Mahak Baru

The strip itself is a typical grass/mud/clay surface which gets really chewed up by aircraft landing on it when it’s wet. Back in the real world they’d be a team of people with rollers flattening out and ruts etc and the airstrip would probably be closed to aircraft if it was wet. That’s not an option here though and we just have to accept that it’ll be bumpy and slippery. The other things to note are the slight bend in the runway and that it’s just a little wider than the Porter’s wingspan in places.

Landing

Short finals, the bend quite noticeable here

As the valley’s pretty open, I normally choose to overfly the airstrip to take a look and see what the wind’s doing (there’s a small windsock mid-way along the strip). This also gives the locals a heads up that an aircraft is arriving and allows them to try and get people, dogs etc. off the airstrip. You can land in either direction but I favour landing towards the village which offers a later go-around option as the high terrain is a little further away. This does mean you have to thread the aircraft through the lowest bit of terrain/trees at the other end in order to make the touch down as early into the airstrip as possible. If you’ve ever landed at Popham airfield in the UK, it’s a similar affair here with a curved approach between the trees.

The “apron”

 A positive touch down is best along with a squirt of reverse thrust to get the speed under control as quickly as possible. Once slow enough it’s just a matter of disengaging the tailwheel lock and taxing off the strip to the side by the terminal building/hut. I could call it an apron but that would be generous. The trick when taxiing on mud is to keep your momentum going. Two and a half tonnes of aircraft can very easily get stuck if you allow it come to a full stop on very soft ground.

Take-off

Again, I favour departing towards the village to allow a safer climb out. This requires a slightly longer backtrack from the “apron” which gives you another chance to ensure the strip’s clear before you take-off. Due to the bumpiness of the strip, I use a max performance take-off. Once the power has been set, I then tighten the throttle lever friction up so it can’t slip back with the bumps. I’ve learnt from past experiences that trying to hold the lever whilst guiding the aircraft along a bumpy strip requires too much in-cockpit time to check the engine torque hasn’t slipped back.