RV Drifting on Lake Ice!

Cool..!!!

I ground looped an Navajo Chieftain once. The runway has just been sanded according to the on airport FSS. As I turned off the runway the plane swapped ends. I firewalled both throttles and got it stopped before sliding off the side of the turnoff. In northwest Alaska the runways are built up 4 to 6 feet to avoid thawing the permafrost, so It was a good drop off I was backing towards.

What happened was while the airport maintenance guys were putting the sanding truck away, a brief freezing rain covered their fresh sanding job.
 
Yikes! I know the feeling. Not as bad as yours but a few of them on packed snow and ice.
 
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Looks like that rudder is helping a lot. The differential breaking wouldn't be of much help.
 
Ravioli said:
Looks like that rudder is helping a lot. The differential breaking wouldn't be of much help.
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Ya ought to try it in your RV, have @Ravioli's co-pilot film it so we can laugh at your ass, unless you wreck it. Then we'll criticize you for doing such a stupid thing, at least 7 pages, what were you thinking. :D
 
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No where near enough rudder authority at low speed on a 6A for my comfort.

And @SixPapaCharlie will be along to tell you that I'm already afraid of grass strips. How the hell would I ever try an ice strip?

Ice is for Gin and Tonics, not airplanes!
 
Pretty much the same thing as taking off from a treadmill ;)
 
Brave pilot. Had that ice not been thick enough he’d have had an apocryphal bad day.
 
Ravioli said:
No where near enough rudder authority at low speed on a 6A for my comfort.

And @SixPapaCharlie will be along to tell you that I'm already afraid of grass strips. How the hell would I ever try an ice strip?

Ice is for Gin and Tonics, not airplanes!
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I have taken ice off my plane and used it in a rum and ginger ale.
 
steingar said:
Brave pilot. Had that ice not been thick enough he’d have had an apocryphal bad day.
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I don't care how thick I thought the ice was, I would never land on that.

It looked like he was just 'having fun' though. Not really an out of control airplane per se.
 
BrianNC said:
I don't care how thick I thought the ice was, I would never land on that.
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Spoken like someone from Atlanta! (especially considering how smooth that ice was) ;)

Spend a winter or two in the Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay, WI area sometime. That video was quite mild as compared to what those people do in the winter to keep themselves entertained. Pilots, fishermen, snowmobilers, etc. All of 'em...

Lake Winnebago is the biggest ice party you've ever seen on the weekends. I've seen 18 wheelers out in the middle of it set up as mobile taverns. That little RV is quite minor by comparison.
 
Ravioli said:
No where near enough rudder authority at low speed on a 6A for my comfort.

And @SixPapaCharlie will be along to tell you that I'm already afraid of grass strips. How the hell would I ever try an ice strip?

Ice is for Gin and Tonics, not airplanes!
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your problem is not rudder authority, its that training wheel you have on it. you know van will sell you all the parts you need to put the wheel on the back where it belongs....... :)

bob
 
timwinters said:
Spoken like someone from Atlanta! (especially considering how smooth that ice was) ;)
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Well I'm more concerned about thickness than smoothness. :eek:
 
On narrow gravel strips that are too narrow to turn around on a common practice is to slide the plane. Taxi a little faster than normal, hit one brake and stomp the same pedal to the floor, slide the plane around to about the 90 degree point while still moving forward in a straight line, then power to turn the tail the rest of the way, release the brake power up and take off. All one smooth movement and it turns the plane around almost in place. Not for retracts though, nor tail wheel, nor for the inexperienced.... Sort of like pulling the emergency brake on with front wheel drive cars.

For tail wheel planes it seems the common practice is to lock one wheel, add power, drag the tail of the plane through the bushes leaving small branches, twigs and leaves in the elevator and rudder, then take off. I have seen more than one tail wheel plane do that.
 
unsafervguy said:
your problem is not rudder authority, its that training wheel you have on it. you know van will sell you all the parts you need to put the wheel on the back where it belongs....... :)

bob
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Tell that to Boeing. Tail wheels are for people stuck in the past.
 
Over the years, I have had occasions when the aircraft would swap ends on an icy runway.
Not my first choice for entertainment.
This year I'm praying for the lakes to freeze so I can land the Cub on the ice.
My, how things have changed.
 
My main issue with landing & taxiing on ice is that in order to have ice, it needs to be cold. And not just cold but below freezing. If I wanted that, I'd have stayed up north.
 
Ravioli said:
And @SixPapaCharlie will be along to tell you that I'm already afraid of grass strips. How the hell would I ever try an ice strip?
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Afraid of grass strips???? Why? They're a blast, brings back the old romance days of flying. Nothing like landing on a grass strip in the spring.
 
SkyDog58 said:
My main issue with landing & taxiing on ice is that in order to have ice, it needs to be cold. And not just cold but below freezing. If I wanted that, I'd have stayed up north.
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Shet 'Dog, I hear ya! I think 20* this am and I was hoping my student would CX! Hell no, 7:30 take off, wind NNW gusting to 18, should have known though. Retired Navy officer, from south FL though so thought I had a chance to stay home. But, nooooooooooooooo! We fly!
 
mscard88 said:
Shet 'Dog, I hear ya! I think 20* this am and I was hoping my student would CX! Hell no, 7:30 take off, wind NNW gusting to 18, should have known though. Retired Navy officer, from south FL though so thought I had a chance to stay home. But, nooooooooooooooo! We fly!
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After the past week or so, I'm thinking I didn't go far enough south. It really isn't that cold here compared to what I dealt with in IN & IL but I just want it to be warmer.
 
SkyDog58 said:
After the past week or so, I'm thinking I didn't go far enough south. It really isn't that cold here compared to what I dealt with in IN & IL but I just want it to be warmer.
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Up North it's more of a dryer cold while down South it's a "wet" cold and I think you feel it more. This guy this morning teaches at a college here, and is looking for another gig much further south, like central/south FL. Don't blame him.
 
Even the airlines flew Boeing tail draggers.

boeing247d_morrisbiondi.jpg


Boeing 247
 
SkyDog58 said:
After the past week or so, I'm thinking I didn't go far enough south. It really isn't that cold here compared to what I dealt with in IN & IL but I just want it to be warmer.
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You might want to wait 6 months and see if you still feel that way!
 
Being of the North I understand that lake ice can get pretty thick. What I don’t understand is how a pilot knows how thick the ice is before he lands on it. And thick ice can have thin spots. Says me, brave pilot.
 
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