Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only 1000' grass runway with 800 overrun: 100hp or 150hp, both STOL, much difference?

lol, Jeff and Kathie Davis, (former 150/150 owners), took extraordinary delight in showing us how their Cherokee 180 was superior to our 150/150 where one memorable example was at Bryce Canyon, Utah, (7586' elevation), and they had that airplane loaded to the gills!!

Bill

Ah, Bill, always respectful.

Book takeoff roll for the airplane on a standard day, depending on the source is 720-800 feet on pavement at gross. Add an appropriate percentage for grass and that the airplane may not be in perfect condition... I may be old fashioned, but I generally add 50% for the fact the airplane isn't in new condition and 50% for grass. So, standard day, for planning, allow 1400-1600 feet to break ground. Then, if the temp is above standard...

Take a look at the NTSB website for 180 accidents - a fair number of runway over runs on landing, and a fair number on attempted go arounds after the pilot thought he couldn't get stopped.

I like the airplane a lot; I've flown them on and off since 1970 and have given instruction in them. It does very well, but, IMHO, it's not a STOL machine even though a knowledgable pilot can get some beautiful performance out of one. Tacking an extra 10 knots onto the published approach speed will make the float a painfully long time. The tapered wing (Archer) gave a little better takeoff performance and ceiling.

Warmest regards,
Rick

1000 feet of grass isn't enough for any of the planes you're looking at, considering the density altitudes you can expect.

If you are able to convert that overrun into runway, go buy Anthony's 150E, because you're not likely to find a better deal on anything else in the air.

If you're staying with 1000' you might be happier with a Champ or maybe a Light Sport.

I'm at 4500+ MSL and get unstuck from my graded-dirt runway at about 1000 feet, solo, in a stock 1970 150K. Dirt is NOT grass. Grass is great for landings but not takeoffs.

My final thought is that IF you are unobstructed, AND solo, AND below that 175-lb "typical" pilot, even on grass a standard 150 will probably work for you. Change any of those and you will have times in summer where you won't need a harness, because suction will be holding you in your seat.

Thanks Bengie. I’ll consult a local dirt guy because I’m not sure the motorgrader would work. My property is super flat so if I take dirt away from the sides then I’ll have 2 ditches lower than the rest of the property always there and every time it rains they’ll fill up quickly. This area of east Texas is all sugar sand so my worry is that it’ll start eroding the runway and over time I might have issues.

Where in Texas are you, Carlos???

East Texas, between Canton and Tyler, a few miles south of I-20.

I'm currently looking at those options. I'm going to take some videos to better explain my property setup then upload to YouTube. Is it ok with the forum rules to post a link to a video on YouTube?

Canton Tradin' Days!!!!

I fly over that area every year going to Clinton! I refuel at Athens.

Not a problem. We often post links to our own videos and others' on YouTube.

I'm about 8 miles to the east of Canton so hopefully soon we'll have a runway for you land and visit. In fact if you feel like flying up once the runway is ready let me know and we'll make sure you get that $100 hamburger for free at my home. BTW, you should check Rusk County to the east if it's not far from your route, the gas was cheaper there last week.

Of course all this runway and airplane research is because I'm getting back into GA flying so I'm sure there's a free app for cheap avgas. The price of fuel is something I haven't had to worry about for the last 10 years since I didn't pay for it at work.

Thanks Hung, I'll take the video tomorrow and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!!!!