Landing at Dunwich Stradbroke Island Question

[rdarby]

Hi

 

Has anyone landed there? I'm booked to stay on the island to camp next week, and am flying in.

 

But when I look at it on Google Earth I see a lot of white patches on what I assume the runway is. Is that the bit you land on, are they just worn by airplane wheels?

 

Any experience you can impart would be appreciated!

 

Cheers

 

Ryan

 

 

[XP503]

Dont have much time at the moment so will check this thread later but the strip kind of sits surrounded by hills - on downwind you sometimes feel like you are very low, but you have to be so that your final leg is the right height, the wind around the hills can cause pilots greif!!! BE very careful!!! Every time I have been there I have found the wind to be very fickle and changes a lot, keep an eye on the sock and dont be afraid to go around if it has done a 180.

 

surface is ok can be sandy and soft in parts

 

ONe of the nicest places in QLD though

 

 

[Spin]

http://www.stradair.com/

 

Here you go Ryan, tel numbers etc on the link. Barrie Sigley lives onsite and is very helpful, call and get the up to date gen, plus find out what their current requirements are.

 

Enjoy, it's a great place.

 

 

[Mazda]

Yes, I've been in there many times. The strip is grass on fine soft sand, and those white patches are the sand. The strip has a slope up to the south and the ground continues to climb to the south, so beware of taking off that way. The wind can be all over the place but due the slope and terrain I tend to take off towards the north and land towards the south. Landing that way, the first section of the strip is a bit offset. Be prepared for windshear.

 

Do be aware the sand is soft, keep the power on when you slow down and keep moving to where you want to park or you can sink. Pulling aircraft around in that sand is an adventure. The sand is very fine and if you are camping there make sure you clean the aircraft and put put covers on if you have them because the sand gets everywhere and turns your aircraft black.

 

Lots of furry grasshoppers about so be aware.

 

You will find tea, coffee and biscuits in the clubhouse. The airstrip is a fair way to Dunwich itself, you'll need a lift. There is a taxi on the island, it isn't cheap, so get a lift if you can. From Dunwich you can get a bus to Point Lookout, which is where the nice beaches are. At Dunwich you can also go to the Little Ships Club for food or drinks.

 

If you want to go to the mainland, there are 3 water services which will take you to Cleveland. The nicest is the Big Red Cat. The blue barge will also get you there, or you can get the water taxi which goes from near Little Ships, but it is more expensive. There are buses and trains at Cleveland.

 

If you have spats, when you get home maybe pull them off and clean them out. The sand at Straddie is mined, there's titanium in there and it will cause some wear if you don't clean it off. Give your aircraft a good wash too, sand, titanium and salt are not a good combination.

 

Also be aware of the lanes on either side of Straddie, aircraft will be going up and down there on the area frequency, you'll be on Dunwich. Plus it is the training area for Archerfield (although not a very busy training area).

 

Have a great time there, and let me know if you need any more info.

 

 

[rdarby]

Thanks for the great info.

 

So should I aim to land on the grass only, or is the runway just grass over sand and in some cases just sand, so I should just run over it all?

 

Cheers

 

Ryan

 

 

[Tomo]

Nice spot, flew along there a couples years ago on a Navex once.

 

 

[Mazda]

I tended to land in the middle (or at the time I think the eastern side was slightly better for landing), I haven't been in there recently, sometimes sides vary on what is best, but as long as you are between the cones you should be OK. Just make sure when slowing down you have enough momentum to taxi off to park. The aero club/caravans are on the western side.

 

 

[rdarby]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEYYIWdaYyEI'm now back from the trip, and this is what I learned:

 

It's a great spot, well worth a visit. It gives you a bush experience on the island, and you can easily get a lift into town from the airfield. Very friendly people. You can camp and they have nice facilities there.

 

The runway is all grassed over, it's not anywhere near as bad as expected. Some bumps but no worse than anywhere else with a grass runway in the area. You can't get bogged unless you go right off the runway, and it's clearly marked with cones, and into areas where you wouldn't even drive let alone take an airplane. The photo's on the club website are very old and show the runway in much worse condition than it actually is.

 

It's very scenic going there, I was impressed.

 

Keep the speed up, approach a little faster than usual incase you hit windsheer, but I didn't experience any. We had wind of 15 to 20 kts and I did hit sink but nothing bad. In the video you can see me winding on the power right at the end! Taking off on 15, the ground comes up to meet you, I turned left before I reached my usual 500ft. But then stay away from the radar tower on the nearby hill, apparantly we are meant to be 1500m from it.

 

All up it was a great three days away.

 

Here is the landing. I find I land well on grass as I always get the nose up properly!

 

This is the scenery on the way there:

 

 

This is the runway:

 

 

Pulling the plane to the hangar:

 

 

The clubhouse: