Runway anyone ? Instant solution ...

[solentlife]

With my work having been with Ports ... I approached an old friend and asked a favour ... $ later .. a trailer and few hands ... my present to the guys I fly with.

Yours truly in red jacket ...



I asked for 10m of conveyor belt rubber ... and received 25m ....





We just need a good rain now to wash the coal dust of it ....

Nigel

[wedoitall]

man, i think u just helped me also..... i live in coal country, should be able to score some mining belt. let me know how it goes with it.

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by wedoitall

man, i think u just helped me also..... i live in coal country, should be able to score some mining belt. let me know how it goes with it.

It's not new .... its a good length from a changed out belt ... but boy is it heavy !! That length took a chain block + 3 of us to get into the trailer. We then had to use two cars to get it of trailer ... one standing as anchor with rope to the roll, other car pulling trailer fwd out from under !

Nigel

[Beemerider]

That looks like a really neat idea! Hope it works out well for you guys.

Looks like laying it down in the right place the first time is important!

[stuart]

looks great nigel,was it a freebe? bet landing straight on the runnway will be a bit more challanging than the takeoff. wish we had something other than grass to launch birds with small wheels.

[gramps2161]

Ya that looks great for taking off another one that wishes we had something like this at the club. Bet ya with some pratice some of you will be able to land a plane on it.
As someones sig goes "narrow is the place to land wide is the place to crash, so choose the narrow.


I have to agree to narrow for me to land. Landing is not so bad as trying to take off with the small wheels I hate the nose overs on take offs. The landings at our field is rough, but doable kinda plop it down gently. l Our field is really rough retracts ya might as well forget em learned that the hard way.

Good score Nigel!

[wedoitall]

yea mining belt is really heavy.

ive been practicing landing on a 10-12 ft. concrete pad. my cub isnt a problem but prolly will wait awhile before i try to land my t-28

[Beemerider]

Our club field is grass but it's very smooth and well maintained. One of the members has a lawn maintenance business and he almost always cuts the field on Friday mornings so it's always nice for the weekend fliers. As smooth as the field is it's still a challenge for planes with small gear. I'm realizing more and more the advantages of sailplanes and a smooth undercarriage!

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by stuart

looks great nigel,was it a freebe? bet landing straight on the runnway will be a bit more challanging than the takeoff. wish we had something other than grass to launch birds with small wheels.

The price was a couple of bottles of good stuff ... a LOT less than its really worth.

As to getting direction right ... there are holes at one end ... and we can hitch a car up to it and drag it where we need ... namely my car !! being the AWD job.

Nigel

[solentlife]

Got a couple days reprieve before travel out ... so charged up batterys ... packed car ... drove across to our dirt track to to get to the 'runway'.... ******* road people have dug up the entrance to lay pipes ! So went round back to enter from other direction ... ****** builders are laying foundations of new factory .........

So we CANNOT get to our new runway .... we just hope that it's only a few days while they lay the pipes .. if not - we'll have to find another location and find way to get the 'belt' out of there !

Nigel

[dahawk]

Nice,

I've been lobbying our club to get something similar. Our grass field , even when it's cut short is a LG grabber. I like your set-up but it will be interesting to learn how many guys can actually keep their planes on it during TO's and Landings. Looks a bit challenging width-wise. Keep us posted on the results.

-Hawk

[dgjessing]

Originally Posted by solentlife

I asked for 10m of conveyor belt rubber ... and received 25m ....Nigel

Cut it in half and double the width - still longer than you'd planned on.

[Wildflyer]

Originally Posted by solentlife

The price was a couple of bottles of good stuff ... a LOT less than its really worth.Nigel

I have found over my lifetime of construction work, that a couple of bottles of good whiskey, is the price for many, many things.

Around here in the Puget Sound, Washington area, some clubs get a wide canvas conveyor belt. I don't know what industry uses this type of belt. I have seen pieces 8-10' wide and some of them have been very long. It's about 3/16" thick, so the ground under it has to be prepared carefully, it will not hide any bumps or holes.

[dahawk]

I'm in the conveyor business and the actual belting comes in many widths and styles . Some are vulcanized, some fabric. some rubber, some acetal plastic, etc. The bulk conveyors you see handling grain, coal, etc. would be heavy duty and could withstand the outdoor environment.

Just need to make sure it lays flat and is secured with stakes that don't protrude.

Our club management ixnayed the idea. So, our plan is to now just cut the grass as short as possible on the runway. Won't be parkflyer retract safe but better than long grass where we can't r.o.g. at all.

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by dgjessing

Cut it in half and double the width - still longer than you'd planned on.

We discussed that ... but needs industrial cutter ... it has steel bands embedded in it ! It's basically as I'm told constructed similar to steel belt tyres ...

Nigel

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Wildflyer

I have found over my lifetime of construction work, that a couple of bottles of good whiskey, is the price for many, many things.

Around here in the Puget Sound, Washington area, some clubs get a wide canvas conveyor belt. I don't know what industry uses this type of belt. I have seen pieces 8-10' wide and some of them have been very long. It's about 3/16" thick, so the ground under it has to be prepared carefully, it will not hide any bumps or holes.

This hasn't smoother out the bumps - but we are not bothered so much by that ... at least we now have chance to TO and land !

I agree with previous - it will be interesting to see who can actually stay on 1.4m wide strip for TO and Land !!

Nigel

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by dahawk

I'm in the conveyor business and the actual belting comes in many widths and styles . Some are vulcanized, some fabric. some rubber, some acetal plastic, etc. The bulk conveyors you see handling grain, coal, etc. would be heavy duty and could withstand the outdoor environment.

Just need to make sure it lays flat and is secured with stakes that don't protrude.

Our club management ixnayed the idea. So, our plan is to now just cut the grass as short as possible on the runway. Won't be parkflyer retract safe but better than long grass where we can't r.o.g. at all.

No need for stakes ... it's so heavy - we needed a car to drag it ! We also turned it upside down so any curvature is into the ground.

Nigel

[Voltron]

I could take off from it ok, but it would have to be a LOT wider than that for me to land on.

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Voltron

I could take off from it ok, but it would have to be a LOT wider than that for me to land on.

I think that applies to vast majority of us !!

But it will focus attention on learning to land accurately ? We can always hope.
I have considered asking for another lot - possibly lay in a cross covering 4 wind directions or lay alongside to widen the strip. But to be honest the effort to lay that one was not so easy for an old bod like me !!

Nigel

[Voltron]

I've been flying for 20 years, but I've never had to worry where I land. I fly at a full scale private airstrip. There is plenty of room to land for a model plane.

[wedoitall]

Originally Posted by Voltron

I've been flying for 20 years, but I've never had to worry where I land. I fly at a full scale private airstrip. There is plenty of room to land for a model plane.

lucky dog!

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Voltron

I've been flying for 20 years, but I've never had to worry where I land. I fly at a full scale private airstrip. There is plenty of room to land for a model plane.

Ever since commercial flights stopped at local airport - we flew on the actual runway ... but then the Airport Security wanted us to pay for the Security Guards time on site ! Even though he has to be there anyway. We walked away and now fly on rough grass area. The Airport we only use for bigger meetings and Fly-Ins.

Nigel

[solentlife]

I had to travel out on assignment before I could test the runway ... but have kept in touch with the guys back home ...

This is reply I got from one ...

"hi Nigel! Yes i try new runway few days ago .....looks nice but only big problem for landings.....strip too narrow for landings... especially when in crosswind.But take offs is fantastic"

So as expected needs a lot of skill for landing on ... but as he says - take offs fantastic !

Nigel

[Angler-Hi]

Friend...that's just awesome! LOL!

Mike