New Airport Design Standards Include Guidelines for Grass Strip Runway Placement

The EAA celebrates the most recent update to the FAA's new airport design standards, specifically a "long-awaited acknowledgment to allow turf operations on unpaved runway safety areas. 

For those pilots running a specially-configured aircraft using low pressure tundra tires, ultralights, gliders, or vintage tailwheel aircraft, the long, unused, and perfectly functional grass strips are just the ticket for safer, most consistent operation. Of course, airport managers throughout the aviation ecosystem vary, and the absence of explicitly codified permission has been infrequently pointed to as evidence that the practice is not allowed. The policy change has been an EAA request for years, brought up notably at their EAA/FAA Winter Recreational Summit.

The change is an excellent way to support sport aviation, allowing those whose aircraft are better off doing so to engage in "Turf Operations", as the new policy refers to them. The standards include key risk factors to consider for unpaved area operations, as well as design recommendations, FSDO safety assessments, maintenance requirements, and pilot education for aviators. The EAA' advocacy specialist, Lily Johnson, said the change has been in the works for some time - and she would know, she helped them. 

“This policy update has been several years in the making after EAA first asked the FAA to codify what has taken place naturally at GA airports for decades. The EAA has worked closely with the FAA, Midwest ATC, and Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh to prototype the concept for non-AirVenture time periods, as evidence that it can work effectively for airports throughout the nation and give pilots who prefer unpaved turf options as safer and less demanding on airframes.”

FMI: www.eaa.org, www.FAA.gov