Hi There!

I own 640 acres in the middle of nowhere;  it's high desert in Modoc
County, California.  I am considering clearing a dirt airstrip for
landing a small airplane (J-3 Cub).

The work would be done on weekends my me.  I have all the necessary
tools, including a Bobcat loader, hand shovel, and enough beer to
float a battleship.

I would rather not ask anyone's permission since they often say "no." 
Specifically, I would rather not talk to the FAA, county government,
or my neighbors.  I'm sure they are all good people, but I'd rather
avoid having them turn me down.

So, the question is:  can I do this without asking anyone?  Or, will I
eventually get zapped?

Second question:  is there a web site that describes the practical
how-to for this project?  Perhaps a lessons-learned story by someone
who has already done it?

A 5-star answer would be 2-3 paragraphs, and referral to 1-2 web sites.

All comments greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
ron

Ron --

First the bad news: you have to let the FAA know under FAR Part 157,
which requires submission of a Form 7840-1 at least 30 days before the
work is to begin:

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Title 15 -- Part 157
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=fc6028f12b6ae7a21884988cdae88b7a&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfr157_main_02.tpl

Here's a link to the FAA form -- and note that your Google Answers
screen name doesn't qualify for this form:
FAA.gov
Form 7840-1
http://www.faa.gov/arp/asw/7480-1.pdf

And, it looks as if the State of California wants to know too.  The
good news is that if California's Aviation division people are
anything like those in my home state of Washington, they're usually
pretty good advocates for airstrips and can help you with certain
resource questions.  This page has links to the law; forms; and
contact information:
California Division of Aeronautics
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/planning/aeronaut/htmlfile/oairport.php


The regulations above seem to be more up-to-date than those cited in
this excellent guide from the State of Texas, which cites some
distance restrictions for airports.  This guide has excellent
instructions, including some suppliers of signage, wind indicators and
lighting:
Texas Department of Transportation
"Farm and Ranch Airstrips: How to Build Your Own Airstrip," (undated
but appears to have been revised March, 2003)
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/avn/avninfo/farm_ranch_airstrips.pdf

A much more complex guide, intended for larger, public use airports is
also available from the FAA.  Originally released in 1989, there have
been several updates, which are linked from the second URL:
FAA
"Airport Design: Advisory Circular," (Sept. 29, 1989)
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/planning/aeronaut/documents/5300-13.pdf

FAA Advisory Circulars
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/planning/aeronaut/htmlfile/faa-acs.php

Here's a brief account of an RV owner's building his own airstrip:
Chris Heitman
"Getting Approval for a Private Airstrip," (Jan. 30, 2002)
http://my.execpc.com/~cjh/airstrip.html

A final resource which may prove to be useful to you may be your
state's pilots association.  Our local chapter of the WPA actually
maintains on the state's emergency fields at Skykomish (in the Cascade
Mountain pass), so they have experience with the vagaries of keeping
up a grass field.
California Pilots Association
http://www.calpilots.org/html/

Google search strategy:
Build your own airstrip
"building an airstrip"
"my own airstrip"

Keep the blue side up!

Omnivorous-GA

omnivorous----top-flight answer!  Exactly what I needed.

Separately, your mention of Washington brought to mind a story from 15
years ago.  I flew into Yakima, Washington.  The guy who ran the local
flying service/gas-up was 80+ years old.  He showed me an original
flight "permit" signed by Orville Wright himself.  It was license
number 42...as in less than 50 pilots in the country.  If you ever get
to Yakima, look him up.  There's only one like him.

Thanks again for the great info!
ron

Ron --

I think that it was in the book "Hangar Talk: Interviews with Fliers
1920's to 1990's" that I heard that or a similar story:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0910055408/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-7079124-8836748?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

Imagine having a connection like that to the pioneers of aviation!

I knew a guy in Illinois, an American Airlines captain, who bought 110
acres of farmland NW of Chicago and cut his own airstrip.  He took the
equipment sheds and turned them into airplane hangars where he and
others worked on Aeroncas.  He also stored an old Tiger Moth for a
friend: "Quite frankly it makes me nervous.  It's one of 3 flying in
the world and it's too valuable," he told me.  That Tiger Moth needed
to be tuned about every 5 hours of flight!

When I was first here in Seattle, I also met one of the grandsons of
the founder of Harvey Field, a public use airfield in Snohomish, WA. 
His grandfather had jumped ship (literally: with a bag of coconuts in
San Francisco Bay) from an English merchant vessel.  After trying his
hand at gold mining, he purchased 120 acres of an old stump farm.  In
the early 1900s he was bitten by the aviation bug and started the
airfield.

Thanks for the kind rating.  That Texas Department of Aviation document is a gem!

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA
Mooney pilot

omnivorous---thanks for your great comments and stories.  Energizing!

Thanks again.
ron