Pierre,
I have been operating my Rocket out of my 1500 foot strip here in the swamp for five years now with no problems. This summer my good friend VB bought a gorgeous RV-10 that I purchased and delivered to ID from here for him. I kept it here at my place for a week prior to heading west.
I took the liberty of "working" the 10 out here thoroughly before I turned it over to make sure I was good for mountain strips. I found some pretty impressive numbers for the big RV, this is what I used:
Swamp numbers: during it's visit it was rainy season, the first 500' was unusable, very gooey.
Landing: 94F light winds: Approach speed: 65 knots, full flaps, power 17"/2100 RPM, 20 foot obstacle. (identical to my Rocket numbers BTW) Flying a power-on approach, the RV10 with just 2 aboard is slightly nose heavy and runs out of aft trim but slight aft stick pressure will hold 60 KIAS no worries. I flew power-on until touchdown at 55 Knots, full stall landing very similar to a loaded 206. Moderate braking in the soft turf yielded stopping distances of less than 600' consistently.
Takeoff: 95F light winds, 2 persons 1/2 fuel: I used 10 degrees of flaps and a nose high "bush" takeoff attitude for prop care. The 10 will lift the nose almost immediately with full aft stick application upon full power. Holding a 10 degree attitude while rolling, liftoff occurred at 58-62 knots allowing a ground effect acceleration and climb out at 1600 fpm at 100 knots to clear the 50 ft trees. Measured distance 590 feet.
Idaho: We flew the RV-10 1800 miles to ID and the new owner asked if we could load it to gross and let him learn how to fly it worst case. Here are the numbers I collected.
@Gross weight, 92 degrees F, 3800' MSL
Takeoff distance: pavement 940 feet
Initial climb: 1200 fpm@ 100 Knots
Gross weight Landing: Approach speed 70 knots, winds favoring runway at 12 knots. 92F.
Power on approach yielded stronger sink rate with much less aft trim required, much easier flare and touchdown, although more noticeable sink rate. Landing and rollout with moderate braking: 650 feet.
After the trip my wife and I were both RV-10 converts, a wonderful machine with lots of room, comfort and utility. It rivals the Cessna 180 as my favorite 4-place airplane! BTW, I heard a rumor this year at Oshkosh that a missionary pilot friend of mine and a Van's guru are potentially developing a high wing "bush" RV-10.
Hope all this helps your decision!
Smokey
HR2
PS: We just returned from a trip to Ecuador where we were lucky enough to spend a day in the Amazonian jungle flying with my MAF Pilot friend Chad. Here is a video of us landing at a 400 meter strip near the Peruvian border deep in the amazon jungle. We are in a loaded 206 with an approach similar to what you described at you place.
PSS:
Safety tip: Load the RV-10 exactly like a 206, front seat pax first, then back seat pax and baggage, then yourself. Reverse this and she will stand on her tail!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRj-RC45fy0
STOL landing in Ecuador