Hi, I've been flying park flyers for a few years now (ABX, AB Swift, Begin-Air, PZ Cub) and I'd like to eventually transition to something like the Art-Tech P-51 or the PZ T-28 Trojan.

Up to this point I've always hand-launched my aircraft, mainly because I fly at my dad's pasture and it doesn't really have any areas that are flat and have no or relatively short grass. Before I transition to the P-51 or the T-28 I would like to be able to develop something for taking off from the ground instead of hand-launching.

Let me know if anyone thinks this will work: I'm thinking about buying several tarps and laying them out flat to make a makeshift flat surface to act as a runway for taking off and landing. Has anyone ever had any experience with this or have any idea if it will work? Does anyone know how much length it will take to get them airborne?

Thanks!

Josh

It'll take a small plane like that 20-40 feet to become airborne. Tarps could work, but thier light weight would make them less than ideal. Used outdoor carpet would be better. You'll still need a flat spot of ground to do this on.

Now, that said, why not just level an area and mow the runway very short? We regularly fly small (36-45") 'leccy's from our grass field. The best use of a runway at this scale is in landing, not so much in taking off, for which a hand launch is easier. Landing takes vastly more runway. I figure a couple hours with regular lawn and garden tools, or less with a tractor, would have a suitable surface ready. Roll it for now, grass comes with time (if you seed!).

J

http://www.rcuniverse.com/gallery/ga...m?clubgal=3698

Start by rolling, and cutting as short as possible. Work up from there.

We take off from a grass field. It has some gradual hills in it, but we rolled out most of the bumps. It's cut about as short as a golf course fairway (maybe a hair longer?).

If you use tarps and have a prop strike, you will rip the tarp, causing an area that could snag your plane next time around. Just something to think about.

Thanks for all the suggestions...I think I'll try to find a level spot (the largest is one toward the middle of the pasture) and cut the grass short and see how that does. I want to practice as much I can with my existing bird so I at least will get familiar with the approach and landing.

One more question for possible future use....I was wondering how well a glow plane would handle the gradual hills. If I got a glow plane I wouldn't intentionally be landing on the hills if I could avoid it but if I had to make an emergency landing I just wonder how something about the size of a nexstar or tower hobbies trainer would handle the slight hills + relatively tall grass. I know from flying my other parkflyers that the tall grass can almost act as a gentle form of arrestor gear to slow the plane down. I just don't know how well a glow plane would handle that.

Josh

We do it every day.

The flatter you can make it the better, but smoothly rolling hills aren't a real problem. With a glow plane, replace the stock tires with 3" or larger low bounce tires (rubber, not foam), and it'll go great on grass. Wheel pants are pretty much out too.

Our club runway features some gentle rollers, maybe changing 4" over 10' or so, and we don't notice them much. The donuts left by some MX'er are annoying, but also pose little problem with any of our planes.

Glow planes are generally more tolerant of their environments (rough runways, wind, etc.) than are smaller electrics.

J

Jburry, same here! We have little 'rollers' on our strip, along with some tire tracks from someone doing donuts on our field, too. Not much affects the glow planes.

I did have a hard landing, and my Nexstar bounced once and came down nose gear first into one of the rollers. It bent the gear a bit, but nothing to keep it out of the sky.

Good advice about switching wheels - maybe I'll do that. Currently using stock Nexstar foamies.

The field I started used to be a pasture. I had to drag a steel beam behind my 4 wheel drive truck just to knock down the overgrowth. After it rains, you can use a roller and it helps smooth out the bumps. All my 40 and 60 size planes use 3" or larger wheels, and I use wheelpants on several planes without a problem. I cut the grass to 2 1/2" now and the only thing that kills me is the @$@#$#$ dandelions that you could cut twice a day, and they pop up in just a couple of hours. Look at the pictures http://www.rcuniverse.com/gallery/ga...m?clubgal=3698 and you can see what the weeds and brush I started with looked like.

our club field is paved with astro turf we got from a high school football field renovation,the farmer we rent from roled the runway with his tractor and we pinned the surface down with spikes with washers, http://flypcc.org/pages/galleries/pc...al_photo.shtml we are going to widen it by about 15ft after getting some new turf from another renovationfrom a local city collage field.

That's nice, and you don't have to mow it to keep it the right length.

just a little Round up when the weeds start poping up a couple times a year and it takes care of its self

Firehawk153,.......I fly out of a pasture also...With cows in it.. I spent a day leveling off a spot, with a wheelbarrow, a rake , a shovel, and a string trimmer. It turned out so nice the cows made it their favorite spot. Now it's trashed and I'm back to hand launching the smaller planes. If ya got animals in that pasture, watch out how much work ya put into it.
Been thinkin about that green outdoor carpet myself. Maybe mounting about a 100 ft of it on wheels so it would be more portable, I could just roll it up when I was done flyn'

Good Luck.....