Several years ago I wanted to get on the ground along this lake to check out an old cabin, but all the grass, logs, and ditches created a miserable obstacle. I have spoken of selecting new airstrips on this blog before, but it is a topic that can be revisited often.
It’s one thing to select a landing site in the middle of a river bar, or high on a mountain in the uniform tussocks. It is very challenging to read the texture of the ground through a veil of grass. The variance in rock sizes, shapes, and coloring creates an illusion of roughness when the ground is actually smooth, and acts to hide deep cuts when the ground is rough. When I am struggling with the uncertainties of a new spot I will often drag my tires over the worst sections to “feel” the ground. I’ve used this over muddy areas as well. I’ve also hit some really big bumps doing this, but at least I was still flying with the tail in the air, and I was not braking heavily when I hit the soft ground or hidden ditch. It is very uncomfortable to be standing on the binders, totally committed to landing when the tires hit a large log or bank. These are the things that make me nearly pee my pants.
After dragging the strip a number of times and ensuring that the area is suitable for landing I commit to the real deal. I have no excess weight because this is my first landing in this spot and the plane is empty. I fly final approach at the slowest controllable airspeed. I set down on my desired spot, dump the flaps, and brake as hard as possible in the first 50 feet before the airflow over my tail diminishes to the point of an ineffective elevator. As soon as the tail starts coming up (with the stick in my lap) I back off the brakes and roll out. It’s really important not to bounce on touchdown because you loose most of your effective braking time.
On this particular landing I tried real hard to avoid the big sticks because they kick-up and poke holes in my tail feathers. I also make it a habit to avoid taxiing around too much until I have gotten out and walked around the area. It’s easy to taxi into things once the pressure of landing is off your shoulders. I generally shut it down and take a hike before making a single turn. It’s really frustrating to drag the tail feathers and flying wires over a 26″ stump you did not see while you were swing the tail. It’s the ultimate aviation cliche’, but oh’ so true … “you can’t be too careful”.