I planted this pasture about 20 years ago. Mostly it is Orchard Grass. Been grazing cows and cutting hay off it for that long and it has worked real well for that. It has a good sod base under it by now. We flood irrigate between checks so there is no gopher problem.

One of the checks has been converted to other use now and works well for that purpose. Only problem is that when you take off from 16L you have to be carefule of the hill at you 10 oclock. Not the kind of problem you have in the mid west.

Tim

Nice looking Grass, Tractor, dog, and Hill.

For you guys looking to move into the sagebrush in the middle of nowhere and build your own strip. Here is one one ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... MEWAX%3AIT

That auction is almost over but he has another "Buy it Now" one for around $4000 for 40+ acres. Check out the "Other Items" he has for sale. I have bought stuff from him before and you will get your paperwork quick and he seems to be a straight shooter.

The ones he is selling are close to Eureka, actually about 20 miles South West of Battle MT. Looks like to me the land is real close to the alkali flats. It looks like it is on a secondary road (Buffalo Valley Rd.) too so you could probably clean up the old road and land on it. It borders the land. Good Luck

... and it doesn't always take that much to "put in" an airstrip. Last summer I made these three different strips in 30 minutes:

http://vimeo.com/5295383

patrol guy wrote:... and it doesn't always take that much to "put in" an airstrip. Last summer I made these three different strips in 30 minutes:

http://vimeo.com/5295383

Holy Mackerel! I had to go get a clean pair of jockey shorts just to watch that video! Your skills are way beyond mine!

I am gonna have to get valves stems - one for each nut - and add 50 pounds of air pressure before even considering anything even close to those landings!

Great camera positioning in those videos. Very well done. I wish I was able to remember to get my camera out or get in the right spot. This morning the wife departed with one of the 206s, great colors and sunrise light, only a camera phone and I wasnt set up in the right spot in time.
Thanks to the guys that have been flying in with the Champs, C120, and 170. The classic airplanes look nice with the pond in the background. I should have a profesional photograher on staff to get the shots.

Skydive206 wrote:Great camera positioning in those videos. Very well done. I wish I was able to remember to get my camera out or get in the right spot. This morning the wife departed with one of the 206s, great colors and sunrise light, only a camera phone and I wasnt set up in the right spot in time.
Thanks to the guys that have been flying in with the Champs, C120, and 170. The classic airplanes look nice with the pond in the background. I should have a profesional photograher on staff to get the shots.

Van, once I get a damned plane of my own, your place is for sure one I plan on stopping in to visit! So maybe I'll be able to add a Pacer or Stinson to the list of visitors. I tell ya, this whole hip replacement has been bumming me out...been having dreams of flying 4 way video and doing some tandems. Knowing that I can't is ticking me off!

My #31 Fescue I planted is just starting to grow. It has been cool here in Mo. I have schedualed the big leveling equiptment but they wont come in until June or July. My wife and I know were all the puddles are and can navigate cleanly on the property but one of my pilots just cant seem to not taxi through every one. I have a comercial Vibra Roller coming in "as soon as the conditions are just right", to remove some tractor tracks but I dont see it moving enough dirt around to remove the puddling. Luckily the main part of the "runway" is smooth and flat, getting to it seems to be the hard part during this wet season. Ill post pictures of the Roller when it gets here.

The conditions were wet, the roller moved around the tractor tire tracks. Some of my grass seed was just starting to come in and I hope the rolling didnt hurt it. The runway was already fairly packed and smooth with my 8.50s but Im driving up and down it anyway. The wife looks unusually happy,

I think its on Vibrate

sometimes I miss living on the DZ, and then sometimes I remember all the behind the scenes work to keep the fleet flying, the rigs in date, and the grass strip working..oh well it was Alaska and it was still awesome.

Skydive206 wrote:I think its on Vibrate

If the Wife is happy, then you at least have a chance of being happy!

Met my first land owner that thinks my airplanes are "intrusive" . I spent some time today on the 4th doing my best to be nice and trying to calm the waters. We will find out if it helped. The rest of the community is happy to have us here. We havent landed off my field yet.

Doing good with the neigbors so far. The on to my east flew F-86's in Korea when he was much younger. I am trying to give them rides if they want. It is so nice to have the plane at home.

Tim

Here is a shot of my low tech solution for my runway irrigation needs. I run it once a week, and as it can only pull so much hose, even downhill, I need to kinda babysit it every hour or so and re locate the hose. It is supplied by a separate 750 gallon tank and pressure boost pump, all in the hanger. This is also my fire protection setup, as by the time the closet fire department pulls the hill it'll be all over!

The third full season on my "new" strip, and the voles and I have an agreement: they will be left alone elsewhere on the property, on the runway they will be gassed, poisened, trapped and generally messed with. Just walking it every day helps, they don't like any activities that creat vibrations, my landings would qualify, it'd be like living under the flight deck on a aircraft carrier, they just move instead of putting up with it.

I recently put in a cross wind strip, after a couple visiting pilots landed on the county road above my place due to a stiff crosswind, BAD PILOTS!!! Point being I don't road land, NIMBY, I'll road land behind YOUR place, heck I don't live there.....I really don't want that kind of attention from whomever, and it never occurred to me to have to caution visitors against it, until it happened. I have steel pipe in concrete at the driveway entry SPECIFICALLY to make it almost impossible to get an airplane through, I did not want to be tempted to road land myself!

As it will only be used in winds of more then 15 or 20 mph, and the resulting rollout for a plane like the S7-S will be so short, it is plenty long, about 150'. Of course, since it's inception, the wind has not cooperated and I have not tried it out yet.

Road landings, This spring it was wet and sloppy here and tried to stay off the strip with the plane and tractor until it dried out. quite a few local pilots and airport managers said " You have Hwy 40 right out front of your house" . My wife doesnt like the idea and I havent needed to use it yet. I will hold off until the locals are used to me and it is realy nessesary.

... and it doesn't always take that much to "put in" an airstrip. Last summer I made these three different strips in 30 minutes:

Ohio Bush
Thats got to be the most fun I've seen anyone have in the state of Ohio, (with their pants on..)

OH MAN Please tell me you had your pants on....

Things are starting to look better at the Flying V Ranch. I need to build a tine drag to smooth out the highs and lows. The grass didnt take any damadge from the Vibra Roller. Last weekend we had girls cheering in Bikinis from the Pool.

Hey 206, come on, we want pictures of those girls , not the strip!

patrol guy wrote:Hey 206, come on, we want pictures of those girls , not the strip!

That is one NICE set up... The hell with pics of the girls. They only last an hour or two till you send them on their way. The strip is used day in and day out, multiple times. This reminds me of the old addage.. If it flys, floats or f@cks, rent it. So far 206 is 2 for 3.

Ben.

Our pilot Greg landing at the Flying V Ranch. The camera was mounted to the wing strut so the angle is wierd.