Great video:-)
I think landing the PA46 on grass is a difficult matter. My personal bottom line is:
- The plane is certified to land on grass.
- There is a serious risk of nose gear collapse. There is no trailing link and the nose gear support has a history of cracks, especially for the piston planes.
- A prop strike on the runway is not so likely but beware on any grass taxiways, parking surfaces etc.
So I think it can be done if the condition of the airfield is very well known but I would never just flight plan to some grass airport and fly there as I would with other planes. Also the role of the Piper factory is ambiguous. They say the airframe is certified for grass but they seem to never demonstrate that in public. Pilatus for example will take the PC12 into all kind of airports so the owners probably feel a lot more confident doing so. With the PA46 it is like taking your sports car on unimproved roads. Yes you can do it but do you want to…
Here is some more amazing PA46 short field action:
Sebastian,
Great to see another PA46 operating in an unprepared strip.
Agreed about your preconditions regarding operating out of such a strip. Although I would use the analogy of an suburban SUV rather than a sports car. I think the main landing gear is certainly beefy enough but the nose gear is by far the weakest link…
I do walk the runway (at both locations) before every take off for FOD and general conditions. The runway in Chiang Mai often has cows wandering around as well as lots of birds normally much larger Egrets…
For me, the need was borne out of necessity. We are slowly being denied access to the main airports, so these private strips are the only viable option remaining.
Now that I have done it, I am really glad that I have. It does add a whole other dimension to owning such an aircraft.
Cheers – E
For those of you interested in grass field ops in the Jetprop; the write up below contains some very nice footage both from the ground and from the on board 360 camera.
https://theflyingscouts.com/hs-tom-ifr-chiang-mai-vtcy-to-phuket-airpark-vtsw-feb-2021/
I am very familiar with this strip and it is well maintained however it is, one way and tight on length which gives me quite a rush every time I have the privilege to land there.
I also use the Sidewinder tow bar to put the plane away.
It has been just under a year since I last visited there pre our own Thai Covid lockdown so it was great to be back.
Most Covid restrictions have been lifted internally in Thailand and domestic travel is now being encouraged.
Enjoy. E
Nice, thanks for sharing! The 360 camera is cool despite the weird color shift.
eal wrote:
one way
What makes it a one-way runway? From the footage, it doesn’t seem to be any particularly troublesome terrain at the departure end of 31.
Due to the proximity of that mountain it is not possible to either approach 13 straight in, or with an aircraft approach speed greater than 70 knots do a proper circuit in the distance available. There are also power lines and tall palm trees at the threshold to 13 that loose you about 150m of available runway.
I can use RW 13 to land in my Tecnam, but not in the Jetprop.
E
You seemed to have to go very close to a tall tree about 150 m from the threshold. Excellent flying skill.
A couple of questions as I am thinking of converting my Malibu Mirage to a JP:
1) is it OK to use beta mode on grass/dirt strips, or is there too much risk of nicking the prop
2) I have seen the official numbers on distance to clear 50 ft obstacle on takeoff which are very impressive (1,200 ft). What is the actual takeoff roll (ie just ground roll) on an ISA takeoff do you think?
2) In the Mirage I use a short field take off technique on my home grass 700m strip – using 20 degrees of flaps vs the normal 10 degrees. Also, I have the nose strut pumped higher than normal for a couple of extra inches of ground clearance. Do you use such techniques in the JP?
Buckerfan wrote:
as I am thinking of converting my Malibu Mirage to a JP:
You wont regret it, you would just wonder why you didn’t do it earlier
I have been flying in to Texel & Midden Zeeland for years, but only when the grass was dry, a wet grass runway and a strong crosswind can be a bit of a handful esp if you try to pull the nose wheel off too early
eal wrote:
and from the on board 360 camera.
Eal …. how do you mount the camera under the wing on the Jetprop ?
1) is it OK to use beta mode on grass/dirt strips, or is there too much risk of nicking the prop
I don’t use beta mode that much on grass during taxiing since I rarely need to slow the aircraft down on rough surfaces as opposed to tarmac where I use beta extensively to avoid riding the brakes. I do use reverse on grass during landing as you saw in the video and there is the risk of collateral damage to the prop, but minor, and nothing a good file won’t generally sort out. FOD ingestion into the engine is another risk although the inertial separator will mitigate this to a large extent.
I religiously walk that grass strip before every departure to get a sense of the condition and also remove any large debris that might ding the propeller or damage the engine.
2) I have seen the official numbers on distance to clear 50 ft obstacle on takeoff which are very impressive (1,200 ft). What is the actual takeoff roll (ie just ground roll) on an ISA takeoff do you think?
The takeoff roll is one of the most impressive performance benefits of the conversion. Bearing in mind I am at +10/+20 ISA (approx 3,000’ DA) during the takeoff , I still rotated in less than half the strip circa 250M with 3 POB, although I was very light on fuel just to be safe.
The -35 engine at least provides a lot of excess power, that I rarely worry about takeoff performance.
During my European trips the lower OAT’s boost the performance even more. Here in Asia I am engine temp limited. In Europe I am torque limited. It feels like I am flying a different engine. I don’t think you will have any performance issues operating in the UK.
2) In the Mirage I use a short field take off technique on my home grass 700m strip – using 20 degrees of flaps vs the normal 10 degrees. Also, I have the nose strut pumped higher than normal for a couple of extra inches of ground clearance. Do you use such techniques in the JP
I use the exact same techniques including the POH short field recommendation of rotating at 69 knots into ground effect until accelerating to 90 knots which happens almost seconds later.
I highly recommend the conversion, it will give you a whole new ownership experience to an aircraft you already know well.
I am at year 13 of ownership and circa 2,800 hours in my Jetprop, and still get a thrill of being able to fly her.
FL270 to grass strip… not many aircraft have that wide a performance envelope. What a buzz!
