Narrative:

I was attempting to land at runway 27U turf at X51 when I heard the ramp vehicle come on unicom asking to cross 27U. I called final for 27U and the airport car stated that it is holding for me. The airport car distracted me so I came in 15kts fast and decided to go around after passing 1/3 of the runway without touching down. As I was turning base to final I was informed of bird activity near the runway distracting me from flying the aircraft. I finally spotted the birds and determined that they were of no conflict with my flight path. On short final I was having difficulty locating the runway environment due to poor airport markings. I was certain I was lined up on the runway right up until I touched down at which point the terrain was much rougher than I recall from my prior landings on the turf runway. Upon turning off of the runway we taxied over to the tie down area where we were informed by the airport manager that we had landed to the side of the grass runway in the grass. I was informed that no touch and goes were permitted along with landing an aircraft over 3600 lbs. The AFD did not indicate that either prohibited. They went on to say that only tail draggers; helicopters and gliders are permitted to land on the grass.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA pilot reported he landed to the side of the grass runway 27U at X51.

Narrative: I was attempting to land at runway 27U turf at X51 when I heard the ramp vehicle come on Unicom asking to cross 27U. I called final for 27U and the airport car stated that it is holding for me. The airport car distracted me so I came in 15kts fast and decided to go around after passing 1/3 of the runway without touching down. As I was turning base to final I was informed of bird activity near the runway distracting me from flying the aircraft. I finally spotted the birds and determined that they were of no conflict with my flight path. On short final I was having difficulty locating the runway environment due to poor airport markings. I was certain I was lined up on the runway right up until I touched down at which point the terrain was much rougher than I recall from my prior landings on the turf runway. Upon turning off of the runway we taxied over to the tie down area where we were informed by the airport manager that we had landed to the side of the grass runway in the grass. I was informed that no touch and goes were permitted along with landing an aircraft over 3600 lbs. The AFD did not indicate that either prohibited. They went on to say that only tail draggers; helicopters and gliders are permitted to land on the grass.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.