New airstrip

buzzlatka · Post by **buzzlatka** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:47 am

This runway is not the typical grass runway. It is a peat soil that rests only about 3 ft above the water table. When you drive a tractor on it you can see the ground depress and then you can see the ground rise about 10 ft away. Imagine a 3 ft thick blanket floating on top of water. The soild is really thick and clumpy and doesn' play nice with graters and tractors. In about two months the water table will rise and the south 2/3rds of the runway will be unusable until spring. The water table will rise to at or above the ground level and you won't even be able to drive a tractor back there.

You can't move the sailboat mast because that is part of the reason for flying to the island.

denalipilot · Post by **denalipilot** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:15 pm

I'm very intersted in your topic because I've been thinking about a seaplane prop recently myself. My stock O-300A has the 8-bolt flange and stock prop. To tell the truth, I haven't researched available seaplane props yet, but my mechanic seems to think there's something available out there that he can get, which would increase my STOL performance. Does anyone know what kind of performance changes I could expect to get with a seaplane prop, versus just pitching my current prop for maximum climb performance? I fly primarily in steep terrain and on short strips, and usually have the airplane weighted down with heaps of survival gear, especially in winter. Any experienced feedback or even armchair speculation on getting the most STOL for the buck would be very welcome.

Nice home base, Buzzlatka!

-Denalipilot

denalipilot · Post by **denalipilot** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:35 pm

Oops- I just found the new seaplane prop thread- nevermind- but thanks to everyone for weighing in on exactly what I wanted to learn more about.

Denalipilot