Silly question

Comet C2 And Shackleton both landed at (shortish) grass strip at Strathallan. Mind you, main gear collapse of the the Comet on touchdown may have assisted it’s braking potential !!

What about Take Off and Landing Distances of the Meteor, Vampire and JP on grass? Anyone got an idea?

Makes me wonder whether you’re planning on operating one from a grass strip, 😀 .
We have one fly over north Cambridge [a red JP ] on a regular basis,during the summer anyway,anyone know where it comes from and goes to? 🙂

Talking of Newton, Meteor T.7s and F.8s were based there for a while with one of the Group Communication Flights (I forget which one).

I heard that Vampires have flown from Sywell. When the MoD were disposing of Vulcans there was also some serious talk of one going to the Nene Valley Avaition Society that used to be based there (with outside a Vampire and a Whirlwind HAS.7 and HAR.10). It was all calculated etc. – it would get in (not out again) and the surface would have stood up to it.
Also Jet Provost T.3 XN600 made the first jet landing at Bicester.
OAW

Arm waver is absolutely right – thats why there are concrete plinths at the end of the runway – stop em setting fire to the grass!

TT
(Sywell Aviation Museum)

What about Take Off and Landing Distances of the Meteor, Vampire and JP on grass? Anyone got an idea?

Increased angle of attack, therefore a shorter take off run. As the steam catapult runs weren’t very long anyway, it would make sense to get every little bit of lift they could in the time and space available.

A tailwheel jet has never seemed a good idea to me.

It hasn’t to me either but I seem to recall reading the Navy thought it would be better for carrier operations, although I don’t remember their reasoning.
Might be in one of Winkle Brown’s books, I’ll have a look.

Wasn’t there also a Vulcan flown in and landed on the grass at Newton, or am I having a senile moment?

Yes, all three Vulcans and both Comets landed at Halton. Some trees had to be felled at the east end of the airfield to allow a low approach “over the hedge”, but they all stopped with loads of room to spare.

A JP aerobatic team operated off the grass at Denham during the ’60s – I have the photo to prove it. Now that WAS short.

theres a picture of a black JP arriving at the grass strip at Breighton on their website, not seen it myself (yet) though!

I remember hearing a talk once which included a story about setting fire to the grass at Culham while taxying a Supermarine Attacker. It was either Dizzy Addicot or David Morgan , I can’t remember which.

A tailwheel jet has never seemed a good idea to me.

There must be a risk of burning the grass with a Vampire too surely? When on the ground the Vamp’s tailpipe is inclined down towards the ground. I believe the Pilot’s Notes also warn about this.

Yes, check out: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/aviation/

My reason for asking was that I recall that at their airshow in 1986 (from memory) Jet Heritage operated their Red JP from there.

As for coming for a visit, yes I may well be doing that soon. I think Goodwood would be better than Shoreham which is my other option for flying to Sussex.

Could I ask why you asked the question Phillip?

I remember hearing a talk once which included a story about setting fire to the grass at Culham while taxying a Supermarine Attacker. It was either Dizzy Addicot or David Morgan , I can’t remember which.

A tailwheel jet has never seemed a good idea to me.

I heard that Vampires have flown from Sywell. When the MoD were disposing of Vulcans there was also some serious talk of one going to the Nene Valley Avaition Society that used to be based there (with outside a Vampire and a Whirlwind HAS.7 and HAR.10). It was all calculated etc. – it would get in (not out again) and the surface would have stood up to it.
Also Jet Provost T.3 XN600 made the first jet landing at Bicester.
OAW

Gp. Cpt. Cunningham also managed to land a Vulcan there as well so I am told, so you can land anything there once…

Are there any piccies of the above event floating around anyone’s hard drive?

JC landed, I think, the first of the two Comets to be used as training airframes at Halton.

Halton had a total of three Vulcans, the last (B1A XH479) flown in from Waddo by a crew from AAEE. The date was 28th June, but I’m not sure what year – probably 1967. There was an article in ‘Air Clues’ describing the preparations for the mission, including pics of the landing.

I believe a Jet Provost (or at least the later models) are very much the same as the Strikemaster, and the Strikemaster was perfectly suited to grass strip operation.

That was one of the pre-requisites of the RNZAF buying it, because they needed something that could operate from grass, unlike the Skyhawks. Many of New Zealand’s smaller airfields are still grass.

Is Goodwood an all grass airfield does anyone know?

Are you coming for a visit then? 🙂

Yes, you can operate both from a grass strip, providing its dry, hard and smooth. Here are the “Poachers” team of JP T5s at Middle Wallop in July 1975.
I would guess the Team Leader visited the airfield the day before to assess if it was suitable and that there had been no rain.

The last batch of JPs to arrive at Halton as training airframes were flown in – on a grass strip. The JP however was never designed or fatigue tested to operate on grass.

You can operate anything from anywhere, once. Operating something in safety – that is a different question…

Flood