I took a huge risk this week.
I proposed an idea to improve the experience for spectators, pilots, and their airplanes during the National STOL Series event. My idea? A repurposed artificial turf runway.
There was no blueprint, no prior example to lean on. Just trust, calculations, and a belief that it could work. Naturally, there was skepticism. Every question raised—I had already asked myself. The answers were in the numbers and in my experience in the turf industry. Still, my experience as a pilot and understanding (on a surface level) that if this failed, it would be public and potentially catastrophic.
But it didn’t fail.
The turf performed without flaw. Planes landed, stopped, and took off without issue.
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