Sling Pilots Forum

I have an opportunity to keep my Tsi at a grass strip. 2200' x 100'. Any thoughts, pro or con, at keeping a new Tsi at a grass strip?

One con might be that you may have to take off the wheel pants more regularly to inspect and make sure you don't have grass trapped in them.

Maybe it's an issue, maybe it's not, worst case, you could always decide not to fly with the wheel pants and lose a bit of performance.

Lose performance? I couldn't look myself in the eye if the 150 knots dropped into the 140's. Pants are staying on for sure.

I've seen 2's and 4's flying around on grass in S. Africa, I was hoping someone would have feedback on flying off grass.

Thanks for responding Philip!

Cluemeister wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 5:47 pm I have an opportunity to keep my Tsi at a grass strip. 2200' x 100'. Any thoughts, pro or con, at keeping a new Tsi at a grass strip?

Same as keeping any aircraft on grass. It's what I plan for my a/c (eventually) as it's the difference between a 5 minute drive to the grass strip, or an hour to the nearest tarmac'd (asphalt) runway. Only, I might not be able to operate at MAUW from there, as I'll only have just over 1200' to play with - not a problem if everything goes right - but suddenly very tight if things aren't optimal.

Grass in the spats has already been mentioned, but it's not really a biggy. You will lose a little performance, but given that you have 2200' to play with, should rarely become a factor.

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20130121SSL07.pdf

^^^ This is a UK document, but the table on page 10 gives guidance on how performance will likely be affected. (Basically 20% extra on your take off roll, and 10% more to stop).

Operating from grass does have benefits, you'll rarely need to change your tyres; landing on grass is much easier on the rubber than landing on a hard surface. Also, once you're used to the nuances of operating from grass, it opens up a whole new world of strips to visit. Though if you plan on visiting anywhere 'tight' get some practice/instruction in first.

Have fun!

Im building my TSI on a Grass strip and have flown my Cherokee PA28-180 from this srip for 6 years with wheel pants, have had No Issues. Only thing I recommend is to keep the tires inflated and grass mowed good, Im sure if the grass got too long it would start geeting trimmed by the wheel pants.

Cecil

I’ve operated my 4 off and into grass strips - Its not an issue but bear in mind that the spats are tight and you may need to keep an eye out for the grass in the pants