View attachment 108134 View attachment 108134 View attachment 108130 View attachment 108131 So here is what I have come up with. I have made my pitch to the owner of 2E8, Cackleberry Airport in Dexter Mi. The Photos don't show it, but there is an 80 ft drop in elevation while landing on RWY 24, and about 1/3 of runway length is flat on both ends. That means the drop is pronounced when trying to land the Mooney on 24 but landing on RWY 06 is a piece of cake. The views of the runway from each end are also dramatically different due to the elevation change. The view of RWY 06 is pretty good, but RWY 24 is obscured by trees and higher terrain, so you sort of have to know it is there or you'll miss the approach.
View attachment 108130
The attached PDF Drawing is my summary of the information I have learned and applied to the problem of creating a AOE Glide path aid. The drawing shows the three elements and their placement relative to each other. The two JPEG pictures show my proposed general location for each runway. The front most board should be about 300-400 feet from the end of the runway, but the airport information for 2E8 shows displaced thresholds for landing of 500 and 515 feet, so the ideal placement of the front board would be 50-100 feet closer to the end of the runway then the position of the displaced threshold. The idea is to have the glideslope line touch the runway just in front of the displaced threshold line, giving the pilot room to flare before touchdown.
If the boards are 2 feet tall, then the two rear boards must be 76.4031' (or 76 feet 4-13/16 inches) back away from the first board so that a full board height displacement is exactly 1.5 degrees of elevation change on the glide path. I suggested painting black lines on the front board, marking 1/3 of its height and the top and bottom edges, to be used as a guide for 1/2 degree of slope change for each line movement. For a 4-degree glide slope, the top of the rear boards must be 5.333 feet above the top of the front board. That makes the bottom alignment 1.5 degrees low (2.5 Degrees slope), and the top alignment 1.5 degrees high (5.5 degrees slope), with marked increments of 1/2 degree for each line on the front board.
The gap between the two front boards is 2 feet, and the rear board is 3 feet wide. This provides a window of all white view while on the glide path and near the centerline of the runway. At 1500' from the front board, or about 1000 feet from the end of the runway, the all-white view is about 50 feet wide. Since the boards will be placed to the side of the runway the front board should be offset about 2 feet to the outside. If the runway is 100 feet wide and the boards are about 65 feet off the center line, then an all-white view will be displayed when flying near the center line about 1500 feet to 3000 feet. When closer than that the sharpness of the angle increases, and the pilot may see around the side of the front board. That's ok because by then he will be busier with the runway than with the boards.
One Miracle at a time!