Short Field- FARM

[Moparrob]

I'm glad you posted this. I have about 600 feet of runway, but no trees. The worst thing I could hit is a rickety fence, about 4' high. Prevailing wind is out of the North, so If I were to take off to the North, I have mountains gradually sloping up to about 300' AGL, peaking about 1000' from the end of my "runway". I hope to get a BFR and tailwheel endorsement in the Kitfox from Stick and Rudder, which is about 50 minutes away by car. I'll see what my instructor has to say, but before I clear away the sage, what does the Kitfox hive-mind think?

[Slyfox]

this is my thoughts. I would go to thun field and take a demo flight. If you are still interested in flying, get your license. After getting your license and only then, decide what airplane you want and if you still think you want to fly out of this field of yours. Another thought, have someone come out and log all those trees. they have to be able to do it on the weekend. ha! I'm sure there will be an environmentalist close by to stop it, so get them down quick. doing this just might help you with the cost to learn how to fly. of course you could just learn to fly a helicopter and buy that instead. much easier to get into a place like that.

[HighWing]

All good thoughts in my opinion. I find that for me, the more conservative thinking is more like mine, but I do have some other thoughts as well. A couple of examples have tempered my thinking somewhat. A good friend, Mark, Flew out of his 1000 ft. strip for years until he accurately measured it. From then on he flew out of his 700 ft. Strip. I flew over it many times, but never landed there. Then Hal's strip or rather the dirt road behind his house. Cut out of a fairly steep slope, dragging a wing tip was my first thought when I walked it, then the hump that defined the exact touch down spot. Land short and a hard bounce to go-around. Land precisely and presto - perfect. Land a bit long and maybe a go-around is possible. I know that when Hal had guests who wanted a ride in his early S-7 it was a short flight for him solo to a pick up spot to board his passenger then after the flight and deplaning the passenger it was Hal solo back home and his guest riding back in the car. I don't believe anyone other than Hal ever landed behind his house.

The point: As every airplane is different, the guy with his hands on the throttle and stick is the biggest factor. Time,determination and ultimately skill will determine if it will work.

[Slyfox]

I was a little tough on post 11, but in the original post it talked of being a new pilot. Anyway, I know I could land in there no problem. main thing is to always do a 3 point landing, that will give you the slowest possible approach. be 50mph or less coming over the approach end, have your throttle to where it will be sloooow. like take your normal setting and back the throttle stops off another 1/2 on each carb slow. too much rpm and you will float forever, you don't want that for a short landing. when you are over the approach you back off the throttle, if you are good you will know how the feel is with the throttle, pull back on the stick and it will drop on the runway, like a pillow cus more than likely your tail is already draggin. your down, going real slow and you don't even need the brakes. that's my favorite landing type. wheel landings are for show offs and will cause big problems on a short field. not that I haven't done it, I can but if you want short, that's it. oh, love my flight adjustable prop also.

now with talk of the sti wing and such, that would really be the ticket with 25 mph stall. that would be cool