A new fellow, named Bill, joined our EAA chapter a couple of months ago. He flys a weight shift trike and has his own little airstrip called "Rocky Hill" airport. It is cut out of the trees on top of a hill in the Poconos and runs east/west. The semi grass strip is 1,000 ft long with a clear approach from the west. At the east end is 60ft trees, his hangar, the driveway to his house and a couple of construction vehicles.
Well last Friday a friend and I decided to give up a rousing evening of tennis to go flying as the week end weather was not looking to good. So about 5:30 we take off in my Maule from Pegasus and decide to drop in on Bill. He had invited us in after saying that only a Super Cub and a couple of buddies with powered parachutes had ever landed at his field. I had flown over his field before, not knowing who it belonged to, and thought it would be interesting to try and land there.
We found the field easily and did a low east to west pass (cause that was the direction the wind was favoring) to check it out. It looked good so we decided to give it a try. Around the pattern we go and turn final. I am full flaps at 65mph and focused on dropping in just over the trees and clearing the hangar and the aforementioned construction vehicles. I want to get on the ground as soon as possible because, as I said earlier, this is a short strip for my level of experience. One good bounce, brakes, and I am stopped at some orange cones on either side of the runway. My friend and I decide that was an acceptable landing and the cones must mark the halfway point on the runway.
We swing around and taxi back to the driveway in front on the hangar. Bill and his son are standing there waiting for us. They are both laughing. Since they didn't know we were coming, we figure they must be glad to see us! So we shut down the Maule and hop out. I apologize for the one bounce landing and say the strip appears to be plenty long as we were able to stop at the cones marking the halfway point. They are laughing again! They then point out that the cones mark the START of the 1,000 ft runway and we had just landed in their 400 ft front yard beween the hangar and the strip! Flying out of Rocky Hill was a piece of cake!
