Private, utility, bush, Strip requirements

[PullRedHandleToEject]

Hi all,

I am trying to find out what the suggested design requirements are for a private strip that has a commercial operation being conducted from it.

Basically looking to see if there are any outlines for a daytime bi-weekly to 4-6 times week - Land & T/O airstrip that is conducted from privately owned land in a country where there are a few GOV rules but they often change. No ATC services, or at least nothing remotely close to having controlled airspace.

I know how to calculate the length and width requirements for the type aircraft being used but its all the other bits and pieces that surround this operation I am looking for.

Sure, someone could run a grader out and call it an operational strip or I could follow everything set out from the FAA, JAA, CAA but at the end of the day that sort of money isnt in play.

I can find an AC that the FAA put out on airport design though this seems to pertain to GOV controlled (& non controlled) airports but cant see anything for a minimum requirement for private strips.

Items such as perimeter fencing (distance from runway, height), markings, windsock (size & placement) weather reporting, lighting, and on and on.

I would certainly appreciate any help that is tossed my way.

There are so many commercial opperations (& the blood thristy insurance companies that keep a leash on them) out there operating under similar circumstances that I would think this would be readilly available to anyone who is thinking of building ( or rebuilding ) a strip/facility.

I guess at the end of the day it might be a case of simply do what you can with what you know.
:ugh:

Thanks in advance

PRHTE

[john_tullamarine]

Moved to Tech Log as I think you will get a better response here.

[PullRedHandleToEject]

Thank you John.


PRHTE

[OverRun]

PullRedHandleToEject,

In a practical sense, a good deal of what you are looking for is at:
Airport Engineering (http://www.geocities.com/profemery/aviation.html)

and scroll down to the "DESIGN" bit. The four downloadables there are a good start:

Small general aviation airstrips, Flying Doctor (RFDS) airstrips and bush airstrips are mentioned in various CASA and RFDS guides or PPRUNE discussion (scroll to the bottom for the overrun contribution; there is even a wall poster of them (caution: there are a lot of specific aviation rules to be met in design, and only an airport engineer/inspector has the full knowledge needed to meet all the requirements).

The poster gives a good picture, but its width dimensions are only suited to a light single for day ops. You don't mention what aircraft type you're using, but the RFDS guide gives you dimensions for the King Air size by day and night. If your answer is any different than 18m runway inside 90m strip (or strip and flyover), then I'd calculate it again.

The biggest things to check are length, gradient along the runway (up and down-ness), at least 100m clearable width plus more width for the parking and terminal, and then the approaches having good gradients. Try not to point the runway at the biggest and nearest hill. Post an exact lat/long of the location, and I'll look at it in Google Earth and see if anything else pops up.

[werbil]

Have a look at:

http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/92_1.pdf

This is what the Australian regulator beleives to be an appropriate standard for aircraft landing areas.

[OverRun]

I was waiting for PullRedHandleToEject to come back with comments before I finished off the discussion, but in his absence, I don’t want to leave this discussion on the server for others to read later, without adding the necessary cautions.

Building a bush strip and building a licensed (or licensable) airport are very different things. The ICAO rules are complex, and get more onerous with increasing aircraft size. There are many examples where a bush strip has been built and worked well for a C210 or occasional Navajo. But over the years, as traffic has grown and the planes got bigger, the place becomes an awkward unpleasant sub-standard facility that will never meet ICAO Code 3 standards. For historical amusement, the old runway at KNX / YPKU (decommissioned and now used as a taxiway) pointed straight at the nearest mountain because it was originally pegged as a bush strip for a C172 and that was good enough. Proved rather awkward for F28s. In the end, the only way forward was to build a new runway.

I mentioned in my earlier post the four downloadables on DESIGN, and those plus some commonsense and some piloting knowledge are a good start for a bush strip. A lot get built like that, and work well. But please don’t think that this will let anyone design a proper airport. It's like giving me the pilot's manual to a KingAir and then expecting me to fly it. I'll get it started, and I'll get it off the ground, but I won’t consistently get it back on the ground right side up. If you need a KingAir pilot, get a proper one. If you need a proper airport, then you need an airport engineer to design it properly.

I've just given some advice to a small aerodrome operator looking for a way to upgrade their gravel strip, and let me paraphrase it here:
There are a number of technical requirements for runways and taxiways common with those needed for roads. There are also some specific airport requirements which the designer must consider. Typically a runway is more complex than a road.

To be surfaced successfully, a gravel runway or taxiway must be sound, without loose material, well drained, and have enough depth and strength. The runway seal must be specially designed. In addition, at aerodromes, the transverse and longitudinal gradients and the clearances between aircraft and other objects must meet CASA/ICAO/CAA/FAA requirements, amongst other things. The airport owner will need to get a competent and experienced airport engineer/inspector to advise them and to investigate/design to meet these requirements. The local contractors and the local Council typically can contribute useful experience from road construction, but it still needs the additional input from the airport engineer.