Marty,
I think it really comes down to comfort levels.
I totally agree with you that the POH is just a
starter and anyone flying soley by the POH is
taking a chance. You have to be familiar with
the airplane and the conditions.
If you’re someone who has done all of their primary work out of 2000ft fields and never had
the luxury of a 5000ft field, then your comfort
level is going to be different.
Paul
Han,
It would be great to have you here in Switzerland. The airfield is fantastically located right on the border of the Lake of Zurich. The identifier is LSPV. There is a very nice restaurant right next to it with a big terrace overlooking the field and the lake.
Did I hear “O.K. I’ll be there next week”. Fantastic, I could take a half day off anytime between Sept. 4 and 8. 
Cheers,
Placido
Placido,
Landing is not the issue (may have to use the low end of approach speds and step on the brakes a bit harder than others), take-off maybe for you when density altitude rises and the POH tables have to come out. My homebase sports a 2,200 ft slightly sloping grass strip (field elev 420). I take off with full tanks and 3 adults and lift off comfortably well before using it all (all at temps below 30C though) and roughly according to POH numbers (depending on whether the grass is mowed/dry etc.). After getting airborne speed picks up well, but at a relatively flat attitude, so ‘clearing the fence’ may need looking into in your situation too.
What’s the OACI identifier for your homebase? I may come along from LFPX with N144CD and have a look.
Han K
Clyde,
These issues are of paramount importance for me cause my home base has a paved strip of 500m at 1400 ft. How comfortable would you be operating your plane in and out of this strip in summer (25-30° Celsius) at gross weight?
Could you also tell me if your plane meets the published numbers or would you consider them aggressive or maybe even conservative?
A save operation of this aircraft out of my strip is very important otherwise I might be forced to let my contract go. Of course I’m here hoping to hear words of reassurance, but please from pilots with average experience and not from former aircraft carrier pilots.
Placido
Would be interested in hearing how the plane does on runways that aren’t 5000 feet and paved
I’ve flown VH-CRF in and out of some dirt, grass and short (-ish) strips. Firstly, you need to understand that it is not a STOL aircraft. Its short-field landing capabilities are quite good - but you could easily land on a strip that you could never take off from. So takeoff performance is the critical issue.
The shortest strip I’ve flown from was 650m - just over 2000 ft. This was paved, and we were close to max gross (2900lbs). I did not use short field technique, and we lifted off well before the end of the strip (but more than half-way down it.) At the expected higher gross weight of 3100 lbs I would have expected to use quite a bit of that strip, but it would still have been adequate.
The unpaved strips I’ve flown from have all been 800m or more (2500’) and have been no problem, although you do tend to get trees near these strips, so the obstacle clearance factor also comes into it. I’ve got a closer look at some trees than I expected on occasion, but not so close as to be a worry.
One thing to realize with the SR20 is that although its climb rate is quite good, it is travelling horizontally at 94 knots at best rate of climb, so it’s covering quite a bit of ground.
So, in summary, runway requirements are not too bad, but you should check the field length against the POH, especially if it’s soft, or you are at a high density altitude. I would regard the POH numbers for takeoff as being accurate, which means I would add 20% for the wife and kids, plus the usual for grass/wet grass etc.
Placido.
let me work on this for the latter part of next week (Thu or Fri). I’ll let u know by email.
HK
PS: What slot# do you have btw?
Han,
It would be great to have you here in Switzerland. The airfield is fantastically located right on the border of the Lake of Zurich. The identifier is LSPV. There is a very nice restaurant right next to it with a big terrace overlooking the field and the lake.
Did I hear “O.K. I’ll be there next week”. Fantastic, I could take a half day off anytime between Sept. 4 and 8.
Cheers,
Placido