I'm decompressing after a trip from Albany to Basin Harbor, VT (B06) where I learned a tough lesson. We got lucky that it didn't cost me anything, and the humble pie is quite filling after the light lunch.

B06 is a beautiful grass strip adjoining the Basin Harbor resort on Lake Champlain. I'd never been there before, and thought it would be a fun trip for my mom (who just moved here) and my 5 year old in the club's 182RG. And it was, except for the part where we almost got stranded.

A Bonanza, Warrior, and a Scout had all arrived before me so I assumed the field was fine, but on rollout I realized it was pretty soft. We were bogging down and I was worried about keeping the nose up to avoid damage to the gear. That's the big lesson for me today. I should have been thinking "get the f out of here while you've still got momentum." The grass was about 4" long and the ground underneath was a little spongy in spots, so we got bogged down when I tried to turn around and taxi to the restaurant. Fortunately the crew from the resort was super helpful and towed us uphill, where we parked next to the other planes.

We damned near didn't make it out again. We started from dry ground at the top of the rise at the north end, but were only going 40 knots when we started hitting soggy spots midfield. The only reason I kept going was because I knew we could stop on a dime if I had to abort. The trees were awfully close when we started climbing out.

I'm smarter than I was when I left the house this morning, but I'd rather not have spent that bit of luck today.

182RG’s have those damn small main tires anything other than hard pack and you have problems.

I was in there a couple of years ago in an A36. We weren’t particularly heavy and it wasn’t hot. But, those trees looked pretty big to me as we climbed out. And, the runway was fairly dry.

Not many options if something would have happened to that Continental IO550 I was flying behind.

Neat airport however....

Thanks for posting.

TW

I'm pretty sure that's exactly how it's supposed to work.

That was something I knew intellectually, but hadn’t really internalized until today. The RG is not quite the utilitarian 182 I’m used to.

Turns out the Aeronca Chief that came in later has the same size tires, but weighs just over 1/3 as much.

Each time I've been to B06 it's felt "spongy", regardless of the last time it rained. I think it's a characteristic of that soil/surface. But it is a beautiful spot.

George

My dad owned a Skylane RG - so I have over 1,500 hours in one. The small tires are awful - even just in terms of getting over a lip in a hangar ramp.

I landed on grass two or fewer times - and NEVER on the strips on the family farms.

My recollection is that the book procedure for a soft-field takeoff is flaps 20.

Karen and I flew up commercial last fall and stayed at Basin Harbor for four days. Anticipating a trip back in the 180, I walked the strip pretty closely. It is simply not crowned for run off and the ground is pretty silty or sandy and is mushy wet or dry, and the grass is much too long, IMO.

I wrote it off as a destination landing.

We are going back to VT this fall, but we found the place we want to stay on our last trip: Woodstock Inn. I can hardly wait.

Jg

Yep! And full aft elevator to get the nosewheel off.

JG, thanks for your feedback about the runway. I thought the grass was far too long too, and they said it had just been mowed in the previous few days. Not only does it lack a real crown, but the lowest spot is at midfield and a culvert under there carries drainage underneath the runway. That's where it's the wettest.

If they always leave the grass that long, I might have to write that off as a destination too. Damn shame.

I had the same scary experience when I went in there 15 years ago in a 115HP Experimental taildragger. Beautiful spot but it's not a very good airport IMO.