How to build a Kentucky grass runway

[Bob Brocious]

Folks, I have a pasture where I've mowed a 1,400' runway. It has about a 4 degree down slope. I tend to take off downhill and land uphill unless the winds are really blowing.
It is rolling land with very little flat but it is fairly smooth. I have runway envy though and I see some of the places you all fly and I want to pretty mine up a bit.
I'm thinking that disking it a lot, then dragging it with a stretch of old chainlink fence and then seeding it. I'm just now sure what seed to use. Right now it's a mix of fescue, timothy, iron weed, white clover, butteryfly weed, bluegrass, etc.

Any experience in building a beautiful runway? Please post a picture or two as well. There's nothing prettier in my opinion, than a beautiful grass runway with a tail dragger sitting on it!

[3 tracks]

I just finished the ground work for my runway. It was recommended to me, by the local soils agency. To go on the MDT Aeronautics Division Website. Airstrip Turf Development. They recommend Sodar Streambank Wheatgrass or Sheep Fescue. MDT is the Montana Division of Transportation, these two seeds are what they use on there turf runways, With good results. I live in north central Idaho and we have similar climate. I went with Sodar streambank Wheatgrass ,after talking with Clearwater Seed they highly recommended it. There office is in Spokane WA. Ph 509 345 3108 Very helpful. They will ship seed to you.
Hope this helps. John

[Danzer1]

Soils vary quite a bit by region, as does what grows best based on climate. I'd talk to the local people at your U of K extension and maybe also have them do a soil test. Pretty simple process. Go here: http://extension.ca.uky.edu/county

Greg

[Bob Brocious]

I wonder how those grasses would handle the heat in Kentucky.

[Jfquebec]

Hi, for my runway (1800'x90') a Farmer with his big tractor plow and make two ditch in same time,after i work the earth with 39' rail from railway,i weld to Big chain on it i work with it at 45 degree, like that i fill a lot of big dépression.
After i put ''B'' mixture.. I wait one summer without cutting the grass.now i need to roll with heavy roller to remove all small bumb... Good luck

[Flybyjim]

I built a 100 by 1200 foot runway a few years back on my farm. The best advise I have for you is to take what ever time and labor you have and get it as smooth as possible. It took 3 of us 6 long days to move dirt, level, roll, stone rake and hand rake. After seeding we did not use it for 3 months. We seeded in early May here is Pa. The next year we rented a vibratory roller to smooth out the winters freeze and thaw. We still roll the airfield every spring with a field roller we made that we pull behind a tractor.
Good luck it's hard work but worth it in the end.

Jim

[Xengineguy]

About 8 years ago my father and I built my runway. I needed a large amount
Of fill dirt so I enlarged my pond using an old crane and large dump truck.
Once the fill was in place,we used two bulldozers to level it out. For final
Grade I built a pull behind grader of sorts. I used an old boat trailer,moved the
Axle all the way back,then mounted an adjustable 20"x8"x20' I beam.
I could adjust the front lip of the beam up and down to cut the humps
out as needed. Worked great. In this area we have clay and stones.
Mean stuff to do anything with! Also used the grader to push the stones to the sides for easier picking.
Took 3 to 4 years to get nice grass on it. Lots of work but worth it!:):):)

[avidflyer]

I added about 500' to my existing runway last summer. Here are some of the tools I used. D-6 cat, 40' log trailer flipped upsidedown, with 3 16' channels welded to the (then) bottom, pulled with the D-6, and a home made grader. It's about 26' from the hitch to the center of the wheels, it's mostly made from a truck frame. The cutter blade is about 9' long channel cut from a truck frame. I pulled the grader with my 50 HP Kabota tractor. Raised and lowered the hitch to adjust the cut of the grader. Used it for the final grading after pulling the log trailer with the cat. Moved lots of dirt with the cat beforehand in very hard MN clay. JImChuk

[Ramos]

As already mentioned, the most suitable type of ground cover will best be determined with help from local sources. As for ground prep, a lot depends on what you are starting with. However, when it is time to seed, if at all possible use a Brillion or Brillion type drill (seeder). It will do the best job of giving the grass seed good ground contact while smoothing and packing the surface. It will also break up small clods and help push down small rocks.

[beeryboats]

I moved from California to Indiana when my mother in laws husband died in his Bonanza here. I now take care of the 1800' x 100' strip. Still working on the Kitfox. But the grass here is a very wide leafed, coarse, and fast growing grass for the most part. They did a lot of work getting the runway back in shape after they bought the place in '97. Including rolling it with a big asphalt roller. It's still pretty smooth. I have had a couple visitors fly in with no complaints. If you want to fly/drive up from KY and get a taste of mowing a runway, I'll turn you loose with a mower. ;)
Google:
Newby Landing
36II

[Bob Brocious]

I would kill for access to a D5! Y'all have some amazing toys to play with. My pasture is not flat, but it is pretty smooth. I'm looking for a disk I can use to help smooth it still more. A seed drill would help me get a better grass established.11725

It's in my AP's shop getting an annual at the Madison, Indiana airport.
11726

[Torch]

Nice looking air strip. My best friend flys a Swift out of Deer Run in Camplesburg. They have 3100 ft of nice sod. Are you familiar with Deer Run ? Kevin

[av8rps]

I built a 2450 x 75 runway on a 60 acre parcel of land I own here in central Wisconsin. I spent most of a summer on a Ford 8n with a grader blade and a drag, in addition I rented a small bull dozer and a large front end loader for a few bigger hills I had to take down. After doing twelve million circles with a drag with a couple bed springs behind it, it turned out super smooth. Planted it with rye, red fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. It's a great strip on a spectacular piece of land.

But ever since my discovery of bigger tires (and lake living and floats) I don't even mow it any more :D

Note, that Kitfox on my runway is Jim Shnowske's beautiful Speedster with Jim and Paul Buss (owner of a 912ul Avid Mark 4) standing next to it.

[rainbird]

I tried using a piece of fence as a drag if you pile a bunch of. fine dirt on it. It works good to fill in small holes. But it develops a Long Wave as you go down the runway. The problem is the cyclone fence has no cutting edge I added a heavy pipe to the leading edge and a steel catwalk grating to the back, longer waves. The drag has to be rigid and heavy so it shaves off the tops of the humps I like the idea of the truck frame with I beams welded across at different angles. The each angle cuts the hump in a different direction. Only problem being do you have enough Horse Power to pull it. One fellow I talked to built a drake wider than his tractor and about half as long with about five cutters set at different angles. This was mounted to the tractor s 3point hitch so with the draft control he could apply as much or little pressure as he wanted. It also could be lifted for manovering and transporting. I never saw this but he said it did an excellent job of making a large area flat.

[Wheels]

My dad built our runways at the CX Ranch. He used a conventional method he learned in the airforce during his days as an expeditionary airfield builder. He built strips across Europe. He put pipes under the airstrip bed and they were pre drilled to drain water off the strip during the rainy season. I have only seen one flood. The pipes go lateraly across the runway, I don't know how deep or the spacing, but the runway is never too soft to land on. I use a STRAIGT DISC plow to cut the sod every spring and relieve the pressure from the winter frost heaves. Then I roll it with a 500 Gal Propane tank filled with enough water to crush the frost heaves and stones back to where they came from. I can disassemble the roller and use it on any of the strips the the ranch by trailering it to the site. The agitation of a full tank can create a lot of pressure inside the tank so be careful when unscrewing the drain and fill plug. There should be two.