Ski Fliers and advice?

[Huckster79]

I just bought a set of skis for 1947 Cessna 140. I will be going up with my local instructors, both ski fly so I like going with both to get different insights from both... But what general words of wisdom can the group offer?

How much snow is safe? (Original Federal 1500 straight skis)

How is it different and in what ways?

What did you find most surprising?

What did you find most challenging?

Not any POH performance calcs for TO and Landing, how does one judge/calculate that with snow depth and type (powder vs heavy wet, etc)?

I will not have a tail ski, and my old bird has the Scott 2000, so it is a pretty skinny TW...

 

[LongRoadBob]

Very cool subject and questions. I’m still so far away from basic PPL it is no longer funny, (well, it’s still a little funny actually) but I’m all ears here. Dream of that kind of flying though it is way above my pay scale. Hope you get a lot of answers from experienced folk!

 

[Huckster79]

With a 140 I won’t be doing deep crazy back country stuff as HP will be a consideration... I’m picturing hopping the local lakes once froze and maybe even pack the ice fishing poles!

 

[Huckster79]

Really no ski plane folks round here?

 

[Stewartb]

The first thing you’ll notice? No brakes. How easily the skis slide will vary a lot with snow conditions and temperature. Hard pack and hard ice are seriously slippery so give yourself space. The second thing you’ll notice? With cooler temps improving power and thrust and reduced friction on hard snow your performance will be better than normal. Here’s the rub. On slippery surfaces your takeoff distance is shorter but landing distances are longer. On sticky surfaces you can land short but will need more room to get back out. On days like that stomping the exit path out with snowshoes will help. The third thing? It’s difficult to turn a plane while taxiing unless you have a lot of space. Thrust blowing on the rudder is the tool to use but throttle accelerates the plane and that makes the turn radius very big. I operate on and off a narrow creek bed and it requires getting out to pull the tail around. Be careful doing that as it puts a lot of torque on the axles and gear. Pull the tail a little, walk forward to kick the ski tips around, repeat over and over. The softer the snow the more if matters. Probably best not to leave the engine running for that exercise.

Always be prepared to get stuck. That means be prepared to spend a night out. And that’s not a joke. Beware of overflow on frozen lakes and rivers. It’ll ruin your day. Learn how to make tracks and go-around to see if the tracks turn gray. That’s a bad sign, but sometimes overflow is impossible to see. Dress like you’ll have to walk home. You might need to.

I miss my old Cub. A 180 on skis is bigger and heavier, and no fun at all when you drop a ski through the ice.

 

[Stewartb]

One more thing. When landing the skis will slide easily but unknown to you they’ll make enough friction to warm a little. When you park they can freeze down so well that full power won’t budge the plane. Take a couple of short pieces of 2x4 or similar to shove under the tips to keep the skis mostly off the snow when parked. It’ll make the next flight easier. Sawing under the ski bottoms with a rope to free the skis can help, too, but it’s never as easy as it sounds. In a normal parking spot it’s common to see a guy toss spruce boughs down to pull the plane onto for parking. Wheel skis solve that problem. I pump skis up for parking.

 

[topgun260]

Might have better response on the Back Country Pilot forum at https://backcountrypilot.org/community/forum/latest