The 500mm or was it 400mm was an overkill at the time but that is what the
local council engineer wanted and it has never been redone since. It was hot
and was done in with local road works so no travelling but we paid full
price to Boral. We regularly sprayed for weeds etc and early cracks were
sealed by hand with cold tar. In early days we had to take care not to turn
gliders on the spot on hot days.
Ian McPhee
----- Original Message -----
From: Armistead, Allan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 8:20 AM
Subject: RE: [aus-soaring] Glider launching areas on your airstrip/aerodrome
> Without knowing the specifics of the site, I would think 500mm of gravel I
> would be a bit of an overkill - we're not exactly dealing with high wheel
> loads or tyre pressures in gliding operations. Have you done a reseal in
the
> 20 years? If that's the original seal then it's a pretty good life - the
> environmental effects (u/v degradation of the bitumen and oxidisation
> leading to brittleness) would be what I would expect to kill the seal
> eventually. Surprised that the tug operation would cause excessive wear on
> the seal, unless they are pivoting hard on one wheel at the end of the
roll
> and screwing the stone out.
>
> Do you recall if it was hot sprayed bitumen originally, or cold emulsion?
(I
> doubt that you actually used tar, which is a coal derivative and has not
> been used in road sealing for yonks (notwithstanding some of the signs you
> see beside the road), in part because of the superior performance of
bitumen
> (a petroleum derivative) but also because of its carcinogenic properties.)
>
>
> Allan Armistead
> Roads, Land Transport
> (02) 6274 7677
>
> "When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes
> turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always be."
> Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian K McPhee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, 23 March 2001 7:37
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: [aus-soaring] Glider launching areas on your
airstrip/aerodrome
>
>
>
> About 20 years ago at Keepit we did the full on tar pads 400m x 6 or 8 m.
> with 50cm dig out and gravel compaction. At the time it cost a bit more
> than an LS4!! and we got half paid by sport & rec grant. We did a prime
coat
> and final coat 18 months later to spread the cost load. Fine stones were
> bit of a problem for 3or 4 years although I would get the local council to
> come out and sweep before a comps. The other positive is it gave a chance
> for the rest of the strip to catch up and re grass. One problem is tug
> pilots tend to go down the middle of tar at end and then we had a minor
> problem at end of tar. I would remind tug pilots to go one side or the
> other and most would forget - The only way is arrow near end of tar to
> remind them! 400m is long enough except we were operating 100m in from
end
> of tar so careful placement is important. Back in late '70s we did think
of
> irrigation as Waikerie were doing at the time. Anyhow tar was expensive
but
> it was a good decision for the long term and all these days would agree I
am
> sure. Keepit in the late 70s and early 80s was a dust bowl.
>
> Ian Mc Phee
> Box 657 Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia
> Tel (61) 266 847 642 (Fax 942)
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> www.mrsoaring.com <http://www.mrsoaring.com> for radios xponders
> microphones wingstands instruments and much more
> "If Flying were the langauge of man, Soaring would be its poetry"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Roger <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Druce
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 10:06 PM
> Subject: [aus-soaring] Glider launching areas on your airstrip/aerodrome
>
> I was thinking that perhaps there was some useful experience out in the
> soaring electronic ether as to how other gliding sites have dealt with the
> matter of resurfacing their glider take off areas. Is there some
experience
> which some of you may be able share with us? We have some ideas on what
to
> do but perhaps some sites have taken action and then had time to see how
the
> ideas actually worked out.
>
> At Bacchus Marsh we have finally come to the stage where we have to act to
> overcome the seriously rough ground at the two most used launch ends.
Over
> the past decade or so the Pawnees have tended to blast the ground with
> propeller slipstream harder than the Super Cubs which early on were the
only
> tugs we had. Moreover the last four winters have been very dry which
> certainly doesn't help. And yes it is going to be difficult to rest the
> affected areas whilst the restoration work proceeds. Our aim is to
achieve
> smooth well grassed launch areas, probably grass all over but perhaps with
a
> bitumen launch strip inset.
>
> We are aware of the effort at Locksley where the ground has been flattened
> with a 'land plane' and the area(s) regrassed, and we will revisit there
to
> see again first hand and enquire more closely.
>
> Some sites have put in bitumen take-off strips for glider launching, eg.
> Benalla, Bathurst, Beverley (?). This appears to be a good idea at first
> sight but does it work in the longer term? How long does it have to be?
> What sort of width? What sort of cost? Whilst this approach deals with
the
> immediate take-off run, it still leaves one having to restore the grass
> surrounding the bitumen strip. So are bitumen take-off strips cost
> effective or is the money best spent on regrassing all over?
>
> Have people succeeded in regrassing in dry land areas with minimal
watering
> or has it taken significant watering to establish the new grass? What
sort
> of grasses have been selected? We have had some advice as to native
grasses
> and exotic grasses which may suit but nevertheless it would be interesting
> to know what others have used. Grass selection of course depends on local
> conditions. Whilst we are in southern Victoria, nevertheless we are in a
> low rainfall area at 18" average (450 mm) per year. As always this is
> variable. We don't have an issue with flooding or waterlogging as there
are
> adequate gradients for drainage. Also we don't have a significant frost
> problem which can be an issue for some grass types.
>
> I realise I am not necessarily expressing all of the issues all that well,
> but it is late at night.
>
> It may be that an electronic reply has merit, or perhaps a real time human
> to human telephone communication may be quicker and more direct. So I
> append my telephone number.
>
> Thanks in anticipation
> Roger Druce
> Tel: 03 9439 8947
> Fax: 03 9431 4175
>
>
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