Landing at private airstrips

PeterNSteinmetz

PeterNSteinmetz

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PeterNSteinmetz
Was passing over a private airstrip today that looked like it would be nice to land on, but no entry in the Chart Supplement at all for it and it was marked private on the chart.

So what are the regulations, regulations, laws and conventions about this sort of airport which is marked private but no farther information available? Is landing there a violation of an FAR? A misdemeanor trespass at worst? Or something more serious?

Same questions regarding an unmarked strip.
 
Privately owned by an individual or private because it's owned by the DNR for their use only? One of those may get you into trouble with regs or local laws.
Lots of planes use private marked strips every day. A lot of owners mark theirs private so they don't have everyone using them and having Joe Bonanza running off into the trees and suing them.
Call your insurance agent or look at your policy too, it may be prohibited.
 
The airports entry in the FAA 'airport master' (which is what airnav feeds off) has a 'manager' listed. Call and ask for permission. If you don't get an answer, don't assume that you have permission. We have a few local charted strips that haven't seen a landing in years and are basically hay-fields.
 
Without permission, technically you're trespassing.

They vary all over the place. Some are rough hayfields you really wouldn't want to land on even with a bush plane. Many are more or less maintained strips behind the owner's house. Calverton Executive on Long Island has a 10,000' paved runway. Some are public airports in everything but name, and welcome visitors, they may be "private" for real or perceived liability reasons. OTOH I know of one strip near me, when a guy I know landed there he was met by the owner with a shotgun ordering him to get out and stay out.

I actually visited two private strips yesterday, neither of which I'd been to before and I didn't have prior permission... but I was with a group of five other planes, some of whom had landed there before. At one I was even able to buy gas. I asked the new owner if she was going keep it private, she said yes, just to control access, "but you're welcome here any time."

With an older taildragger you're much more likely to be welcome if you drop in unannounced then if you're flying a modern airplane.
 
Dana said:
Without permission, technically you're trespassing.

They vary all over the place. Some are rough hayfields you really wouldn't want to land on even with a bush plane. Many are more or less maintained strips behind the owner's house. Calverton Executive on Long Island has a 10,000' paved runway. Some are public airports in everything but name, and welcome visitors, they may be "private" for real or perceived liability reasons. OTOH I know of one strip near me, when a guy I know landed there he was met by the owner with a shotgun ordering him to get out and stay out.

I actually visited two private strips yesterday, neither of which I'd been to before and I didn't have prior permission... but I was with a group of five other planes, some of whom had landed there before. At one I was even able to buy gas. I asked the new owner if she was going keep it private, she said yes, just to control access, "but you're welcome here any time."

With an older taildragger you're much more likely to be welcome if you drop in unannounced then if you're flying a modern airplane.
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Yes, all that.

With a destination in mind, I always try to find the closest landing location. If it is a private strip (and if any needed ground logistics could be arranged) I call the manager and see if permission could be obtained. Usually it could. If a manager couldn’t be reached, I consider it a ‘not’. Saying I was flying tail dragging Maule definitely helped smooth the way on several occasions.

Having obtained permission for landing once, I decided to revisit the same strip a year later unannounced. Don’t do that.

With that said, I’ve made 20-30 sailplane landings unannounced on private property (not counting private strips). I’ve never really had a problem and usually it’s just the opposite. It’s arguably a landing emergency so there’s that.

Ask and get permission, respect the owners by obeying any direction given and generally don’t screw up.


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I have a private airstrip and nobody is allowed to land on it except me. It's not that I don't want visitors. It's that I hate ambulance chasing lawyers.
 
First off, there's no requirement for private strips to be listed in the chart supplement, or charted, or anything else. The only FAA requirement is that you notify the FAA prior to construction. Note that while the FAA will indicate whether the airport data provided is acceptable or not, that determination is largely meaningless. The worst thing that could happen (this is rare), is the FAA marks it OBJECTIONABLE. When you submit the notice form you indicate whether you want it listed/charted or not. The FAA will then poll you every few years for updated information. It's a rather pain to get the CS updated otherwise. It seems to always take over two publication cycles to do anything (btdt).

As pointed out, it is private property. You land there, you ought to get permission. I get a phone call perhaps once a year (the airport manager number goes to my cell) asking for permission. I usually grant it if there's any shred of valid reason. One guy was going to a funeral at a nearby church (I offered up ground transportation). Richard Childress used to ask because Casey Kahne lives just down the street and while they can land the helo at his place it's not well lit and they use our runway at night. Of course, their pilot offered several people (Margy went, I missed out) rides while they were waiting. Of course, that's sort of gone by the wayside now that Casey's out of racing.

Of course, one of their pilots we know and we have our annual pig roast at my house at the same time as the Coca Cola 600. He's been known to come park the helo at our house (they don't let them stay at the track during the race) and eat until it's time to return.

I do get annoyed when instructors we don't know come over and do grass strip training without asking. We had a yahoo like that run off the end of the runway (it is 3000' long) and had to be craned out of there a bunch of years ago.
 
flyingron said:
As pointed out, it is private property. You land there, you ought to get permission. I get a phone call perhaps once a year (the airport manager number goes to my cell) asking for permission. I usually grant it if there's any shred of valid reason.
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Exactly. I’m not an owner and not on the call list for our strip. One should ask but people do come in on occasion. Sometimes it’s pretty interesting.

We had a fire suppression helicopter come in and dump water on the runway several times. Kind of violent. There was a drought underway and my guess is that they were invited in.

We had an Twin Otter come in one day apparently practicing short field obstructed landings. Pretty amazing given they could touch wheels closer to the trees than most Cessnas and stop shorter than anyone. Very Cool.


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We also had a guy land a goofball plane and rut up one of our verges. However, they realized immediately they'd effed up and and sent some pros out to fix the ruts. They'd already called and apologized all over the place while I was fielding calls from other residents hear bitching about it.
 
This is a pretty interesting private "strip". 13,500' x 300' paved with full time lighting.

Screenshot_20200427-163540_Pilot.jpg
 
I saw that on Skyvector a while back. That’s a test field for Boeing. Pretty cool to find, former Air Force base, housing sold to some residents but it’s mostly a ghost town. Don’t know if I’d want to try landing there either.
 
Some private strips may be communities even. Usually in this instance all you’ll need is a residents to put you on their guest list or invite you in. Some are more strict than others with pre-notice or not. There’s even a local private strip in a community near me with a restaurant on the field. They welcome you to fly in and just call and check in with security when you land. If you aren’t sure call the airport manager as many have mentioned. If it’s a private community strip try talking to a resident or the communities security for how to obtain said permission
 
Checking in from Salome. We're a private airfield (airpark) Anyone can land here if they're a guest of a resident or by permission of the manger.
 
One Must See Private Airport is Monument Valley. They want to verify you know the procedures and that you have insurance before granting permission to land, but they're very friendly and accommodating. They'll give you a ride from airstrip to the hotel/restaurant if you like. IMG_1569.jpgIMG_1570.jpg IMG_1571.jpg
 
Some private strips aren’t public because they don’t adhere to state standards for public airports, but will pretty much let anyone in. Bryce Resort (VG18) in Virginia is like that. Famed east coast barbecue destination Gilliam McConnell (BQ1), home of Pik N Pig, used to be like that, but I think they took care of a few obstruction issues a few years ago and became public.

Regardless, if you’re not sure, call the owner. Often airport remarks and ForeFlight comments will provide some insight as to how likely you are to get permission

side note: my experience in Canada was that most owners of charted private strips were welcoming to visitors. Usually there was an expectation of compensation for maintenance, but with relatively few public GA airports in some parts, airstrip owners are cool about allowing access, and a little less fearful of lawsuits.
 
smv said:
This is a pretty interesting private "strip". 13,500' x 300' paved with full time lighting.

View attachment 85187
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"The airport is located on the site of the former Glasgow Air Force Base which was in operation from 1957 to 1968, then again from 1972 to 1976. The Boeing Company operates a Flight Test Facility at this airport, which is maintained and operated by the Montana Aviation Research Company (MARCO), a Boeing subsidiary."
 
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