which plane for mountain airstrip?

[spoiledali]

hi,

I think you are going to be tight with any of these aircraft given the parameters you mentioned. If your budget wasn't an issue a Maule would be a great aircraft for this mission or a 182 with performance enhancements. You may also want to check the performance of your list of aircraft with STOL kits installed.
I personnaly have a lot of experience(1200 HRS) in the PA-140. While it is a fine airplane I wouldn't want to operate it out of an 1800 ft grass strip near max gross weight unless it was absolutely free of obstacles.


tnkx

[Cappa]

Not sure if you're still looking for a plane but I have a PA-28 161. I have flown into a 2500' gravel strip at gross and it landed and took off fine. Sorry about the units but..... that was at about 20 deg C. My partner has a cabin that has a 2500' grass strip at 2000' ASL behind it that he flies into regularly. The approach is into rising terrain and at gross the plane does not have the power required to do an overshoot so ya gotta stick the landing or abort really early. In the summer at 30 ish deg C it uses every foot of the runway to take off which is then over a lake so there is no terrain to clear. I would say that the first few takeoffs on an 1800' grass strip would leave you buying your passengers some new pants. This means there is also no room for error on your takeoffs. The plane would do it but you might find yourself having to leave early in the morning in the hotter months etc. To answer the question " Would I fly my family in my PA-28-161 at gross from an 1800' grass strip at 1800' ASL with the temperature over 20 deg C?" the answer would simply be NO. I'm not the riskiest pilot out there but that's my take.