Usually flying from miles of tarmac runway, I decided no too long ago to try unlicensed airfields (some of which are farm strips). I have used a PA28-151 (as has been said, maybe not the most suited of aircraft if you fly with full tanks, and it is quite heavy so can take some stopping! But its Vso at MTOW is only 44 KIAS if I recall), now use a Robin DR400-160
Much lighter .
As mentioned above, speed control is of the essence, so is controling your approach slope and touching down precisely where you want. If any of these 3 parameters do not look right on short finals, go around. Basically, it's the closest thing to aircraft carrier landings
you can experience in a light aircraft!
When going into short fields, it's also important to assess whether the surface is dry, damp or wet (check the CAA "Safety Sense" booklet for the increments in landing/take-off distances on wet grass etc.) So get a briefing from the PPR. I find that going onto
http://www.ukga.com helps - there are pictures (some taken by yours truly
) of quite a few short fields. Studying them before setting off helps. Don't fly in with full tanks. Check out your POH for take-off/landing distances required. It goes without saying you should use some stage of flaps on t/o. Don't go into the more challenging grass strips right away. As has been said, start with something fairly easy (preferably licensed), then as you gain confidence, work you way up (or is it down?) to shorter fields.
I now prefer flying into short strips (be they tarmac or grass); it's a nice change from the 3,600 m of asphalt you get at CDG, HAM or FCO!
I recently sampled the "dreaded" Netherthorpe in a Robin -160; two POB, 3/4 full tanks, damp runway 24, yet by landing "on the stall warner" (3 ft. off the ground, anyway!), we stopped by the intersection - so used less than half the 370m LDA. I can't see why people make a big deal of it - unless they came unprepared
Cheers
