‘Strip flying is great fun and sharpens the skills, but some preparation is required’
can be very clever at finding ways to get inside and cause varying degrees of havoc. Having looked at the preparation process and deeming yourself ready to go, can you really say to yourself ‘I’m ready to fly this plane into strip X’? Operating off a relatively long and wide hard runway is very different to the short, narrow strip you are planning to fly into — incidentally, are you sure you can get out again? At licensed airfields we get used to having space to land, or float along if we’re a bit fast before touching down. Maybe we’ve ballooned the landing and re-establish the flare further up the runway before touching down. Out in strip-land you might not have the space to float for long and the width might require better attention at keeping in the middle. At some strips there might be a point on finals where you’re committed to land because there’s simply no go-around option. That was the case at a strip in western England. It had two runways, one a bit less than 400 metres, one a bit over.
22 CLUED UP JANUARY 2019
My aircraft was capable of landing or taking off in around 300 metres.
The field was on a hill which meant landing uphill and taking off downhill. Noting the wind direction I saw it would be a crosswind whichever runway I used. The slope would, however, help slow the landing rapidly while helping the acceleration on take-off. The wind direction also meant that there would be a slight tailwind for landing, but that would be cancelled out by the effect of the slope.
There weren’t any significant obstructions to worry about, but there would be some turbulence at low level induced by the airflow over the sloping ground, so I needed to be prepared for power adjustments to control the sink. Once below about 100 ft there was no go-around because the aircraft couldn’t out-climb the slope, so the approach had to be absolutely bang on — tricky, that one. Before setting off for your chosen strip, ask yourself a few questions: can you handle the aircraft safely to the tolerances
needed for your chosen strip? When did you last do a proper short-field take-off or landing? If the answer is ‘some time ago’, do some practice circuit work, maybe with an instructor, to hone up those skills. What about crosswind practice? Are you really comfortable handling differing, perhaps unexpected, wind conditions?
And what about the aircraft? If you fancy becoming a regular ‘stripper’ have you really got the right tool for the job? Where the strip is long and smooth, it’s not such a big issue, but where the ground is rougher a tailwheel is the better option; unless handled properly, a nosewheel can easily be damaged by hitting a runway ridge. Strip flying is great fun and sharpens the skills, but sensible preparation is required before you start and make sure that you don’t do anything that will cause problems for the strip owner. But, above all, enjoy it.
Phil Matthews is the owner and CFI of Cotswold Aero Club and has more than 20,000 hours experience in light aircraft.
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