Paul,
most owners i know had one of the landing gear brackets break sooner or later. I needed two in 1.5 years, but one time i welded it and it broke again, so i probably didn’t weld it well. Rough grass strips can easily break it, but to me that’s a nit a big deal … it’s easy to replace
I have a bit different take on this question. If your missions are such that you can postpone flying when the field is wet, go with grass. But if you insist on all-weather, all seasons availability, go with pavement and endure the extra driving time.
Rainy weather in the winter equals a sloppy, muddy runway. It’ll make your airplane a mess and dramatically increase both the risk of sliding on the runway and your take-off roll.
Perhaps it’s obvious, but be sure to have your tires at full book pressure; there’s a significant difference in ground coverage when the tires are soft and the grass is high; I’ve found it very difficult to taxi, and impossible to pull with the tow bar on grass if the tires aren’t at full pressure.
I live in Florida,
So the weather here is a little backwards. During the winter months the weather is approx 65-75 with dry conditions unless you consider the dew in the early morning the grass is fairly dry. During the summer months It’s humid, consistent thunderstorms and it rains often so most likely a grass strip won’t work. Great advice all around and I thank you. I’m leaning toward a paved runway which is about 40 mins from my residence, (20 Mins to the grass strip).
I see more of these broken on airplanes that never land on anything but pavement. It’s generally the pilot not the landing surface
I agree that if a pilot lands hard, it can be broken. Another cause may be asphalt patches on the runway or taxiway.
For example on my home field, there are patches 1/2" above the runway (and taxiway) surface. Each time I roll over these patches, the bracket will flex. After enough flexing, it breaks.
Since my brackets have lasted 2 to 3 years, I’m inclined to believe it’s not my landings… [:D]
Trip Taylor:
I see more of these broken on airplanes that never land on anything but pavement. It’s generally the pilot not the landing surface
The real problem is bad design. The G3 brackets are much better, as are the LoPresti ones.
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