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Snow skis in an RV?

Bryan Wood

Well Known Member
Happy New Year fellow RV'ers,

I've been considering pulling the skis down from the rafters and trying them out again after a long lay off. However, the thought of driving 4-5 hours each way seems unbearable and just crazy with a perfectly good airplane that could get me to Tahoe in 45 minutes or so. During the building of the plane I didn't address carrying skis and was wondering if anybody has done some kind of neat retrofit to their plane to be able to carry theirs?

The thought of ordering a spare top baggage bulkhead that could be cut up and reinforced to allow skies to pass through and to be secured to it seems like the easiest way, and allows the original bulkhead to go back in for normal use. This idea would use the structure that the seatbacks lean against to rest the skis on also and would provide a secondary way to secure them with bungies or something.

Any ideas, photos, links, etc. welcome.

Blue Skies,
Bryan 9A "Flyin the Flag"
 
skis

Bryan said:
I've been considering pulling the skis down from the rafters and trying them out again after a long lay off. ... Any ideas, photos, links, etc. welcome.
Not sure how long the layoff has been, but the new carving skis are a lot shorter than they used to be. That said, I'd just rent them when you get there.
 
Renting skiis and buying boots seems to be the best idea, to me as well. With the hi performance rental skiis so readily available, why spend the money. Spend the money on really good custom boots and don't hack up your RV.

JMHO
Roberta
 
I was thinking about flying up to Boyne Mtn (KBFA) tomorrow to go skiing but boy the 68” long skis are a little tight in the cockpit in the RV9a. Looks like I could get them in if I pulled out the passenger seat and angled the skis from the floor near the peddles and over the seat back brace. In any kind of turbulence tho it might not get pretty if they move.

Just wondered if overs have done similar.
 
I saw a guy's -9A who carried skis by removing the upper rear baggage wall and securing them with a bracket on the first bulkhead and bungee them to the stainless crosspiece/seatbrace.
 
Lots of airplanes "back in the day" offered a ski tube as an option. Simply a fabric sock attached to the rear bulkhead.

Heck - I've carried an 80 inch Harzell prop in the back of an -8 to the prop shop. Skis would be nothing.
 
I saw a guy's -9A who carried skis by removing the upper rear baggage wall and securing them with a bracket on the first bulkhead and bungee them to the stainless crosspiece/seatbrace.

The two piece baggage bulkhead is structural. The aircraft should not be flown with either half removed. Just sayin'...
 
There might be some large diameter wing rib holes that would allow a lightweight aluminum tube to be made into ski holders. You would need an access door in the wing tip.
Alternatively you might be able to make some custom wing tips to hold your skis to make them look like sidewinder mounting rails.
 
The two piece baggage bulkhead is structural. The aircraft should not be flown with either half removed. Just sayin'...

Makes sense, but he was just passing through and I don't know who he is (except he does post here occasionally, he said). He was the builder. Our brief conversation came with some good maintenance tips. Maybe I should be leery of his advice, huh?
 
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Jake’s idea wins hands down ;)
How cool is that? Fit your beloved RV with skis, fly to your favorite resort, remove skis from said RV, hop into your boots, strap skis and enjoy the powder snow :D
 
An RVator modified rear structural bulkhead and was hauling long pieces of solar panel mounts to his cabin in rural Maine :)

CJ%20-%201.jpg
 
RV-8 with skis

This doesn't help your RV-9A configuration, but by removing the aft baggage panels, inserting the skis and poles, and then reinstalling the aft baggage panels, my equipment just fits. 177cm skis/poles run alongside the seats. Boot bag goes furthest aft, then clothing bag. All gets tightly secured. My ski buds live in ski country so they are (usually) on deck waiting when I arrive.
 

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I also needed to put longer items in my RV-7. Not big and heavy but long. Not very often but often enough to make some small changes. What I did was to find a place along the bottom of the lower back panel that was clear behind, over about midway between the centerline to the port side wall of the cargo compartment. Then I cut out a 8" x 8" section of the lower corrugated metal. I installed a section of hinge along the top, smoothed over all edges, painted the back side and rivited a 1" wide stop along the back side so that the "hatch" would only open upwards and inwards into the cargo area. I left one of the screws at the bottom in place for 99% of the time so that it won't open or vibrate.

So, now, when I need to put my long rifles inside for a shoot somewhere, I remove the screw and lift open the small hatch and shove the light end of the rifle cases thru and then close the door on the case. As I put jackets, day packs and other stuff on top, the long items are pretty well jammed into place.

My original thought was to build a long skinny box around the back side of my hatch but I found that the rifles stay in place and nothing else has ever fallen back inside the tailcone.

Your mileage will vary but this was my solution. Extra weight was minimal.
 
My inspiration to build our RV-10 is a vehicle to get to the mountains and avoid the increasingly bad traffic here in Colorado, so I have given this a bit of thought already. Our usual load only has three people, so my plan is to remove the left rear seat to create a bit more space when carrying ski gear.

I'm going to buy 2 of the rear baggage bulkhead panels and rivet them together with a large number of dimpled rivets, then cut a hole in the bulkhead large enough for skis. For ski flights, I will install the doubled bulkhead with the hole. For other flights, the normal bulkhead. We have a couple of canvas and nylon ski bags which will hold the skis and fit through that hole, keeping the skis from scratching inside the tail of the plane.

The other idea, of course, is to install one of those belly pods. I know another RV-10 builder who is doing that. Although I think the pods are out of production, add weight, impact aerodynamics, etc. So, a good idea for some people, but not a solution for everyone.
 
....topic seems to be around for some time....

The description of the picture says:
When John Cunningham, chiefpilot at De Havilland, ferried the first Vampire to Emmen (Air Base in Switzerland) in 1946, he brought his skis to stay for a couple of days.
 

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I thought I would share this, in case anyone is looking for ideas. Even though the plane isn't finished yet, I needed to take a break from sanding fiberglass for a few days.

I built a ski box extension into the rear baggage bulkhead for the RV-10. I figure that I will use this bulkhead during the winter, and the standard unaltered, and very slightly lighter, bulkhead during the rest of the year.

I bought two extra baggage bulkheads from Van's. Into one bulkhead, I cut an opening approximately 6x16 inches. In the second bulkhead, I cut the same opening, and then trimmed about 3 inches around the opening, creating a doubler for the bulkhead, which I hope will replace any strength in the bulkhead that was lost by cutting the opening.

Height is limited by the crossbar behind the seats. Width was limited to 6 inches due to my plan to mount the ELT on the side of the tail and straps for the BRS parachute that will run near the battery mount. The depth of the box varies, given the slight tilt of the bulkhead, but is 15-16" deep. With the left rear seat removed and the pilot seat most of the way aft, this box will allow skis up to 78 inches long. My alpine and AT skis are only 73 inches, but some of our cross country skis run about 215CM, so I needed to go a little oversized.

I made the box from 0.040 sheet that I cut to measurements and then bent with a metal bender at the local A&P shop.

All joints are secured with AN426 4-4 or 4-5 rivets and CS 4-4 rivets, depending on how hard they were to reach and buck.

This thing is solid. I haven't tried to stand on it, but I think I could. The bulkhead feels stiffer than the stock bulkhead, especially in the vertical plane.

My plan is to fly with this bulkhead in place during some of my initial flight testing (1Q 2022, I hope) and see how it holds up before using it for transporting skis.

If anyone wants more info, more photos, etc. to make their own, I'm happy to share. There are a number of photos of parts and work in progress at my EAA blog (link below) if you want more details, too.

Sorry about the rotated photos - they look right on my phone and PC, but they are 90 degrees turned here. No idea why or how to fix it.
 

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AlpineYoda,
I was looking to do something similar. How hard is it to swap bulkheads? Does it still fit though the baggage door?

-Craig


I thought I would share this, in case anyone is looking for ideas. Even though the plane isn't finished yet, I needed to take a break from sanding fiberglass for a few days.

I built a ski box extension into the rear baggage bulkhead for the RV-10. I figure that I will use this bulkhead during the winter, and the standard unaltered, and very slightly lighter, bulkhead during the rest of the year.

I bought two extra baggage bulkheads from Van's. Into one bulkhead, I cut an opening approximately 6x16 inches. In the second bulkhead, I cut the same opening, and then trimmed about 3 inches around the opening, creating a doubler for the bulkhead, which I hope will replace any strength in the bulkhead that was lost by cutting the opening.

Height is limited by the crossbar behind the seats. Width was limited to 6 inches due to my plan to mount the ELT on the side of the tail and straps for the BRS parachute that will run near the battery mount. The depth of the box varies, given the slight tilt of the bulkhead, but is 15-16" deep. With the left rear seat removed and the pilot seat most of the way aft, this box will allow skis up to 78 inches long. My alpine and AT skis are only 73 inches, but some of our cross country skis run about 215CM, so I needed to go a little oversized.

I made the box from 0.040 sheet that I cut to measurements and then bent with a metal bender at the local A&P shop.

All joints are secured with AN426 4-4 or 4-5 rivets and CS 4-4 rivets, depending on how hard they were to reach and buck.

This thing is solid. I haven't tried to stand on it, but I think I could. The bulkhead feels stiffer than the stock bulkhead, especially in the vertical plane.

My plan is to fly with this bulkhead in place during some of my initial flight testing (1Q 2022, I hope) and see how it holds up before using it for transporting skis.

If anyone wants more info, more photos, etc. to make their own, I'm happy to share. There are a number of photos of parts and work in progress at my EAA blog (link below) if you want more details, too.

Sorry about the rotated photos - they look right on my phone and PC, but they are 90 degrees turned here. No idea why or how to fix it.
 
It turns out that if you’re talking solo flight with your skis (and I seriously doubt that most folks are light enough to fly a two-seat RV with two people and all their ski gear….) you can actually fit a pair of 180’s in the right seat - tails all the way forward (but check to make sure the rudder pedals are clear) and laying on the cross-cabin brace. Take the passenger stick out!

I did this a couple of times last year to fly the RV-6 down to Mammoth - works just fine. Boots and other gear in the back, poles alongside the skis. Try it - you might be surprised.

The real trick is getting from the airport to the ski area…..
 
That's why KTVL is my preferred destination. Easy Uber to Heavenly.

It turns out that if you’re talking solo flight with your skis (and I seriously doubt that most folks are light enough to fly a two-seat RV with two people and all their ski gear….) you can actually fit a pair of 180’s in the right seat - tails all the way forward (but check to make sure the rudder pedals are clear) and laying on the cross-cabin brace. Take the passenger stick out!

I did this a couple of times last year to fly the RV-6 down to Mammoth - works just fine. Boots and other gear in the back, poles alongside the skis. Try it - you might be surprised.

The real trick is getting from the airport to the ski area…..
 
Coming from Tahoe area and Colorado, it is hard to call it a ski area but Boyne Mountain Resort ski area has a runway adjacent to the sim area parking lot. We have flown up there a couple times to have lunch but haven’t skied yet. It is a nice airport with outlets to plug your plane in to keep the engine warm.

The ski area has about the same amount of vertical as some of the off ranks on the chair lifts in Aspen but it is skiing.
 
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