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Bob,
Here’s a non-expert opinion . . .
All the data on that field looks good.
The field is way longer than the 1800’
grass (useable) I based out of when I first owned my Coupe. What felt shorter
was the 2400’ asphalt I was based at next. (It was harder to stop on the
asphalt – more braking required.) Both were at about 1k’ msl.
3400’ should be plenty long. If you’re
just used to landing on way long fields, you might want to go for a day of
takeoffs and landings, touching down as close as possible to those marks on the
side of the runway which designate the optimal touchdown point to practice your
accuracy for the “short” field.
(Note: if you learn to fly on a very
short field, then 3400 will feel like a big airport.)
My BIG caution would be for prop damage.
Do NOT
Do NOT
Do NOT
Do
NOT!
Go to more than absolute minimum power
without moving forward.
The prop sucks up a lot of air and can
pick up small rocks from the ground. If you are stationary, they get sucked
into the prop and you get a damaged prop.
On gravel, you need to do your runup while
ROLLING. (Be careful to not roll into things.)
Ideal is to look for a spot with good
grass and move the grass around to be sure there are no rocks showing
underneath. (This applies to pavement, too. Look for any loose gravel under
and right in front of your prop and sweep it away or else find an engine start
place that IS clean.)
If good grass is not an option, look for a
place where you can get moving without much or any power above idle –
perhaps a very slight down-slope. When you apply power, do it very gently and get
moving. Only apply power slowly as you move faster.
On takeoff, I’d use 20’-50’
to get rolling, increasing power slowly as I started to move and not apply full
power till I was going maybe 10+ mph.
Having said that firmly, I’ll now
say this. I’m not an expert on this. I’m just a guy whose
mechanic had to teach him the fine art of filing out multiple dings in the
leading edge of a prop. (A good skill to know in case of a ding on an isolated
airstrip according to my mechanic.) I also had to pay for a prop
reconditioning, due to this one learning experience.
But, I asked for and got the above advice
from those around who had already learned this lesson. Using the procedures
above I had no further prop dings in the ensuing 22½ years.
Just my humble opinion. Let’s get expert
opinion from the guys and gals.
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at-
edburkhead???.com (change -at- to @ and remove "???")
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