Originally Posted by
Cedrik
...A standard 172/182 when flown well will surprise you just how short a strip they can fly in and out of. Don't think because they have a nosewheel they are limited to tar strips...
Agreed, I regularly used to fly a 172/140/Cub into a 350m paddock just down from my farm. It never required the full length, but I was very aware of power lines + fence at one end and had quite resolved to 'go between' should it ever have been required:
And for the more intrepid aviator there's the odd 150m 'strip' amongst some of our southern regions, a bit colder than Oz perhaps but a worthwhile challenge. Here's a couple of photos from
The Venison Hunters by Mike Bennett (A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1979) showing what things were like in the 1960's and early '70's:
