Question about permanent runway markings on grass strips
 

Here's the background. My gliding club has a new grass runway that is adjacent to the old one, which was becoming very bumpy, mainly due to the actions of gophers and ground squirrels.

The runway will be ready for use for the first time this spring. The edge of the runway is uncomfortably close to the supports for the door tracks of a hangar. We're going to paint the supports in "eye-searing orange and white stripes" as my colleague puts it, but I don't think that will reduce the risk enough. The pilot of a 20 m ship who is aiming for the centre line of the new runway, will have only a few metres wing tip clearance from the hangar structure.

My thoughts are to put some white lead-in marks, similar to displaced threshold marks that are positioned to give more clearance.

So my question is what is the best way to install marks like these, bearing in mind that they must be flush with the ground?

Have you considered........PAINT

Runway Line Marking Paint | UberLine.com.au

:ok:

I thought it was rather difficult to paint grass with any guarantee of permanency.
You would need to employ a groundsman to maintain it all.
Ours has concrete blocks embedded at ground level and even they are now impossible to see.

The groundsman can paint the lines after he finishes cutting the grass.

If you will be employing a goat to cut the grass, ignore the above.

How about putting megaliths as markings?

I've had success marking grass in the past using weedkiller to scorch out the marks you need, then highlight them with cement dust. They'll keep in quite well but during the growing season, you'll need to keep up with it. I suggest a 20lit backpack and a hand lance.

One word, though. It's amazingly difficult to see what you're doing at ground level, so make out a plan, then mark out where you need the marks with cones or similar. They'll need to be MUCH bigger than you think. In the UK, use CAP 168 for a guide to dimensions. If you're in Canada, then I'm sure you can still access this UK document, or perhaps Transport Canada publishes similar.

TOO

Lime. It's kills the grass and is clearly visible it's how runway numbers are done on grass as I recall.

At football and other sports fields, they seem to use a kind of chalk?
But applying weed killer sounds clever.

Yep, it's lime as I recall.

Use chalk. Lime is highly corrosive to people and metal!

Lime (and other stuff) banned in the UK

Good range of options here:

https://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/t...nemarking.html

Also sounds like you need something that eats gophers and ground squirrels, but also keeps out of the way of aircraft!

How about moving the windsock from the hangar roof to the end of the door track support?

I decided to mark up my grass strip to measure my short field landings. A mate who is the groundsman at league toppers Brechin City give me his old pitch marker machine and a bag of the chalky paint stuff. I put a circle 200ft up the 1600ft strip as my touchdown spot then a line across the strip every 100ft thereafter up to the 600ft point (with the final 600ft line being 800ft from the threshold) All went well and I flew the **** out of the crircuit
nailing my landings and pulling it up before the 600ft marker. Then one day a new visitor came in and landed almost running off the end. He had though that my markings where some kind of displaced threshold and landed after the 800 ft point almost half way down the strip as there is a tree nearby the threshold he put 2 and 2 together and almost got a bent plane.

Be very careful about putting non standard markings on your strip even if it is farm strip seldom used by others.

Thanks for all the suggestions, particularly from B2N2. Should we paint both sides of each blade of grass? ;)

N707ZS,
Yes, we already have those - North American badgers. The drawback is that in their enthusiasm for rodent snacks, they dig wheel-sized holes, which could ruin your whole day. We have to inspect the runway every morning and fill in badger holes. We have a trapping program which keeps the rodent population down.

RBF,
I suspect you know our field. I thought about moving the windsock, but that would require a post extension of several metres to keep it above the hangar roof line and in a southerly wind, the sock would even closer to a passing wingtip.

Why not just place traditional "bad ground" markers on top of the grass, at a suitable distance from the obstruction?

Securely pegged down strips of white tarpaulin?

We tried this once for a spot landing competition - the first aircraft nearly came to grief when it ripped the tarp from its hold-downs. After that, we moved the marker to the side of the touch-down area.

We used to use white tarps for marking the 'box' at aerobatic competitions so it does work for conspicuity, but they need frequent changing and washing.

Runway markings need to be non-hazardous to aircraft (sounds obvious but see above!)

TOO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL5n...ature=youtu.be

Me thinks the painted grass wouldn't grow that fast as the non painted grass.
The paint may kill it in its entirety.

Here is a serious suggestion which we use.
Lay some Perfo as required ...I assume some sort of "centre line" that will always have the grass cut around it. Before laying the Perfo paint it white, and simply repaint as required.
Contact Trevor Archer at
Www.s2taviation.com