Shortest runway landing

[Russnrenea]

What is the shortest length runway/field/gravel bar/etc. you have (successfully) taken off and landed at with a Maule. How about with any fixed wing airplane.

We just visited a nice 1300' runway in Shirley, MA in the new to me M5-180C had breakfast and left, no issue with the Maule but still fun. Looking for short fun places to go into but not much around New England that I know of. I once dragged a lightly loaded 54' C-180 into 600' strip. Wonder if I'll ever beat or at least tie that record with the Maule? Hmmmm.....

Russ

[goracke]

My home strip is less than 900 ft and I have no problem using only half of that. Most take offs are 300 to 500 ft depending on loading. I can't remember the last time I made a go around.
Chad

[Hottshot]

With Chad's airplane (10Y) I could work 350'-400' pretty regularly now with the 235 (1ZA) I can get in the air a little shorter (not by much) and push that 400' mark more landing but I haven't really pushed it very hard on the shot landing yet as I have only got about 100hrs in it



Now my BEST /SHORTEST landing was in The Dalles Oregon, I had a 20' landing...... Just because I had a 35kt direct head wind don't mean nuthin' ... I just kicked my passenger out and powered up and was off in the next 25' I wanted to come back around and do it again but .....

[Skystrider]

How about shortest by accident?

A friend of mine has a 1,000 ft turf strip for his trike in front of his house. The east end has tall trees, a hangar, and the driveway going up to said house. The west end drops off abruptly. Did I mention a couple large pieces of construction equipment? He kept bugging me that I should be able to get into his runway with no problem. So I asked him "Other than trikes, who else has flown in?

He says" A guy with a super cub came in once." Okay, I will give it a try soon.

So a Saturday late afternoon rolls around with nothing to do. Another friend and I go up for a ride. We decide to go over and check out this strip. It is nothing more than a gash out of the top of a hill. We circle round to check wind direction which favors a landing to the west. That means I have to come down over the tall trees and hangar and large, yellow equipment.

We do a low pass over the runway and notice that there are two orange cones apparantently marking the midway point on the strip. I decide to give it a try.

So I find myself on short final, flaps hung out, dropping fast to clear the obstacles with as much runway left as I can. Pass the trees, clear the hangar, miss the equipment, missjudge my height, and get a good hard single bounce! Hey! I am down and stopped before the orange cones! My friend compliments me on a SOLID landing.

We turn around and taxi back to where my other friend and his son are standing and laughing their heads off. "Okay" I am thinking, "I got a little bounce, have a laugh!"

We shut down and get out. So I ask "What's so funny? I only used up half the runway."

They go into gails of laughter. Finally my buddy blurts out "The cones mark the start of the runway! You landed in my front yard!"

Ahhh wellll.......

[N949JH]

What's a runway?

[Skystrider]

What's a runway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runway

[Russnrenea]

I LOVE the "what's a runway" comment, spoken like a true Maule driver!!

I'm getting the M5-180C airborne in under 400' and stopped in 300', however this was accomplished on our 1900' home field. For me there's a big difference with getting airborne in 400' and using a 400' runway. I found 400' and 600' grass strips on Elizabeth Island, MA. My neighbor knows the guy so I hope to get permission to go in, then maybe I can join the "under 500'" club.

Russ

[beaver]

my ranch strip is about the same 800-900 and I normally use half. I think it's pretty safe, I'm sure you could do 400-500 regularly but you wouldn't get any sloppy room. At 800-900 it feels super safe and actually doable in most all weather conditions.

[YELLOWMAULE]

What's a runway?

Hahaha

[crbnunit]

My shortest "on purpose" landing was a measured 365'. Took just about every inch of that to get back out as well! I'm nowhere near consistent enough yet to be able to do that safely. Note to self, some of them Cub strips is mighty short!

By accident? About 50'. Of course I ended the flight upside down!

[AndrewK]

Currently 1300' and like most I find I only use a fraction of that but I like the safety margin.

[chetharris]

I practice the short field landing more than any other. Some strong sustained windows over 40 knots allowed my most impressive short landing, certainly in dual digits. Then there was the very short snow landing. I got lucky on that one. I think the bushwheels saved my a$$ on that one.

The landing I am still trying to match was measured at 110' at the Valdez STOL competition. I plan on trying to beat it this spring, if those folks get their act together. It is my experience that the maule lands shorter than it gets off, but it is well balanced and impressive at both ends.

[aero101]

As CBRNUNIT stated, Some of them cub strips are mighty short! Something else to consider, are you 100% consistant? I'm pretty consistant at my local field where I practice, practice, practice, but find going into something new that I'm not quite as consistant on nailing it. Winds have a huge effect as well, guess it all depends upon your comfort / risk level, and a lot of the time, the lay of the land? I try to be somewhat cautious, but I've had to visit the bushes more then once after finally getting stopped without much to spare!!

[UtahMaule]

With all the crappy weather we've been having I have been practicing around the airport a little and grabbed my measuring wheel yesterday to see how long I was.

Here's what I found. Field elevation 4224 calculated DA 3600 (nice cool day) on wet road base gravel with good braking, calm wind, approx 30 gallons of gas and just me and a little survival gear in the back. Over a marked threshold I'm stopped in 234 feet and am consistently using that within 10 feet or so. I can get back out in the same distance only by using a J turn to the right starting along the threshold and powering up in the turn.

When out landing off airport I like 500 feet to feel good with one passenger and more if loaded heavy.

[Littlewheelinback]

I used to fly an L-19 in and out of a -900 foot strip and used about half of the field consistently. Shortest field I have flown a Maule into was 2000 feet and we used less than a quarter of it. When I own my own Maule I am sure I will go shorter. It is always nice to have a little breathing room.