Instrument approaches to grass strips?

eshazen

eshazen

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Eric
On my "bucket list" (maybe not very glamorous) is to fly an instrument approach in IMC conditions to a grass strip. A bit of searching around the Northeast finds only one: 08N, Keller Bros in PA. I could hack something up from FAA databases, but maybe some other crazy soul has done this?
 
Seems more like a fetish... but I guess I get it.

I get hot and bothered about doing night landings on grass in a taildragger, so there’s that.


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eshazen said:
On my "bucket list" (maybe not very glamorous) is to fly an instrument approach in IMC conditions to a grass strip. A bit of searching around the Northeast finds only one: 08N, Keller Bros in PA. I could hack something up from FAA databases, but maybe some other crazy soul has done this?
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Go to Alaska. Lots of gravel strips with IAPs.
 
Our grass strip doesn't have an approach of its own, but if you fly the RNAV to 14A, our runway sits just about a mile past the FAF on the approach track. The minimum altitude there is 720 above the runway elevation. So if the weather isn't too bad.... SVH with an ILS and RNAV down to 200 DA is only 5 miles away if you have to go missed.
 
Probably not exactly what you’re looking for, but any airport with both paved and grass runways (and an instrument approach to the paved runway) would allow you to do that, by circling to the grass runway (presuming it isn’t NA on the procedure).
 
I previously had a Champ based at Keller Bros, it's a great little grass strip, really the type of classic nostalgic GA field that I love.

There is an instrument approach and I believe that military helicopters practice on it with some regularity.
 
Just had to insert this pick of Keller Bros... man do I miss my little Champ
 

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eshazen said:
On my "bucket list" (maybe not very glamorous) is to fly an instrument approach in IMC conditions to a grass strip. A bit of searching around the Northeast finds only one: 08N, Keller Bros in PA. I could hack something up from FAA databases, but maybe some other crazy soul has done this?
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Do you mean straight-in approach? If not, there are airports with grass strips adjacent to a paved runway with instrument approaches. For example, MWO.
 
luvflyin said:
There’s a 700’ floor of E airspace there. It probably has, or had, a Special Instrument Approach.
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Does not currently have one (nor is their one close enough nearby). Whatever it was must be gone.
 
sarangan said:
Do you mean straight-in approach? If not, there are airports with grass strips adjacent to a paved runway with instrument approaches. For example, MWO.
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and FDK. Then there's 1w3. Not the same airport but so close as to be indistinguishable.
 
flyingron said:
Does not currently have one (nor is their one close enough nearby). Whatever it was must be gone.
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Yeah. I looked to. And the 7400.11. Couldn’t find the airspace description either. Probably just a Charting error. The airport diagram shows a displaced threshold. This could be a clue that there once was an approach there. And there is a published Airport Diagram. I don’t think just any ol’ private airport gets those.
 
It was last listed in 7400.9Y (2014)
 
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There used to be a VOR (or GPS)-A approach there it was cancelled in April 2017.

I just searched back in the 7400 versions (each one has a link to the previous).
I found the mention of the approach by searching the federal register.

I notified the chart guys about the error.
 
flyingron said:
There used to be a VOR (or GPS)-A approach there it was cancelled in April 2017.

I just searched back in the 7400 versions (each one has a link to the previous).
I found the mention of the approach by searching the federal register.

I notified the chart guys about the error.
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Ah. Yeah, once you know about what page it's on, it would go fast
 
eshazen said:
On my "bucket list" (maybe not very glamorous) is to fly an instrument approach in IMC conditions to a grass strip. A bit of searching around the Northeast finds only one: 08N, Keller Bros in PA. I could hack something up from FAA databases, but maybe some other crazy soul has done this?
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29N in New Jersey just east of Philadelphia has a VOR/GPS approach.
 
flyingron said:
Doesn't appear to have any approaches.
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hmmm, I’m not an IFR guy but stopped there to get gas bringing my bird home a couple years ago when I bought it and the manager was telling us it was o em of the few grass strips w an instrument approach... maybe I heard wrong
 
Huckster79 said:
hmmm, I’m not an IFR guy but stopped there to get gas bringing my bird home a couple years ago when I bought it and the manager was telling us it was o em of the few grass strips w an instrument approach... maybe I heard wrong
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If a "few years ago" was before 2017, then he was right. The VOR-or-GPS approaches were pretty much cancelled if there were other nearby airports that had better ones.
 
sarangan said:
Do you mean straight-in approach? If not, there are airports with grass strips adjacent to a paved runway with instrument approaches. For example, MWO.
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HFD (Brainard, Hartford, CT) has a 2300' turf strip parallel to 02/20.
 
I used to do this one all the time. The circle to RWY 13 is just a dogleg left and right...

KAQO_VOR-A.png
 
GeorgeC said:
I heard recently that 08N is gorgeous.
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It is. I had a lot of memorable experiences flying there as a student at nearby KLNS. Almost ended my nascent piloting career there. The owner keeps one of the few CAP 10 there.
 
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IK04 said:
I used to do this one all the time. The circle to RWY 13 is just a dogleg left and right...

View attachment 89321
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I’m sure you got underneath and VFR before doing that and didn’t actually do a ‘circling ‘approach’’;) Don’t think this one really would qualify as dirt strip with instrument approach
 
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The only approach to the airport I grew up at was a VOR-A...came in almost directly across the asphalt runway, but was lined up perfectly on the sod runway.
 
luvflyin said:
I’m sure you got underneath and VFR before doing that and didn’t actually do a ‘circling ‘approach’’;) Don’t think this one really would qualify as dirt strip with instrument approach
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Yep, with one mile visibility and 618-ish AGL, it was pretty easy to make the turns at 80 KIAS or so...

The OP stated "Grass strips."
 
IK04 said:
Yep, with one mile visibility and 618-ish AGL, it was pretty easy to make the turns at 80 KIAS or so...

The OP stated "Grass strips."
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Circling Rwy 13, 31 NA. Yeah, you could fly around in a circuitous way and land on RWY 13 at 618-ish and one mile visibility daytime because it’s Class G down there. You’d be VFR in VMC doing it though. Rwy 13/31 does not have an Instrument Approach.
 
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I looked in AIM, and it lists some runway marking requirements for instrument approaches, and they mostly look impractical to me, for a turf runway. For a non-precision approach, there are four marking requirements: Designation (runway number), threshold, aiming point, and center line. I think there are lighting requirements, also.
 
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Harford County (0W3) has an RNAV-B 10-28 is turf. In fact, the approach is aligned with the grass runway (brings you straight into Runway 10).
 
NoHeat said:
I looked in AIM, and it lists some runway marking requirements for instrument approaches, and they mostly look impractical to me, for a turf runway. For a non-precision approach, there are four marking requirements: Designation (runway number), threshold, aiming point, and center line. I think there are lighting requirements, also.
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Instrument approaches to unlit runways are typically marked 'na at night'. These days, the FAA would not pay for development of an approach to a unlit runway, so if they are around they are either old or at unfunded airports.
 
NoHeat said:
I looked in AIM, and it lists some runway marking requirements for instrument approaches, and they mostly look impractical to me, for a turf runway. For a non-precision approach, there are four marking requirements: Designation (runway number), threshold, aiming point, and center line. I think there are lighting requirements, also.
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The ones you may find to grass strips are probably going to be circling only for that reason.
 
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