Building an Airstrip

[Guest mudjeep]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm moving to the Canberra/Cooma area sometime this year, from WA, and my plan is to get a hundred acres or so and build my own airstrip. Does anybody know what's involved or done it before? Do I need council permission? How wide should it be? Can anybody recommend a contractor with experience or is it a simple job that anybody with a grader can do? Any info at all is appreciated. Ideally I'd like it to be a grass strip.

 

Cheers,

 

Jason.

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

This may help

 

I'm sure that there is an Australian equivalent that someone will point to. In the meantime try this:

 

ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/avn/avninfo/farm_ranch_airstrips.pdf

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

Jason,

 

When I built mine for the Thruster on my folks property I did not need council permission. Mine was dirt about 300mX100m or so.Cost me about $1,500 and a few days work. For markings I used old white yoghurt pales filled with sand.

 

 

[numptie]

Woohoo!!!! Someone moving close to Canberra who wants to build an airstrip, that's great. No-one comes here to do that.

 

That's exactly what I want to do, the only thing I'm missing is the land......oh, and the aircraft.

 

Bob

 

 

[Ultralights]

My father is about to retire an purchase a property Just west of Kempsey, all i have told him is it must have enough flat land for an airstrip at least 800 mtrs long! and i have given him a copy of the CASA requirements for an ALA.

 

as for permissions, cant help you there, but as you are not technically building a structure, then i dont think permissions will be required.

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

as for permissions, cant help you there, but as you are not technically building a structure, then i dont think permissions will be required.

Exactly and what they don't know won't kill them. They make enough $ anyway.

 

 

[Kaz]

One thing you may want to check out is if the property you are looking at is in controlled airspace. The approach to Rwy 35 at Canberra is basically down the gully towards Cooma. There are a couple of airstrips around that area so there must be a way to make it work but I'm unsure of the procedures... Great idea, good luck!;)

 

 

[eastmeg2]

When we made our strip we understood the restrictions to be that so long as you are not building anything and don't cut down trees more than 600mm trunk diameter at 4ft AGL, then you're not breaking any rules. Also hangars less than 100m2 don't require approval in rural areas.

 

A tramac runway would be considered building something, but a grass/dirt runway is merely a smoothing of the ground.

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[Guest brentc]

The problem you will come across is your neighbours if you have any. Usually a bottle of grog per-annum or something thoughtful at Christmas time helps a lot.

 

Pretty much if you're approaching your field at lower than 500 ft and your neighbours don't want you there, good bye airfield.

 

I'm aware of a recent situation where someone applied to council and was approved, but on his proposal he said a single aircraft, however there were two there coming and going. The council ultimatum was to remove the second aircraft.

 

The most important part is flying neighbourly. If you do circuits at your field, bye bye airfield. Noisy 2-stroke's are a surefire way to have any permissions removed too, such as Aerochutes and Trikes, which are both types that like to often stay close to home which will also upset the neighbours.

 

If you are purchasing an aircraft you may need to take noise into consideration. Skyfoxes and Gazelles are a great aircraft for noise, as are most 912 equipped aircraft. Jabiru's have a habbit of being noisy. Mine is a little quiter with the carbon prob, more like a Fox, however it's worth thinking about. I also know a gentleman near my field who is considering going to the effort of fitting a 912 to a Jabiru purely from a noise perspective.

 

All stuff to think about.

 

 

[bushpilot]

Hi Jason - Building mine was pretty straight-forward:

 

1. Chose the site - facing the prevailing winds around here (NW) = $Nil

 

2. Measured out 700m X 6m = $Nil

 

3. Chopped some nearby trees (5) and ground up the stumps = $180 for grinding

 

4. Got local Council grader guy to call in at end of his shift = $200 for 2 hours of levelling (Cash only..)

 

5. Grass seed (low height varieties) = $85

 

6. Wait for decent rain = $Nil - but a long wait...

 

7. Mow strip each 6 weeks = $3 of diesel in tractor

 

8. Enjoy!

 

Good luck with your search!

 

 

[rick-p]

Hi Jason,

 

If you do achieve your dream of having your own airstrip remember to to have your public liability insurance extended to include a landing area. It costs very little to do so but is esential otherwise you put yourself at risk financially. My understanding is that insurance companies won't cover you unless the landing area (airstrip) is noted on the insurance policy. I hope that this info is of some help to you.

 

Regards,

 

Rick

 

 

[Guest mudjeep]

Thanks for the info everyone. Based on land availability and price we will probably end up in the Tarago vicinity. There's quite a few 100 acre properties around there on the market, and hopefully that will be big enough that my strip won't be too close to the property line, depending on the lay of the land of course. With a bit of luck we'll be taking a trip in a few weeks to inspect some properties and maybe make an offer on one.

 

Can't wait!!

 

 

[Captain]

A downside of building your own strip

 

Jason

 

Something that nobody has mentioned is that while it might take a little effort to get the strip built you are sure to end up with lots of new friends (after you complete any hard work, of course).

 

Your new best mates are likely to be half the blokes on this Forum.

 

Now that's probably a downside that you need to consider.

 

Regards, good luck with it and please let us all have the coordinates once the sweaty stuff is complete.

 

Geoff

 

 

[Guest mudjeep]

NEWSFLASH: We have just bought 100 acres near Tarago. I'll be able to fit a 300m strip with about a 2% slope. Shed/hangar will be going up in June/July and I'll start preparing the strip soon after that. More news as it happens...

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Hi Jason,

 

I didn't want to influence you one way or the other, now that you've made your decision, welcome to the area. I'll PM you for more details.

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[Guest The Bushman]

Darryn Master

 

I noticed with Alarm the idea of your to use runway markers of Plastis Drum filled with Sand these would come under the same as Old tyres as when a Aircraft striks them and they will you finish up with a Damaged aircraft and a very unhappy Owner.

 

Suggestion as what we have used with great success with at this time with several striks was 4 gallon or in the measurement 20 Lt cut in half on the lenght way and painted white and wriggled in to the dirt, i will admit that the wind can move them around but needs a strong one you get two per drum

 

The Bushman

 

 

[bushpilot]

Ive also seen 2 litre plastic milk bottles with a little white paint put inside and shaken to coat the interior. Then piece of bale twine thru the handle and tent peg to secure. They are easy to see and easy to pull out to slash the grass.

 

 

[Student Pilot]

Just have a mown area, if there is much vegetation the strip will stick out like canine testicles. I have seen plow disks painted white, if you do go over one you don't damage anything.

 

 

[poteroo]

Old discs off a disc plow, turned upside down and firmly twisted so they dig in at the edges, are definitely the safest I've seen. A bit of white or silver paint on them helps. Also, you'll need to cut or spray the weeds back for about a metre round them about once a season.

 

Just a point too about mowing strips. Grasses provide the best surface stability because of their fibrous roots binding the surface soil. So - be cautious about overmowing the strip, or the annual grasses will fail to seed. Next season you'll have no grass, but a lumpy strip caused by soil blowing/washing up against the large broadleaf weeds that will be left.

 

My last strip was a busy one, with lots of visitors and I used it for training too. Found that a small concreted 'pad' about 4m x 2m was very useful for engine runups. I actually planted couch grass around it to help keep the soil from being blown away. Oil onto the soil might also work. Have seen old pavers used for the runup pad too.

 

good luck with it,

 

 

[Yenn]

At Rodds Bay we use old conveyor belting with a coating of white paint. The mower goes over it well and they stand out from the air.

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

I had buckets with sand as there were cattle there and no matter what we used they moved them The strip is not in use anymore though so I don't worry about it.

 

 

[numptie]

You could use these marker cones we used to use for touch football. The one's in the picture are only 4 inches but I'm sure you could get larger ones. They're available in bright colours and they are soft so they won't damage aircraft if you run over them. You could hold them into the ground with small tent pegs. And the best thing is they're cheap and available from any good sports store.

 

Bob

 

 

 

[Matt]

Hey Jason, how long before you get the strip up and running and would you like some help with developing it? More than willing to offer a hand to anyone building an airfield near Canberra :)

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

 

 

[rick-p]

Well I still think tyres are ok.They in fact have saved 2 aircraft that landed at my digs in a very strong cross wind. Both aircraft ground looped and if it hadn't been for one of the main gear wheels getting stuck in a tyre and spinning the aircraft around they both would have ended up through barb wire fences.

 

As it was the tyres did no damage but I'm sure the fence would have severely damaged both aircraft and possibly there may have been injury to pilot and passenger in each case.

 

Horses for courses I think but someone is right plough discs do make an excellent marker.

 

Rick P

 

 

[Matt]

Have you looked at www.fgmcoffs.com.au? Just saw an ad in the Flight Safety Magazine and noticed they were the same cones we saw at Point Cook last week. They looked good and I believe they are quite reasonably priced.

 

Cheers,

 

Kaz