Ski Flying

[Stewartb]

A story I wrote a few years back. One of many about ski flying.

The snow was about 12" deep on the creek ice. No problem. It's Christmas eve and I made a quick trip to the cabin to light the oil stove so the place would be warm the next evening when we'd be coming in as a family. Landing was no problem. The snow made stopping easy. The creek's about 60-70 feet wide and turning a 180 around usually requires man power on the tail, but I wanted to swing out wide to make the best turn I could before the tugging started. As I eased over toward the bank, the ski found a weak spot in the ice. Crunch isn't a sound I want to hear when on skis. After the settling stopped the ski was under water and the right wingtip was in the snow. -5* and alone. This is trouble. I was near a friend's cabin so I walked through the snow up the hill and unplugged the ignition switch of his Widetrack and pulled it to start. Down around the bend to the cabin for a chainsaw winch and some line. Life's good. I have tools and transportation, and shelter if I need it.

The nearest tree was out of reach so I used a steel rod pounded in the ice as an anchor. The winch started to tense the line and pull the plane... right before the saw motor broke off the chassis. Cold weather and metal don't like each other. Regroup. Back to the cabin for a manual come-along and a logging chain. I hooked it up and started the task of trying to get the submerged ski tip pointed up so it could climb onto the ice. The only way to attach a rope to the tip is to lay on the ice and reach in. Brrrr. The water's now flowing out of the hole making the entire area a slush pond. Pull and winch and lift the tip and....I need to reset the come-along. I position the Widetrack to tie a winch knot in a rope and hold the plane while I reset the come-along. A little closer, just a little closer...I sink the Widetrack. I'm wearing insulated Carhartts and I'm soaked. Now I have to move a 650# (dry) snowmachine whose 20" x 156" suspension is packed full of slush and sunk in the overflow. It won't budge. Off comes the come-along cable from the plane so I can winch the sno-go out of the way. I watch as all my progress on the plane sunk back into the creek. My cuffs are bells of slushy ice and walking is difficult, but it's getting late and I've got to get the plane out before it freezes in. I drag the snowmachine up on the bank, frozen. Back to the airplane. I wade back-and-forth between the plane and the come-along. Heave, jam a chunk of wood under the tip, and repeat. Wade back and winch, wade and winch, and winch some more. I finally get the plane back on top and brush the slush out of the important parts. The light is waning and I'd really like to get the hell out of there to spend Christmas eve with my family. I was soaked from the outside in, and from the inside out. My energy was gone an hour ago. My head was pounding and my back hurt and all of a sudden I became aware of how cold and wet I was. I ditch the rigging gear and get into the plane, leaving as the light goes away, fighting the fog that kept forming on the windscreen from the humidity I brought in.

Upon landing I tie the plane and don't even think about covering it. The skis are encrusted. My pants are still so iced up I can't unzip the legs. I drove directly to the warehouse liquor store and walked in looking like a haggard old street person and found a fifth of Crown. I'm sure the clerk wondered if I could afford such an item, all sweaty and wet and pathetic looking. The ice on my pant cuffs clacked on the floor with every step. I was spent. Merry Christmas. I paid the clerk, drove home, and consumed a fair amount of that bottle.

I didn't have a camera, not that I'd have used it. That was the hardest few hours of labor I've ever known. Deep snow has slowed me down, but overflow has stopped me cold.

I thought I'd earned a merit badge for my experience. I changed my mind. A friend had a revenue flight to pick up a guy on Upper Russian Lake. As he taxied his 185's main gear broke the ice. The 185 sunk until the wings were resting on the ice. He was still in it. Well below zero temps and he was in insulated Carhartts. Not good swimming conditions or attire. The doors were jammed shut by the ice. After some kicking he got out, thank God, and it couldn't have been easy. The passenger was too afraid of the thin ice to help. Imagine being immersed in the water after sinking a plane like that and having to get out of the cockpit, out from under the wing, and crawl out of the water by yourself. Yikes! The customer had a warm cabin at least. Still, that's a tough day. Talk about getting stuck. My experience was a cakewalk.

SB

 

[Henning]

Yeah, transition time has some serious risks on the water. Do you clear the snow so the ice gets thicker as the season goes on?

 

[Stewartb]

Transition time? I don't guess Florida boys know much about overflow! :wink2:

The earth is warm and most water remains liquid under the surface ice. Sometimes that bites ski pilots. Overflow is a threat all winter long, especially when snow is undisturbed, like at the edge of the creek in the story. Add that to water movement below the ice? Ruh roh!

 

[Henning]

Transition time? I don't guess Florida boys know much about overflow! :wink2:

The earth is warm and most water remains liquid under the surface ice. Sometimes that bites ski pilots. Overflow is a threat all winter long, especially when snow is undisturbed, like at the edge of the creek in the story. Add that to water movement below the ice? Ruh roh!

Snow is the problem, snow is an insulating blanket. That's why I asked if you clear it to remove the insulation and thicken up the ice. Sinking ice to allow a few inches overflow to freeze on top is also a way to build thickness. I did a couple winters in N. Canada and Alaska on the railroad, that's why I live in Florida winters now.

 

[Stewartb]

47 Alaskan winters and counting for me. Thanks for the advice, though. But I'm not talking about a skating rink. I'm talking about ski flying in a really big state.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

47 Alaskan winters and counting for me. Thanks for the advice, though. But I'm not talking about a skating rink. I'm talking about ski flying in a really big state.

Clearing the ice? Sweeping it? Not on lake chautauqua they don't and never did! In fact they used to have jalopy races on the ice in days of old. Several light aircraft on skis still use it in winter. It would be almost impossible and unproductive to "clean the ice". The lake is 20 miles long!

 

[Henning]

There is a reason they plow ice roads weeks before they can open them.

 

[Yeti Niner Five]

Henning is dead on. When building ice roads on the north slope, we used to pre-pack the snow down to eliminate the air pockets and reduce it's insulating capability.

 

[WingNut42]

So it has been below zero and snowy here all day, but your story made me colder just reading it.

 

[JHW]

So it has been below zero and snowy here all day, but your story made me colder just reading it.

It could be worse. My kids spent a little too much time on the beach today and got some sunburn. And the air conditioner in my ute was a little weak on the way home from work, I need to remember to change the cabin air filter this weekend.

 

[graumann]

Great story. Do you write for a living?

 

[Stewartb]

Great story. Do you write for a living?

Thank you, and no. The words don't do justice to the day but at least there was a happy outcome.