Landing in TALL grass: have YOU?

[wildirishtime]

I'm a fairly experienced grass strip
pilot with a few hundred hours, looking for details / suggestions
on operating a Kitfox 2/3/4 tailwheel only in TALL grass and how to judge
what is TOO tall for safe tailwheel operation before tipping over?

I have the 20"or so Nanking or King Fox tires
whatever they're called... I've heard the old rule of "if it's half
the height of your tire it's getting too tall" but i'm curious
if anyone have pushed this envelope and if they can share some
experience detail - please lets focus on Kitfox experiance not total
theory or C180's... Thanks! ~Wild

[avidflyer]

Tallest grass I ever landed in was 2' - 3' tall in a hayfield when I had a fuel filter plug on me. (The filter that used to be between my wing tank and header tank.) Remember that other thread??? LOL Any way, I got as slow as I could and drug the tail in first and didn't notice any tendency for the plane to want to nose over. I definatly wouldn't recomend a wheel landing under those circumstances though. Take care, Jim Chuk

[Newkid]

I've landed in the back pasture with the same tires that you have when the grass was probably 8" to 10" tall. The grass lays over some when it is that tall though, and different grass could create a different outcome.

[Monocock]

It isn't just the grass length that is relevant, but also how thick it is. Wispy 18 inch grass is less of a problem than thick 8 inch grass, in terms of its slowing effect. However, in the middle of summer the small dried seeds in the seed heads of grasses can be as hard as nails and can rapidly mess up a leading edge on your prop at take-off prop speeds.

I sometimes landed in wheat stubbles last summer and found these fine, even if they were nearly 12 inches long in places. They are brackish and dry and tend to snap, unlike lush thick grass that can have a habit of sucking you into it if too long.

Landing in paddocks my other worry is always rabbit/hare/badger/fox burrows. I landed at a friends farm last year and the grass in the longest paddock was about 8 inches and quite tufty. One of the 'tufts' turned out to be the spoil from a badger sett! Luckily I was below flying speed when my left main hit it and I just banged my head on the roof - it made him laugh!