pull gravel off the ground and into the prop. I always tried to time pulling the mixture so the prop stops as the plane stops.

Also heavy braking action will cause the wheels to pull the gravel off the ground and put it into the leading edge of the tail. So the less braking used the better, but that is usually not possible on short strips.

I have flown some C-207s in Alaska that the leading edge of the tail were beat to death. Mostly caused by inexperienced FNGs.

I have better than 6000 hours on gravel strips/off airport and have never damaged a prop worse than the occasional gravel ding. And when I say ding I mean a little spot that you can catch your fingernail on when running it down the leading edge of the prop, not a gouge half way through the prop blade.
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All of this. One of our co-owners regularly took the airplane into gravel strips in South Dakota. No tail dings, he's smarter than that, but the prop always needed a little dressing afterward and he knows not to stop, etc. Gravel ops means a few prop dings no matter how cautious you are, generally. I've probably added a couple from time to time also. Stay on top of it with your mechanic and it's just a little added wear overall, but not a reason never to do gravel. Gravel is fun.

I wish we had more grass around here, (insert Colorado weed joke here), I love landing on grass back east where there's that strange liquid stuff that falls from the sky to keep it alive.
 
denverpilot said:
All of this. One of our co-owners regularly took the airplane into gravel strips in South Dakota. No tail dings, he's smarter than that, but the prop always needed a little dressing afterward and he knows not to stop, etc. Gravel ops means a few prop dings no matter how cautious you are, generally. I've probably added a couple from time to time also. Stay on top of it with your mechanic and it's just a little added wear overall, but not a reason never to do gravel. Gravel is fun.

I wish we had more grass around here, (insert Colorado weed joke here), I love landing on grass back east where there's that strange liquid stuff that falls from the sky to keep it alive.
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Grass in Colorado is sorta like the rain. A 2" Colorado rain means the drops are 2" apart. Samey-same, 2" grass means the blades are 2" apart. I've landed on 2' grass in Colorado...
 
While I am certainly not going to argue that rock chips in the prop are not caused by high power settings while stopped.

I have had enough rock chips that I think that the more common cause is rocks being picked up in the tread of the tires and then being thrown forward into the prop. I have put a nasty chip in a prop while at full idle and coasting across a 50 foot gravel area.

I think the best prevention for prop chips is smooth tires and/or wheel pants. But that is just based on my experience. I also try to keep moving and avoid high power setting while stopped, when operating of gravel strips.

Brian
 
brcase said:
While I am certainly not going to argue that rock chips in the prop are not caused by high power settings while stopped.

I have had enough rock chips that I think that the more common cause is rocks being picked up in the tread of the tires and then being thrown forward into the prop. I have put a nasty chip in a prop while at full idle and coasting across a 50 foot gravel area.

I think the best prevention for prop chips is smooth tires and/or wheel pants. But that is just based on my experience. I also try to keep moving and avoid high power setting while stopped, when operating of gravel strips.

Brian
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Yes, tires picking up rocks in the tread does happen, but is not common in the planes I fly. They all have mud flaps. I have seen small rocks that have bounced off the tail and go in front of me. I have seen a few go through the prop arc, and some that get hit by the prop. Usually I see that on roll out after landing. Using brakes will cause the tires to move gravel, just watch someone ride the brakes in gravel and see how the rocks come off the ground from under the tires.
 
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