jeeper91

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Heres a topic that I am super passionate about. Airfield Maintenance!!!

In this thread I'd like to here from people on what they do to maintain their airfield. Whether it be private, club, or provided by a municipality, Let's hear it! What equipment, what products, pics of your field, asphalt, grass, it don't matter. It's more of a place to get tips and tricks, along with ideas for making our lives easier and less time consuming in the area of field maintenance.

Myself and four other guys currently run a 570'x100' grass runway, just outside of Springfield, NE. We are super passionate about making the best grass runway in all of Nebraska. We started on April 1 of 2010 with 150lbs of 50/50 blue rye and were flying off it in 3 weeks. Our choice in grass seed was based completly on what we could mow super low, to provide a fast surface, but still have the advantage of friction to slow our rollouts. We mow it at around 1.5" and the fine blade blue grass bends easily so as to not hinder take off.
We still have bumps in the field, but multiple aerations and rolling with a double drum asphalt roller are taking care of that.

I sure wish I could have a runway like that of a tee box at the golf course, but the equipment to maintain that is uber expensive.

I have 15 years of commercial lawncare experience along with license in turfgrass management and home pest control. When it comes to Fertilizer and Pest control chemicals I'd be glad to help out anyway I can.

I'll post pics in a couple of weeks when springtime Maintenance is complete.

So let's hear it see it live it whatever, throw out those ideas and let's start a thread that matters more than anything. MAINTAINING A PLACE TO LAND!!!!

"Take off is optional, LANDING IS MANDATORY!"

jeeper91

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This is the field 2 Weeks after planting seed. Not completely germinated, but rain the next week caused an explosion of grass seed germination. The following saturday we were flying.

JollyPopper

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WOW, what a nice place that will be to fly RC models.

jeeper91

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Two weeks ago triple aerated, spread 50lbs of 50/50 Blue Rye, 200lbs 18-24-12 starter fertilizer. Waited for rain, then had it rolled by Mario, who runs the sod field next to us. It's now super smooth and still has the aeration holes in the soil which will hold water on the field longer. First mowing of the season will probably happen this week.

jeeper91

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Here is the roller that Mario uses to roll the sod farm and our airfield. No that is not Mario! That's Heather, my fiance' and supporter of all things RC.

jeeper91

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Well first mow of the season and WOW it's greeeeeen! Got to compare pictures from last year and noticed that the trees were full of leaves by this time last year. Been a little colder this spring and alot less moisture. That green is the power of the proper fertilizer. Fertilizer will maximize the use of the small amount of moisture due to no irrigation, causing the grass to retain moisture better by building thicker cell walls within the plant. Potassuim is what the final number is in the 3 numbers on the analysis on every bag of fert. Pump as much potassium at it as possible during the wet season and when the drought comes the plant will stay out of dormancy longer, there by holding that green look longer. DO NOT OVERLOAD potassium during high heat and humidity. This will cause diseases to set in easier, so at the first sign of impending heat waves lower the final number in your fertilizer. Kinda like a Banana, high heat and humidity make them rot.

perreback

That's a nice field you've got there, jeeper - I'm a wee bit envious. [&:]

Edwin

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We've got a paved runway. No water at the field (and no rain normally) keeps us from having a nice grass runway. The dry ground cracks really bad and causes cracks on the edge of the runway. We just recent bought a small patching machine to tar fill the cracks, $1100. You turn it on, push it and pull a handle to drop about a 4" wide strip of tar on the cracks. It used to cost us about $1200 to pay to have it done every 2 years.
Edwin