What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

grass strips

I took off from a grass strip a couple of weeks ago. There are many have landed on grass strips all over the country. Scott has a trip write up from some back country flying out west.
 
I have flown into a handful of grass strips over the past 15 months and have had no problems. Wheel pant damage is my biggest concern, so am very careful about the condition of the strip and where I taxi.
 
Embeded Rocks

Twice I have torn up my wheel pants on grass runways from what I believe are embeded pebbles. I believe one time was at Big Creek ID. One time it looked like a rock had been bouncing around like a pin ball. It had About 8 small and larger cracks in surface. The other time a piece around the bottom about an inch and a half wide and about 40% of the distance around the tire was missing. When I had my old RV4 with Van's original pants, I operated off grass and gravel all the time, with never a problem.
 
It's all in the planning

Moura said:
What about landing in beaches? Any experiences?
Click to expand...

I have landed on lots of grass and a few beaches without incident, but I always surveyed the landing site first myself or had someone on the ground that I trusted, which takes a lot of the risk out of the equation. Problem is, of course, how do you walk the runway when it is your destination? Beaches are the worst because the conditions can change in minutes, depending on tide, wind, and the moisture content of the sand. Be very careful!

1260052991NXg7Mc8.jpg


John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA
 
I haven't had any problems on grass. I originally worried about cracking a wheel pant but I haven't had any problems yet. I generally use well-maintained grass strips and I'm pretty good with composites should the worst happen. My neighbor managed to break the bottom out of his wheel pants but I was able to pull a mold off my own and fix his in just a few hours.

I will say... after watching other RV-10s take-off on grass, it looks like the nosewheel shakes pretty good! Remember to use soft-field techniques.

Insurance companies often deny coverage for off-airport operations so make accept the risk before landing on a beach. Around here, we often land on lakes during the winter but I only do so with cheap airplanes that I can afford to replace (Champ, C152, etc.). I'm not willing to take the same risks with a $200,000 RV-10 but that's a personal decision.
 
The first time I flew a -10 was from a 2500' grass strip - no problem at all. As others have said, ensure the surface is in good condition before you land.

Pete
 
Was just perusing the NTSB reports and noticed this:
http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief.asp?ev_id=20100209X75719&key=1


On February 6, 2010, approximately 1130 eastern standard time, a Cirrus Design Corporation, SR22, N155ZS, nosed over while landing at Indiantown Airport (X58), Indiantown, Florida. The certificated airline transport pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal repositioning flight, which departed from Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV), Gainesville, Florida and had a destination of Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida. ....
Click to expand...

I don't think this is a big problem with the RV-10 as it is with other A model RVs but it can happen to any tri gear aircraft.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top