Building your own (dirt) runway?
Hoi Chong
runway, to be used only by you (maybe a 152 or a 172)?
What are the regulations?
What length is required?
100%-flat land?
Cost?
Time?
Landing lights? Home-make maybe? (no, please no dropping flares from
airplane, cannot do that day in and day out)
Or can I just land any damn where I like? (I am only a few hours in
PVT lessons, so please no you-should-know's, thanks). Oh, it will be
in the middle of nowhere, of course (certainly outside controlled
airspace).
Thanks in advance.
Mary Shafer
Hoi> Any one has any idea/knowledge/experience of building your own (dirt)
Hoi> runway, to be used only by you (maybe a 152 or a 172)?
Hoi> Landing lights? Home-make maybe? (no, please no dropping flares from
Hoi> airplane, cannot do that day in and day out)
The little box that turns the lights up when you click the mike
cost about $1,000 in 1988. The fixtures to hold the lights were
about $50 and the lights themselves were about $12 each. The
rig to hold the fixtures is just made from 2" pipe.
--
Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
sha...@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov Of course I don't speak for NASA
"There's no kill like a guns kill." LCDR "Hoser" Satrapa, gunnery instructor
"A kill is a kill." Anonymous
David Lesher
# Hoi> Landing lights? Home-make maybe? (no, please no dropping flares from
# Hoi> airplane, cannot do that day in and day out)
#
# The little box that turns the lights up when you click the mike
# cost about $1,000 in 1988. The fixtures to hold the lights were
# about $50 and the lights themselves were about $12 each. The
# rig to hold the fixtures is just made from 2" pipe.
If you buy them.....
Long long time ago, there was this strip in a cornfield in
XXXXXX, Ohio. It had lights and 'click' control of same.
The lights? Well, you see, a 120v lamp fits nicely in a Mason
jar. And a 1/2" pipe flange rivets nicely to the top^X^X^Xbottom
piece. Romex even runs up the conduit. To keep the temp down and
lengthen the lamp life, a transformer ran the lamps at ~~100
volts.
As for the clicker, well the FCC type-accepts transmitters, not
scanner type receivers. And the digital logic and timer needed;
well - working need not mean "state of the art" rather "state of
the junkbox" ;-}
Oh, you better hurry. I just saw a news report that Mason is
going out of the jar business...
--
A host is a host from coast to coast..wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
David Neal
>Others said
># Hoi> Landing lights? Home-make maybe? (no, please no dropping flares from
># Hoi> airplane, cannot do that day in and day out)
>#
># The little box that turns the lights up when you click the mike
># cost about $1,000 in 1988. The fixtures to hold the lights were
># about $50 and the lights themselves were about $12 each. The
># rig to hold the fixtures is just made from 2" pipe.
>
>If you buy them.....
>The lights? Well, you see, a 120v lamp fits nicely in a Mason
>jar. And a 1/2" pipe flange rivets nicely to the top^X^X^Xbottom
>piece. Romex even runs up the conduit. To keep the temp down and
>lengthen the lamp life, a transformer ran the lamps at ~~100
>volts.
>--
My good friend Chas Hunt and I are in the process of installing
a runway lighting system on his farm outside of Austin, TX.
He paid $350 for a used (circa 1976) radio runway controller.
Works great -- the things built like a tank. State of the
art? Who needs it?
We also incorporated PVC conduit and heavy gauge Romex wire.
PVC+wire runs .17/ft. The lights, all weather fixtures and hardware
to connect to the PVC runs $14. We got everything we needed
except the electronics at Home Depot.
--
--
David Neal -- hd...@hou281.chevron.com
Conserve water, California's deserts need more cotton farms.
ol...@xn.ll.mit.edu
>Any one has any idea/knowledge/experience of building your own (dirt)
>runway, to be used only by you (maybe a 152 or a 172)?
If you're seriously interested in this and are an AOPA member, you should
call and ask them for their new-airport information package; it answers a
lot of questions. If you're not a member, join! (Call 1-800-USA-AOPA.)
>What are the regulations?
You may have to worry about three levels of regulation:
federal, state, and local.
You have to tell the FAA about your landing strip, and they will tell
you if you can use it. They will almost certainly say "yes", unless
your strip would unduly interfere with an existing airport, restricted
area, military training route, etc. The AOPA packet has the required
FAA forms.
The state may or may not have regulations to comply with; you'd best
contact the state agency which handles aviation matters: the name and
address will be in the AOPA packet, if you specify which state you're
interested in.
Local zoning regulations are usually the show-stopper. In many
places, building of new airports is drastically restricted, or (as in
the town where I live) completely forbidden. You should contact the
local government for the area you're interested in, to see if there
are restrictions.
>What length is required?
Long enough. :-) Seriously, there is no set formula for the mininum
required length: it depends on local conditions, aircraft performance,
and pilot skill. You'll have to judge for yourself how short a runway
is safe for you. The Pilot's Operating Handbook is a place to start,
but it's wise to take those performance figures with a grain of salt,
and add a comfortable margin of error. A longer runway is safer.
>100%-flat land?
_Airport_Design_ (an FAA Advisory Circular) recommends a grade of no
more than 2%. Flatter is better.
>Cost?
>Time?
These depend on how much surface preparation is needed, the cost of
construction work in the area, whether a zoning variance is required,
etc. Costs might be just a few postage stamps, or might be many, many
kilobucks. Time is similarly variable.
Good luck!
Geoff Peck
hd...@usho92.hou281.chevron.com (David Neal) writes:
> My good friend Chas Hunt and I are in the process of installing
> We got everything we needed [...] at Home Depot.
Ah, but does Home Depot have ILSes? :-)
Geoff
Rex Root
>
>Ah, but does Home Depot have ILSes? :-)
>
of buying a wind sock from Sportys.
Paul Cantrell
> Any one has any idea/knowledge/experience of building your own (dirt)
> runway, to be used only by you (maybe a 152 or a 172)?
>
> What are the regulations?
> What length is required?
> 100%-flat land?
> Cost?
> Time?
> Landing lights? Home-make maybe? (no, please no dropping flares from
> airplane, cannot do that day in and day out)
>
> Or can I just land any damn where I like?
Well, as far as I know there are two parts to this question:
1) Can I just cut a dirt strip and land on it, or are there some
minimum criteria for landing areas
2) What's require to get a strip *registered* as a runway?
As for question #1, I know of no regulation limiting where an airplane may
takeoff or land from, assuming the pilot uses reasonable prudence.
Certainly a dirt strip on your own property (or on property you have
permission to use) should be fine. FBOs that rent you a plane may not
allow you to operate from such a strip, but if you own your aircraft
this should not be a problem.
How long and flat should it be? Long and flat enough to be safe for the
particular aircraft you plan on operating from it.
One thing to check into is whether the town/city/county has any ordinances
against landing aircraft. If they do, they may be binding, and a lawyer
will be required to tell for sure. If they don't, you're home free.
Regarding question #2, I believe it is fairly easy and inexpensive to get
a strip registered as an airport. The local FSDO has the form you need.
People I know who have done it just found another person who had already
done it, and just copied their materials. Generally, a sketch or
photograph of the area is required, and a simple form must be filled out.
The fee is minimal ($25 or so).
I doubt there are any restrictions on length or flatness as I've seen some
extremely short runways, and some extremely steep runways (one grass
runway was so steep, I couldn't see how the planes could develop enough
power to taxi up - I had a hard time walking up the slope).
There is a large advantage to registering your strip. It grandfathers you
if the town/city/county should decide subsequently to prohibit aircraft
from operating within their jurisdiction. This has happened to several
people I know, so don't take it lightly.
Normally, you register the airport as a private strip which doesn't even
show up on a sectional, so you won't suddenly have a bunch of airplanes
landing on your runway (unless you want them to! :-)
Paul Cantrell
David Neal
Don't laugh.
I don't know what an ILS system would cost. But here at Chevron
I have been to demonstrations of several differential GPS systems.
Most anyone can setup a DGPS (differential GPS) system.
A local company sells a base station for $16,500 + 2,800 for a
30W UHF transmitter and modem. But $12,500 of the cost is
their 12 channel GPS engine. You can replace it with a lower cost
six channel system ($2K-$5K).
For use in the plane you need a GPS system that can use DGPS
directly, or to spend another $2,800 for a UHF modem and receiver,
assuming your GPS unit speaks RTCN 104. Motorola sells a unit for
$4,395 that receives standard and DGPS. Or just the guts to the
unit for $1,800 for you experimenters out there. Garmin and Trimble
may have similar units for less.
For your investment, you get 1-4 meters accuracy vertically,
and 1-3 meters horizontally in a 20-40 statue mile line of sight radius.
This might seem expensive, but DGPS scales pretty well. Communications
and Measurement Technologies LTD (0442 258333) sells VHF and HF
DGPS systems that start at $50,000 but have 100-500 Kilometer ranges.
Of course since the FAA's baby MLS would be threatened by
such a system, we all know how far it will go.
Finally, RTCA and the FAA are holding a conference Oct 19
on GPS. Call (301) 949-7477 if you would like to attend.
That's not a commercial endorsement BTW, I just got the
number from Bob Warner at the EAA 5 mins ago and had
never heard of RTCA before that.
David Neal
Don't laugh.
I don't know what an ILS system would cost. But here at Chevron
I have been to demonstrations of several differential GPS systems.
Most anyone can setup a DGPS (differential GPS) system.
A local company sells a base station for $16,500 + 2,800 for a
30W UHF transmitter and modem. But $12,500 of the cost is
their 12 channel GPS engine. You can replace it with a lower cost
six channel system ($2K-$5K).
For use in the plane you need a GPS system that can use DGPS
directly, or to spend another $2,800 for a UHF modem and receiver,
assuming your GPS unit speaks RTCN 104. Motorola sells a unit for
$4,395 that receives standard and DGPS. Or just the guts to the
unit for $1,800 for you experimenters out there. Garmin and Trimble
may have similar units for less.
This might seem expensive, but DGPS scales pretty well. Communications
and Measurement Technologies LTD (0442 258333) sells VHF and HF
DGPS systems that start at $50,000 but have 100-500 Kilometer ranges.
Of course since the FAA's baby MLS would be threatened by
such a system, we all know how far it will go.
Finally, RTCA and the FAA are holding a conference Oct 19
on GPS. Call (301) 949-7477 if you would like to attend.
That's not a commercial endorsement BTW, I just got the
number from Bob Warner at the EAA 5 mins ago and had
never heard of RTCA before that.
--
David Lesher
# > My good friend Chas Hunt and I are in the process of installing
# > a runway lighting system on his farm outside of Austin, TX. [...]
# > We got everything we needed [...] at Home Depot.
# Ah, but does Home Depot have ILSes? :-)
The amateur radio magazine "CQ" used to have a series about a character
called "Scratchi" and the various ways he got into trouble. I recall
the one where he went to a hamfest [a amateur radio electronic flea
market] and got a great deal on some unlabeled piece of equipment.
So he took it home, plugged it in, and a DC-8 landed in his back yard....
Christophe Pettus
>Of course since the FAA's baby MLS would be threatened by
>such a system, we all know how far it will go.
Actually, you may be surprised. The FAA has finally started to conceed
that MLS was just a Bad Idea (something air carriers as well as GA
interests have been telling them for years), and is working on
certifying GPS approaches. Don't expect anything before 2000, but
considering the rate with which LORAN was certified, that's positively
blinding speed.
--
-- Christophe
"Black is the color of non-conformity. Everyone has to have it."
T-shirt company executive
Charles K. Scott
> In article <8#bndrj....@netcom.com>, hch...@netcom.com (Hoi Chong) writes:
> > Any one has any idea/knowledge/experience of building your own (dirt)
> > runway, to be used only by you (maybe a 152 or a 172)?
I spoke with a person who was attempting to build a strip out in
Washington, he currently lives in VT. It isn't physically building the
strip that is creating a problem, it's the town zoning regulations and
noise pollution that is dragging things out. He virtually has to file
an environmental impact statement. If you are anywhere near neighbors,
it's likely they will have some say in the building of a backyard
strip. If they don't care, as in the case of this person, the town has
some things to say about it.
Corky Scott.
Will Crowder
Pettus) writes:
|> In article <1992Aug31....@usho93.hou281.chevron.com>
|> hd...@usho0e.hou281.chevron.com (David Neal) writes:
|> >Of course since the FAA's baby MLS would be threatened by
|> >such a system, we all know how far it will go.
|>
|> Actually, you may be surprised. The FAA has finally started to conceed
|> that MLS was just a Bad Idea (something air carriers as well as GA
|> interests have been telling them for years), and is working on
|> certifying GPS approaches.
In this month's _NTSB Reporter_, there's a little story about how the
FAA has awarded a total of (approximately) $13 million in contracts to
Raytheon Co. and another company the name of which I can't remember to
develop demonstration MLS systems. One of the systems is supposed to
be good for ceilings down to 100' and visbilities in the 1200' range,
the other is supposed to be good for ceilings below 100' and
visibilities down to 700'.
Doesn't look like they've given up on MLS yet. And I, for one, would
rather see that $13 million spent differently. Say, perhaps, to keep a
few more good ol' fashioned full-service FSS's around? Resurface
a few pot-hole and weed infested runways? Bring BRITE or other
radar service to more towers? And a bunch of other stuff.
However, in _Plane & Pilot_, they have a short blurb about the FAA
saying to expect GPS approaches and certified receivers to be available
in the late 1990s, and that they've given up on LORAN approaches.
Will
PP-ASEL-IA
--
Will Crowder | "Any airplane you can't roll ain't
Senior Member of Technical Staff | no damn good!"
(wil...@ivy.isc.com) | -- Tex Johnston
INTERACTIVE Systems Corp. |