Turf Airport Study

Reader Comment/Email Chain

2007-11-20T04:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Nov 18, 2007

Dear Bill,
Yeah, I guess you are right about the privacy thing. A lot of people that have their own grass strips where they are the only users, and do so because they want to be left alone. They don't want the prying eyes of their neighbors, the FAA or anyone else. I think I am in that category to a certain extent. If I had to keep my airplanes at a public airport in a rented hangar, I would quit flying. I am very, very lucky to have my own place and I continually turn down requests to sell lots on the airport for people wanting something similar.

The alternative to the public airports are the fly-in communities, and some are great. Sadly, there are many that are just a hornets nest of politics and bad feelings between the various tenants. You know..."so and so is flying that damned biplane again, the one with no muffler, and it makes too much noise". I know of one such place where one of the property owners has quit flying and now complains about the noise of the other airplanes. Another property owner feeds the deer in his backyard in spite of the hazard they create to the landing airplanes. They can't get him to stop because there is nothing in the covenant prohibiting it. You can only have two dogs in this development but there is nothing said about feeding wandering deer! We don't have that problem here. We had a deer infestation a few years ago and we got a permit from the DNR to shoot them out of season and at night. Killed 57 of them the first year. Fed a lot of folks with tight budgets that year. Now the drought seems to have driven the deer deep into the swamps. We have seen very few on the runway this year. Anyway, thanks again for all of your hard work!
Take care,
[recipient]

Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: Turf Airport Study - Final Report
Dear [recipient],
Thanks for the comments. A chart relative to latitudes would be helpful --
there is a chart in the appendix, the one given to recipients during the questioning (the appendix depicting the survey, one of the last questions).

A chart of exact airport lat/longs, however, might be inconsistent with the promises of privacy I gave to each airport. I really don't think most would mind, but .... Were it not for privacy, a drill down from the geography to the answers for a particular airport would be super!

Best,
Bill

At 08:28 AM 11/18/2007, you wrote:
Dear Bill,
Wow! You have really gathered a lot of data. I am the owner of [airport], a 2700 ft. north/south turf airport in [part of] Georgia. Did you ever consider a chart depicting the location of the respondents? That would be a nice touch if you ever revise your research. Also, charts showing the airports in relation to the latitudes etc. would be a big help in getting the larger picture.
Anyway, thanks for all of your efforts.
Sincerely,
[recipient]

Results Published

2007-11-10T05:18:00.001-08:00

Summary report published to web and notification emails began on Nov 10, 2007.

Please feel free to leave comments.

End of Survey Collection Period

2007-08-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, August 26 the survey collection period was completed. The analysis phase has begun. Thanks to all for contributing. Results are hoped to be published by November, 2007.

Comments through Aug 26

2007-08-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Effective weed control that could be applied with fertilizer on bahia would be appreciated - inexpensively.
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Will the study identify the best turf for use on runways and taxiways? Will the study identify maintenance methods for the care of the turf? Small turf runways are usually maintained by homeowner association/volunteers. Help in providing information to maintain these large areas of grass would be very helpful. Is the county agent a resource and if so what will they do?

(response: Generally, a study specifically targeted at relating turf airports/runways to turf science hasn't been done. So what I hope to achieve with this study is to lay a baseline for a larger study by answering some basic descriptions of turf airport management practices.

So the answer to most of your questions will certainly be general. But here goes.

"Will the study identify the best turf for use on runways and taxiways?". It may identify the most common turf species used on runways/taxiways by latitude. It may identify the perceived quality related to turf species. But just knowing the breakdown of the species of turf is new knowledge.

"Will the study identify maintenance methods for the care of the turf?" Here it may find a relationship between soil testing frequency and perceived quality. Just knowing the kinds of mowers used on the airports may prove helpful as well as knowing how many airports use irrigation systems (few do, as you can imagine).

"Is the county agent a resource and if so what will they do?" In our case, we live near the Univ. of Florida's Milton research campus. This campus has a Florida agricultural extension office and one of the researches visited our airport and offered suggestions. These included soil testing which we then sent to him for recommended actions. In our case, we applied lime which we had not done for at least 5 years, if ever! So it helped give information to the Homeowner Association to make a decision.
)
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Answer by US Mail (letter). Owner planned runway with a strong base of 3" shale, 2" topsoil, Pensacola Bahia. Graded with a crown for drainage and drainage on either side

Comments through Aug 20

2007-08-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Since the State has dropped the private airport inspection program, the local governments are reluctant to approve new private airports. I would be interested to hear how many new airports have been approved without the backing of the State Aviation Department, and how many local governments feel they are alone and taking all the liability for new airports being approved. One tier of the aviation process has been eliminated. As old airports close, new airports will find it very difficult to be approved for a Conditional Use Permit
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Our airfield is generally a club operation supported by the landowner and his property development company. The concerns we see are proper maintenance to maintain the condition of the main runway without increasing maintenance costs any more than necessary. We would enjoy any advice on mowing equipment, fertilization, pest control and leveling procedures to correct changes in the surface. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to your study.
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Since I sold my Pitts, the runway doesn't have as much traffic and I have less inclination to irrigate, etc. My partner does still fly in and out and we do have moderate ultralight traffic. The soil for our runway came from a road realignment project and between the incredibly poor quality of the soil and several years of drought, it has been very difficult to get the turf runway we want. I do believe that we could use the soil on our runway as a herbicide, since even weeds don't like to grow on it! Making progress though!
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When runway built, deliberate crowning of runway for drainage. Pulls with chain/fence for grooming, helps with ant mounds. Uses Auburn University for free soil samples.
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We are in the process of getting bids for a sprinkler system to be installed in stages. Most of our problems are caused by lack of water.
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Burns grass off each February when dormant, finds it grows back better after that. Grass is mowed using a hay mower, hay picked up and bartered for mowing services with horse farm. No clippings left on runway, finds this helps quality of turf.

Final Email Solicitation

2007-08-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

On or about August 17, sent nearly 200 emails to non-responders trying to solicit responses.

Second Mailing

2007-07-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

On July 30, 2007, the postcard at left was sent to approximately 450 airports not yet responding.

Comments through July 28

2007-07-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

After first planting Bermuda we wanted the new grass to go to seed in order to re-seed naturally - we did this probably for one season and then found there was an AD Note on potential prop damage (even on metal props) for seed "embedding" in the props - so we discontinued that practice. I think this is the biggest thing we have run into that is very important regarding a "turf" runway. Also we had to install a couple of water drains too in a small low area to elimanate standing water after rains. This worked well and we no longer have that problem, which would also produce "soft" and even mucky type area when traveled on by planes, mowers, or otherwise. A "crowned surface", like on a football field, would be most desirable for this very reason, however, it is not always possible.
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Unfortunately we closed down our 27-year operation about a year and a half ago.
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fire ants are our biggest problem and there is no help in sight
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The propertie has been sold and is no longer a runway.there is a mobile home parked across the end of the run way.there are horses wondering about,this should be taken off the records of an airport of any type!!!! my apologies for not being any help for your research..
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Deer on runway biggest issue. Really, just a field mowed regularly.
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Currently renovating runway. Replacing Bahia with Bermuda. Flail produced better results than rotary bush hog. Considering finish mower. With Bermuda renovation investment, considering investment in irrigation system.While most aircraft operations have no effect on quality, heavy/turbine (i.e., 1400 HP) crop dusters can cause damage with one visit, due to prop wash and pivoting on locked wheels.
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Our soil is hard packed sand-clay, and centipede dominates at app. 80%

2007-07-22T16:02:00.001-07:00

On July 22, 75 emails were sent to those who respnoded to the survey, asking them if they had contact information for airports within approx. 25 nm of their airport... sample email below

Dear Turf Airport Study Respondent (xxxx),

You recently took the time to complete a survey on the turf management practices of your airport. So far, I have received responses from over 100 airports out of nearly 650 targeted in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. In order to have a useful set of data, I am trying to get responses from more airports. As you may know, the FAA records of ownership and management is often out of date.

The purpose of this email is to impose upon you one more time. Below are airports I am trying to include in the study who have not yet responded who are near your airport. I'm asking for you help in contacting these airports.

If you know the contact email for a person who could answer the survey, could you forward this on with some encouragement to take the survey? If you know the airport is closed, could you let me know with a reply? And if you know anything about who I could contact, would you mind responding with the contact information?

The web address to take the survey is:
http://www.turfairportstudy.com

I hope you appreciate this email as an effort to know more about how we all maintain our grass strips. The list of airports near you are below my email signature.

Best,
Bill Tuccio
Yellow River Airport (FD93)
34 Sky Lane
Holt, FL 32564
850-537-8592
bill@turfairportstudy.com

LIST OF TURF AIRPORTS NEAR YOU:

3M5: MOONTOWN in HUNTSVILLE, AL
http://www.airnav.com/airport/3M5
3AL8: FLINT RIVER RANCH in OWENS CROSSROADS, AL
http://www.airnav.com/airport/3AL8
AL72: PALMER FIELD in MADISON, AL
http://www.airnav.com/airport/AL72
4AL8: MILTON in HUNTSVILLE, AL
http://www.airnav.com/airport/4AL8
AL93: BIG SKY in HUNTSVILLE, AL
http://www.airnav.com/airport/AL93
1M3: ARDMORE in ARDMORE, ALhttp://www.airnav.com/airport/1M3

Comments through July 16am

2007-07-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

No problem with pests... perhaps the surrounding cotton fields and their sprays/applications keep the pests away. Not sure.
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How do we find someone willing to look at our runway, substraight and current conditions, who can inform and guide us as to what we can do to improve the runway.
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My strip is relatively new (less than 2 years) and has few cycles. It is a private landing strip with about 50-70 cycles per year. It is on my tree farm, so mowing is done with pull behind bushhog type PTO mowers, and done as needed between other jobs on the farm. The grass was seeded about 2 years ago (argentine bahia) after turning the dirt, crowning, etc. This past month, I re-turned the dirt only 1/2 inch or so, and added seed, then rolled it with a pull behind roller. The jury is still out on whether or not this was sufficient to build back in some patchy areas. My aircraft are light taildraggers

Comments through July 12

2007-07-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

I would like to improve on my maintenance and care of the airstrip. If you can help please let me know
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We burn regularly to help grass quality.
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Big problem in my area is invasion of "tiger grass". It grows like a weed and has almost taken over one of my aircraft parking areas. On the plus side however, it makes a very stable turf surface
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Thank you very much for including us in your airport study. Our turf runway is our passion and the people who use it are our livelihood. I would be very interested to know if there is an association or some type of club that turf runway owners or operators can become involved with. If not I am interested in putting one together. I think it would be extremely beneficial to have a sounding board, so to speak, for information that would be helpful in maintaining the turf, and it would be a great way to share knowledge or ideas that have proven to work. I would like to say that ant hills were a serious problem when we purchased our field in 2004. I purchased an SN-50 Jasmic thermal mosquito fogger to help eliminate the mosquito problem and a side effect has been a significant reduction in the fire ant populations. The thermal fogger is often used by municipalities and the most widely used pesticide is permethrin. I have several other tidbits of information that I would love to share with other turf runway users, and I’m sure they have plenty to share as well. I enjoyed reading through your blogs in the study and I’m looking forward to the results.

Comments through July 7 am

2007-07-07T04:32:00.000-07:00

We would REALLY appreciate a "care and feeding" manual for Bahiagrass from the results of this survey, it would put to rest some internal bickering within our association. Thanks for conducting this study.
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I find that Argentine Bahia produces siginificantly fewer seed stalks than Pensicola Bahia once the sod is grown into a tight turff. Because stalks are considered detrimental to aircraft finishes use of Argentine is more satisfactory. It allows for reletively less frequent mowing during parts of the year when Pensicola produces more stalk than grass.
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For the past 26 years of operation I can say that I keep a well Maintained runway. The mowing is in response to wet or dry conditions allowing for grass growth. This year, and may be it's due to Hurricane charley, I have a real problem with the grass yellowing down the middle. It appears to be from mole-crickets but I'm not sure this time. My full runway length is 2800ft X 100ft wide useable for landing, with a 20ft easement on one side and a 30ft easement on the other side. This is a good thing your doing. Maybe the private airport owners of grass strips can find some info on maintaining their grass. If you know of an inexpensive was to get rid of mole-crickets please let me know. Good luck on your research.
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The runway was seeded with bermuda grass several times. The thing that helped the Bermuda grow the best was adjusting the PH with lime. The runway needs more lime but it has been very dry and applying lime will not be effective till it rains more. The runway is now 20-25% bermuda grass and 75% weeds and fescue grass but the weeds hold the soil and they grow well. I have tried to get rid of the fescue grass and sage grass because it clumps. I am glad that anything grows this summer due to the extreme dry conditions.

Comments through July 3

2007-07-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

The airstrip and taxiway is flooded with salt water at least once a year. During Hurricane Denis the airport had several feet of salt water over it. Once things dried out the strip was in better shape than it has been in the last fifteen years.
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You didn't ask what kind of renovations or anything about the kinds of traffic. My airport gets used twice a year. It gets maybe 50 operations a day with very heavily loaded planes, which totally wreck the turf. Fertilizer applied to field is whatever is left in the hoppers when they land. You didn't ask about soil type. I have 9 soil types, most of which band the airport.
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How can we have someone test our soil , grass quality and fire ant control?
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How much traffic daily/weekly. What soils work best. What nutrients work best.
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Airport owner is son of Ed Finlayson who brought Pensacola Bahiagrass to Florida in 1930's! Concern: Touchdown zone wear, how to others address the touchdown zone getting a lot of wear?
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I think bermuda grass would make a great runway. My grass gets so tall fast. The thickness is not the problem just the tall heading out of grass. good luck with survey.
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airstrip is seldom used, located on a cattle ranch
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Please note my answers may not be applicable as this is a new private airport, on my property, which has only just been graded and re-seeded. It is used only for one, very STOL-capable aircraft kept on-site and flown only by me, so operation frequency is very low (1-2 per week). I'd be happy to take the survey again in the future. Finally, I would welcome any input on the most cost-effective way to mow a short airstrip such as mine. I have been looking at towable finish mowers used in combination with our existing tractor mower.

New Comments through June 30

2007-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

My airport is located in NE Florida. We have had many different opinions on runway maintenance. We are currently using UF Extention Service recommendations. The runway is 100% Bahai. Our biggest problem is the lack of an irrigation system and the runway condition suffers during the dry months. We are planning on installing an irrigation system. Thanks for the survey. I found the extention service about the best information source.
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We are about to embark on a major renovation of one of our runways. We will be using aeration and a home-made smoothing device with topsoil overlay to complete this process. The project is currently on hold due to lack of rainfall this year, but we have high hopes for this process. I'll be happy to supply you with details of our plans if you like. I look forward to receiving the results of your study. Good luck.
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This is a new turf airstrip, constructed in Winter 2006. Drought and soil conditions have adversely affected turf growth, however, the fescue, clover and rye combination is gradually improving.
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Works closely with extension services. Landing location varies to avoid landing in same place. Volunteers rotate who mows. They mow two times PER WEEK when its raining. Each person who mows paid $49. Target 3 inches for grass height, 5 inches when their is drought. Works closely with Georgia extension services via college, as many as two times per season.
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My airport is a small personal use airport that was plowed and planted with centepede last year. Due to drought conditions, growth has been slow, however it is now making progress...
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The airport is being used right now for hay. Keep it current with the FAA so when he & his wife want to start flying again, they won't have any problems. Put 2600 for length but he says 1800 is useable.
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We mow twice per week in summer. Student from the Golf Course and truf mgt program(John Piersol's program) take care of it for pay.
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I received a letter regarding your turf airport research study. This is not an active airport since the time I purchased it several years ago.
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Thank you very much for this survey. We look forward to the results. All our taxiways are at the same elevation, soil and grass type (bahia) as the runway, but with no irrigation system. Why then do the taxiway conditions appear to be much better than our irrigated runway. Runway watering is done three times/week early a.m.
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Is the use of insecticides benificial? Is the use of herbicides cost effective? How frequently should mechanical aeriation be performed?
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We are planning on installing a well and irriigation system

Postal Mailing Results as of June 30

2007-06-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

As of June 30, nearly 38 letters have been returned undeliverable due to address issues. This was expected and more will likely be returned. About 35 people have taken the survey. Most people are answering the optional question (all questions are optional!) about their airport identifier. This helps with the follow-up queries asking to take the survey.

Today 214 people received a follow-up email. These 214 people were those who have not yet responded to the survey and no undeliverable mail was returned. I.e., those people who should have received the mailing.

Initial Mailing, June 18 - Mail House Problem

2007-06-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

When the mail house processed the mailing, a computer error resulted in the cover letter omitting the addressee information. While the letters reached the recipients, the cover letter header had blank areas due to the error. The mail house was kind enough to credit me a full refund for the mailing.

Comments from Survey through June 23, 2007

2007-06-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

(Comments are nameless to preserve anonymity)
From Florida... Our turf runways have been in place for close to 40 years, I am interested if any other turf fields are frequently aereated? And if so how? Has anybody used anhydros ammonia for fertilization? And has anyone used a disc and a vibratory roller for additional leveling?

From Alabama...Bahai grass is costly on mower blades and most expensive single item in grass maintenance . I would like to eliminate the bahai grass so the other grasses(centipede) can grow. Would like suggestions.

From Florida...I built this runway in 1968 and turf was the way to go. However I am now thinking of a hard surface. I am aware this is not what your survey is about but I would appreciate any suggestions.

Survey Mailing

2007-06-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

On June 15 the survey was sent to 656 valid airport addresses along with the cover letter. The letters should start being received on or about June 21 or so.

State Airport Records GA/AL vs. FL

2007-05-30T10:24:00.001-07:00

Around May 23 I called Georgia DOT and asked if they kept records on private airports, like Florida does. I spoke with Jack JoinerAviation Project Manager(404) 651-5204 (Jack.Joiner@dot.state.ga.us). He said both Georgia and Alabama do not keep state records like Florida does.

Thus, given the discrepencies found between Florida state records and FAA 5010 records for airports (about 75% were different), it is expected the contact rate of AL/GA airports will be lower than for Florida.

Thatch Question/Compaction

2007-05-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

There was a plan to ask Thatch/Compaction questions, but the length of the survey has caused this to be taken out.

Overseeding

2007-05-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

It is very unlikely airports overseed, so to keep the survey brief, this question was not asked.

Turf Dormancy

2007-05-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

This question had been planned to be asked, but the dormancy of turf is not unique to airports and can be derived from other sources.

Airport Dormancy

2007-05-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

It seems possible some airports are not being used or maintained. Perhaps the airport was owned by one family member who passed away and the remaining family members have no interest in aviation.

Registered Addresses of Airports

2007-05-20T12:55:00.001-07:00

About 15% of the addresses of managers of airports are not on the airports. In some cases, in other states.

Building Address List

2007-05-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

The address list of GA, FL, and AL airports initially came from the FAA 5010 database. This database is aquired off the web using Excel downloads. Very easy.

For Florida, the contact information in the database is very different from the information contained in the Florida DOT records -- about 75% of the records are different in Florida's records. Florida's records can only be downloaded one by one, so the reconciliation process was a one by one pull of information from Florida DOT (I called the FL DOT to try and get the source database, but they would not distribute it).

So this was time consuming!