Alternative Runways- Many RC Airplane clubs have been faced with the task of constructing a runway. If your club is one fortunate enough to fly off a paved runway, consider yourself lucky. There are many clubs out there who have to fly off all kinds of surfaces such as grass, old pieces of carpeting, old artificial turf from a football/baseball stadium, or just plain old dirt. I’m sure there are other variations to the theme. Here is some information concerning a material our club uses with much success. It is less expensive than paving and not as bulky as carpet remnants. You don’t have to water it and it’s easier to get than artificial turf.

Geolon - This is the name of the material we used. You may have heard the name Petromat. My understanding is that Petromat is a different material than Geolon and would not stand up as well to the elements. Geolon is a woven material of heavier construction than Petromat. Our Geolon runway has been in operation now since 1996 and is holding up very well. There are a few holes or tears that have occurred because of an airplane crashing on the runway but this does not create any big problems. The material is easy to patch. Specifications for Geolon and photos.

How We Did It - This is a basic overview of what we did to get our runway in place. First and foremost, get your layout down on paper showing the runway location relative to the wind, and the starting and endpoints. Don’t forget to include your pits when computing the amount of material you need. Our runway is 60 wide and 600 feet long and we also used the material to cover our pit area. You want to get your ground as level as possible. When we started this project, we didn’t know what to expect. Had we known how well the material works, we would have spent much more time and money to really get the ground flat and level. Spend the extra time to get the ground cleared of weeds, level, and compacted.

In addition to the material itself, you will need 12" spikes (big nails), some 1" diameter washers for the nails to go through, and what can best be described as large staples. These staples are 6-8 inches long. You should place nails at 3 to 4 feet centers with the staples placed along the seams and in between the nail centers. Once you know how many rolls of material you’ll need, you can calculate how many nails and staples you’ll have to get. Your starting point should be at the start of the runway in the middle of the runway. Start un-rolling the material tacking it down as you go. Complete the center of the runway all the way to the end and then start the next roll moving toward the edges. Pick a warm day as opposed to a cool one for the job. Although the material appears to be very stable, laying it down on a warm day is better for getting a little stretch and the wrinkles out. Overlap the edges of the rolls about 1 inch. When it’s all done, paint your lines. Yes, the material accepts paint and it seems to be staying in pretty good shape.

If you can’t have paving, this is a very good alternative. Since the material is woven, water drains right through it to the dirt below. Unless it rains so hard that the ground gets really soft, we can fly off the surface right after a downpour. There’s never any standing water on our runway. Weeds don’t come up unless there is a tear in the fabric. This material is also very easy on our planes. Coming in for a belly landing (damn those retracts) is no big deal because the material doesn’t hurt the plane.

This information is meant to help anyone who can use it. I have given you the facts to the best of my knowledge and research.

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