STOL OPERATIONS IN AN AERONCA 11AC w/65 hp

[rosiejerryrosie]

Edgefly - I may have mislead you 07N is actually 2200 feet long so even if I can normally land and get off in the first 1300 feet of it, I still have a comfortable margin of safety before I run out of runway. This is different, at last psychologically, than haveing only 1150 feet between obstacals. I'm not an enginer so I would be reluctant to comment on the idea of adding enough horsepower/torque/etc to make it over 50 foot obstacles in X number of feet. Just a comment based on personal experience - adding horsepower also adds weight, so a major part of your added horsepower is going to be used up in compensating for the added weight, therefore, the required increase in horsepower is going to be considerable. We have been talking mostly theoretically here. Why don't you just take your airplane out to a longer grass strip, mark off the distance between your obstacles, and do a couple of takeoffs and landings. Do you feel comfortable that you would be able to do it safely when the real obstacles are there?

[thetractordoc]

Steve in Indy said "one of the first things my instructor pointed out was that "On days like today- hot and humid- there's going to be a big difference in being able to get into a field versus getting out of it. Plan ahead."

Steve's instructor sounds like a man of wisdom.
You seem pretty intent on trying this. I advise against it. However, a safe way to see if you can do make it in and OUT is setting up a paper mache ribbon across a grass strip at the same heigth as your powerlines. Use the hottest day with the highest relative humidity with no headwind to simulate conditions you may encounter in the actual field. Ripping through a ribbon will be a much better option than mixing aircraft tubing and high voltage powerlines.


The Tractor Doc

[Eddie King]

I know this is late, But take look at the 11CC Super Chief It has 85HP

I would like to hear from EXPIERENCED and currently active, in type, pilots of of Chiefs wih just the fundamental 65 horses as to their ability to land the machine SHORT and takeoff with minimum ground roll on grass. Input fom instructors giving training, doing BFR's or otherwise specifying "How-To" in this aircraft are of special interest. I purposefully left the obstacle specification to the responder but, obviously, the higher and closer the better. There are static numbers from many sources, but the question is "what are you actually achieving ? Another factor is the ever present Chief vs. Champ hassle. This question has to do with the 11 AC only.Please refrain from the childish bickering which so often arises in forum discussions about technique such as was present in the recent posts on Taylorcraft "Speed-Brakes". If you find a post objectionable, just leave it be. If you feelpersonally insulted, I suggest you take it up with the individual via pm or contact the forum moderator.

[BlueRidge]

Reviving an old thread, but it is a common Champ/Cub/Taylorcraft dream to have your own strip at home. And power lines are a common problem.

Someone in my area faced this exact situation. An inquiry with the electric company yielded an outrageous price for burying the wires just across the ends of the strip to eliminate the danger.

After consulting an aviation lawyer, he proceeded to level, crown, and seed the short runway. Filed all the appropriate paperwork with the FAA to make it a registered airport.

Then he had his lawyer send the electric company a notice that their wires across the runway were a serious threat to the safety of airplane operations at the airport. And the official legal notice making the company aware of the danger meant that if there were an accident, they could be sued for negligence.

The electric company buried the power lines at their own expense in a short period of time.

Long ago dead thread but maybe it could help someone in the future.

[lnuss]

Addendum:
I made this post before I checked the dates- didn't realize this was posted well over a decade ago. Still...

I have the possibility of constructing a private strip which would be grass, level, 996 feet long BUT with 50 foot high obstructions (powerlines) located precisely at the end points of the 996 foot runway !

I learned to fly in a Chief from a 1900 ft grass strip at ~600 ft elevation in northern Illinois. A 900 ft strip with obstruction(s) would be marginal, to put it kindly, even on a cool day. The Chief is NOT a STOL aircraft, and it really does want something at Vx or slightly over for climb, and you'd better be precise on airspeed over the fence and proficient at slips for landing -- it likes to float. If you want to use the sort of field you describe, better find something that can repeatedly use not much over 600 ft, or so, to clear your obstacle(s).

If you have a passenger aboard you'd be very foolish, indeed, to try to use that beast on even a bit longer field (1900 ft gave us a small but adequate margin on a warm day). Also, in PA as you describe, you'd likely be at a higher density altitude than I was in Illinois and believe me, density altitude IS a VERY strong consideration, especially with such a tiny field for a very weak performing aircraft.

Like Jerry, above, I might (when I was proficient with the aircraft) get it into a field like that, but takeoff?????? I wouldn't try it. Of course it's only your life and your aircraft you're risking (when solo that is). Nice dream, but the aircraft doesn't "know" about dreams.

Other than that, they fly about the same. Chief is a tiny bit faster in cruise.

I found the rudder of the Chief to have very little feel compared to the Champ, almost no resistance- perhaps it was only that copy, but it was the only Chief I've flown.