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News & Media Technique: Soft-field takeoff

Technique: Soft-field takeoff

Keeping it light

February 1, 2019 By Jill W. Tallman
That day will come: the day when the runway ahead of you isn’t paved and smooth—it’s grassy and soft and maybe muddy. Or it’s paved—but it’s poorly maintained, with cracks and ruts that would be hard on your airplane’s landing gear. Or there’s snow on the runway that will slow you down. These scenarios call for a soft-field takeoff.
Technique
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Illustration by Charles Floyd

Before anything else, check the pilot’s operating handbook for recommendations on amount of flaps to use—if any—and when to retract those flaps.

In a soft-field takeoff, your objective is to get the wheels off the ground as soon as possible, eliminating the surface drag and lightening the load on the landing gear. What makes this maneuver challenging is that as you raise the nose, the airplane is slow enough that it is barely flying—but you have to keep it there until you’ve built up enough airspeed.

JARGON
Ground effect

Airplanes get an extra boost of lift close to the ground, as if there is a cushion of air keeping them aloft. When the airplane is within a distance of about one wing span above the surface, the ground interferes with the airflow around the wing. Upwash, downwash, and wingtip vortices decrease, reducing induced drag. Because of ground effect, an airplane may be able to take off at a slower airspeed than it can climb.

Jill W. Tallman
Jill W. Tallman
AOPA Technical Editor
AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman is an instrument-rated private pilot who is part-owner of a Cessna 182Q.
Go to Jill W. Tallman's Profile

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