Guest mudjeep Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Hi Everyone, I'm moving to the Canberra/Cooma area sometime this year, from WA, and my plan is to get a hundred acres or so and build my own airstrip. Does anybody know what's involved or done it before? Do I need council permission? How wide should it be? Can anybody recommend a contractor with experience or is it a simple job that anybody with a grader can do? Any info at all is appreciated. Ideally I'd like it to be a grass strip. Cheers, Jason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelorus32 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 This may help I'm sure that there is an Australian equivalent that someone will point to. In the meantime try this: ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/avn/avninfo/farm_ranch_airstrips.pdf Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Jason, When I built mine for the Thruster on my folks property I did not need council permission. Mine was dirt about 300mX100m or so.Cost me about $1,500 and a few days work. For markings I used old white yoghurt pales filled with sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numptie Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Woohoo!!!! Someone moving close to Canberra who wants to build an airstrip, that's great. No-one comes here to do that. That's exactly what I want to do, the only thing I'm missing is the land......oh, and the aircraft. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultralights Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 My father is about to retire an purchase a property Just west of Kempsey, all i have told him is it must have enough flat land for an airstrip at least 800 mtrs long! and i have given him a copy of the CASA requirements for an ALA. as for permissions, cant help you there, but as you are not technically building a structure, then i dont think permissions will be required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 as for permissions, cant help you there, but as you are not technically building a structure, then i dont think permissions will be required. Exactly and what they don't know won't kill them. They make enough $ anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaz Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 One thing you may want to check out is if the property you are looking at is in controlled airspace. The approach to Rwy 35 at Canberra is basically down the gully towards Cooma. There are a couple of airstrips around that area so there must be a way to make it work but I'm unsure of the procedures... Great idea, good luck!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastmeg2 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 When we made our strip we understood the restrictions to be that so long as you are not building anything and don't cut down trees more than 600mm trunk diameter at 4ft AGL, then you're not breaking any rules. Also hangars less than 100m2 don't require approval in rural areas. A tramac runway would be considered building something, but a grass/dirt runway is merely a smoothing of the ground. Cheers, Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brentc Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 The problem you will come across is your neighbours if you have any. Usually a bottle of grog per-annum or something thoughtful at Christmas time helps a lot. Pretty much if you're approaching your field at lower than 500 ft and your neighbours don't want you there, good bye airfield. I'm aware of a recent situation where someone applied to council and was approved, but on his proposal he said a single aircraft, however there were two there coming and going. The council ultimatum was to remove the second aircraft. The most important part is flying neighbourly. If you do circuits at your field, bye bye airfield. Noisy 2-stroke's are a surefire way to have any permissions removed too, such as Aerochutes and Trikes, which are both types that like to often stay close to home which will also upset the neighbours. If you are purchasing an aircraft you may need to take noise into consideration. Skyfoxes and Gazelles are a great aircraft for noise, as are most 912 equipped aircraft. Jabiru's have a habbit of being noisy. Mine is a little quiter with the carbon prob, more like a Fox, however it's worth thinking about. I also know a gentleman near my field who is considering going to the effort of fitting a 912 to a Jabiru purely from a noise perspective. All stuff to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Hi Jason - Building mine was pretty straight-forward: 1. Chose the site - facing the prevailing winds around here (NW) = $Nil 2. Measured out 700m X 6m = $Nil 3. Chopped some nearby trees (5) and ground up the stumps = $180 for grinding 4. Got local Council grader guy to call in at end of his shift = $200 for 2 hours of levelling (Cash only..) 5. Grass seed (low height varieties) = $85 6. Wait for decent rain = $Nil - but a long wait... 7. Mow strip each 6 weeks = $3 of diesel in tractor 8. Enjoy! Good luck with your search! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick-p Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Hi Jason, If you do achieve your dream of having your own airstrip remember to to have your public liability insurance extended to include a landing area. It costs very little to do so but is esential otherwise you put yourself at risk financially. My understanding is that insurance companies won't cover you unless the landing area (airstrip) is noted on the insurance policy. I hope that this info is of some help to you. Regards, Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mudjeep Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 Thanks for the info everyone. Based on land availability and price we will probably end up in the Tarago vicinity. There's quite a few 100 acre properties around there on the market, and hopefully that will be big enough that my strip won't be too close to the property line, depending on the lay of the land of course. With a bit of luck we'll be taking a trip in a few weeks to inspect some properties and maybe make an offer on one. Can't wait!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 A downside of building your own strip Jason Something that nobody has mentioned is that while it might take a little effort to get the strip built you are sure to end up with lots of new friends (after you complete any hard work, of course). Your new best mates are likely to be half the blokes on this Forum. Now that's probably a downside that you need to consider. Regards, good luck with it and please let us all have the coordinates once the sweaty stuff is complete. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mudjeep Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 NEWSFLASH: We have just bought 100 acres near Tarago. I'll be able to fit a 300m strip with about a 2% slope. Shed/hangar will be going up in June/July and I'll start preparing the strip soon after that. More news as it happens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastmeg2 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Hi Jason, I didn't want to influence you one way or the other, now that you've made your decision, welcome to the area. I'll PM you for more details. Cheers, Glen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Bushman Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Darryn Master I noticed with Alarm the idea of your to use runway markers of Plastis Drum filled with Sand these would come under the same as Old tyres as when a Aircraft striks them and they will you finish up with a Damaged aircraft and a very unhappy Owner. Suggestion as what we have used with great success with at this time with several striks was 4 gallon or in the measurement 20 Lt cut in half on the lenght way and painted white and wriggled in to the dirt, i will admit that the wind can move them around but needs a strong one you get two per drum The Bushman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Ive also seen 2 litre plastic milk bottles with a little white paint put inside and shaken to coat the interior. Then piece of bale twine thru the handle and tent peg to secure. They are easy to see and easy to pull out to slash the grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Student Pilot Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Just have a mown area, if there is much vegetation the strip will stick out like canine testicles. I have seen plow disks painted white, if you do go over one you don't damage anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poteroo Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 Old discs off a disc plow, turned upside down and firmly twisted so they dig in at the edges, are definitely the safest I've seen. A bit of white or silver paint on them helps. Also, you'll need to cut or spray the weeds back for about a metre round them about once a season. Just a point too about mowing strips. Grasses provide the best surface stability because of their fibrous roots binding the surface soil. So - be cautious about overmowing the strip, or the annual grasses will fail to seed. Next season you'll have no grass, but a lumpy strip caused by soil blowing/washing up against the large broadleaf weeds that will be left. My last strip was a busy one, with lots of visitors and I used it for training too. Found that a small concreted 'pad' about 4m x 2m was very useful for engine runups. I actually planted couch grass around it to help keep the soil from being blown away. Oil onto the soil might also work. Have seen old pavers used for the runup pad too. good luck with it, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 At Rodds Bay we use old conveyor belting with a coating of white paint. The mower goes over it well and they stand out from the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I had buckets with sand as there were cattle there and no matter what we used they moved them The strip is not in use anymore though so I don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numptie Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 You could use these marker cones we used to use for touch football. The one's in the picture are only 4 inches but I'm sure you could get larger ones. They're available in bright colours and they are soft so they won't damage aircraft if you run over them. You could hold them into the ground with small tent pegs. And the best thing is they're cheap and available from any good sports store. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Hey Jason, how long before you get the strip up and running and would you like some help with developing it? More than willing to offer a hand to anyone building an airfield near Canberra :) Cheers, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick-p Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Well I still think tyres are ok.They in fact have saved 2 aircraft that landed at my digs in a very strong cross wind. Both aircraft ground looped and if it hadn't been for one of the main gear wheels getting stuck in a tyre and spinning the aircraft around they both would have ended up through barb wire fences. As it was the tyres did no damage but I'm sure the fence would have severely damaged both aircraft and possibly there may have been injury to pilot and passenger in each case. Horses for courses I think but someone is right plough discs do make an excellent marker. Rick P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 Have you looked at www.fgmcoffs.com.au? Just saw an ad in the Flight Safety Magazine and noticed they were the same cones we saw at Point Cook last week. They looked good and I believe they are quite reasonably priced. Cheers, Kaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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