Challenging Strips in Eastern Australia
 

There's a few Youtube channels that show people landing at fairly challenging strips, Backcountry182 being one of my go-to channels for inspiration.

So do we have any really challenging strips in Australia. Something that's 400m long at the bottom of a valley for example.

I'm also curious as to peoples opinion of the Sportsman STOL kit with VG's and wing-x extensions on a 182. Does the AOA indicator make things that much easier?

Save the money from all those gadgets and spend it on flying, you will be way in front. If you can get somebody skilled in such matters to sit in with or go for a fly with them.

would be interested to do a real short field with someone who is well skilled / experienced

How to spend a fun day out.

There’s a private one at Upper Beaconsfield (close to Melb), about 300’ish metres, one way only, on the side of a hill in a sort of a cutout (low wings feel like they will hit their wing on the upward slope). I hold the dubious honour of the only pilot to ever land a 4 seater in there. Best suited for FoxBat style aircraft.

There are lots of strips throughout Australia, You don't necessarily have to have a quarter of a million dollar carbon cub with 50K of oversize wheels to access. 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, you don't need the tens of thousands of dollars for all the glittery baubles. Know your aircrafts limits, the more you fly the more competent you will be.

I guess that any strip can be a "challenging strip"
Depends on the aircraft type.

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:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7b515cf0d1.jpg

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:


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....43a7387b9f.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e477eafc07.jpg

Given the weather in our part of the planet ("droughts and flooding rains", anyone??) most any rough-made strip can be either "Easy-peasy" or "S****, I'm not landing there!!!" - often within the space of an hour or less, especially south of the J-curve. I've yet to be convinced (from watching Youtube videos at least) that our friends on the other side of the world get it quite as bad as we do. Maybe they do, given their accident rate.

Case in point: I'm looking forward to flying into YMEL one day - but as a provisional member of Jim Davis' Live Cowards Club, I think I'll wait for summer.

I would suggest that there are actually a lot of these places to go and land. Unfortunately unless you own your own aircraft though, you won't be going to them. The ones on private property are generally owned by careful pilots with an alternate who won't give just anybody permission. The ones on public land (here in Aus) are a permission risk where it's way easier to seek forgiveness than obtain permission. You won't hire an aircraft to go to any of them unless you keep your destination a secret or the owner knows the strip and your ability. If your caught you will suddenly find that you can no longer hire :-) If you damage, someone may well want a reimbursement.

I have a criteria for visiting any of these places and it's something like this:

Can I drive or walk easily to the location? Iif so what's the point?
Is there something to do when I am there, ie a reason for visiting. camping, fishing, exploring, swimming? If not, what's the point?
Am I unduly risking my aircraft? Speaks for itself.

I would suggest the following practice: Arrive over the piano keys at at least 100". Touch down EXACTLY on the 500" marker. Keep the centreline exactly between the wheels. Stop without burning out the brakes in "book" distance. Get the ability to do it in any weather conditions including crosswind to the maximum. Can't do it in a strong crosswind? Not ready for marginal!

If you can do the above 10 out 10 times perhaps youn ready for something slightly more challenging. Not saying you can't do it, you possibly already can! Just saying.

Oh the Mutton Bird season!
 

The pokey little patches of grass, or beach, associated with Mutton Bird rookeries in Tassie were quite sporting.

Those strips in the Hunter group (NW tip) were generally more challenging than the Flinders group. Trefoil Island was a favourite of mine, especially the short cross-strip. I never landed on Deal Island, but I’ve seen photos of a 185 there and heard the waries.

I found that learning the ropes with an old hand, practice and overcoming various iterations of the hour-induced-pilot-illusion (500, 1000, 1500 etc) of being bulletproof helped immensely.

pithblot

Night circuits at Argyl diamond mine in a BAe 146 were interesting. Christmas Island with a cloud cap and nowhere else to go were also interesting.

Don’t let CASA find out your are thinking of landing on a runway that is not 6000’ of bitumen. They will have a meltdown!

I'm sure you used to land on the road when they called it Camp Nicholes

Aussie Bob and pithblot both give good advice re landing short/unknown strips. The other thing that I did where possible was to walk the [proposed] strip first, particularly if it was just a random paddock. You get a much better view at ground level, and more time to consider it at two or three knots than at 50 ;)

FP.

Runway?, who needs a runway, runways are so 1990's. RIP Draco.


Mike Patey makes some interesting toys, his new build has has double slotted trailing edge flaps and double leading edge slats (never seen that before).

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Maybe one of these days I should scan and post the full copy of my old Douglas Airways `Bible` ie it`s one-way strip book. :hmm:

Any ex Talair blokes on this site could probably do similar. Believe that their Company Bible was just as comprehensive, if not more so.

I fly a garmin G3X Touch equipped aircraft and find the audible AOA very useful. As AOA approaches stall alpha the beep rate indicates the stall margin. Eyes outside and fly the approach to a confined area with whatever beep rate you are comforable with. Alpha margin is independent of mass so far more useful than trying to keep airspeed in the scan. I also have a display of alpha on the PFD but don't look at it.