L

lucdbedard

Member
With snow now covering pretty well everything in my area, I've been wondering if skis or wheel skis have ever been installed on an RV.
 
Luc, we may be the first ones!

I have always wondered that too. I have never seen, nor heard of one on skis.

Let's look into this one a bit deeper.

What ski choices are there out there for us?

Does anyone know about an experimental (build it yourself) wheel ski?

:confused: CJ
 
Let me know when you guys figure it out.

I used to fly a J-3 on Skis and it was a blast, a blast of cold air!

There are some skis out there where the wheel sticks through the bottom. These would be best for me since the Carolinas really doesn't get enough snow to switch to skis full time; however, they would be really cool when I head to Northern Michagan to visit family.
 
Gang,

I sent this link to an RV-9 Builder I know in AK and here was his reply:

Low wing aircraft are not used very much for floats or for ski flying.

If you have ever seen an aircraft land on skis on an unimproved area you would know why. With a low wing aircraft the wing tips would be smacking the ground because of the rough conditions. Another item to consider is when you do land and the snow is deep the aircraft will settle in and the wings will be right in the snow.

Hard packed runways to groomed runways would be ok, but then you could just use wheels.

You can do it, it has been done, and if you want to try, follow this link for a start. www.stoddardairparts.com/winter.htm

The wheel skis that you mentioned, the penetration type are good but are a compromise. They add drag in the snow because of the wheel sticking through and that will increase your take off distance.

Should be fun if it works.

I had some friends that landed on a huge snow field and sunk into 10 feet of powder. It took them 4 days to dig out and take back off, some of their gear is still there, part of the glacier by now I bet.
Click to expand...

Can you imagine being stuck out in the bush for four days while you dig out your RV? Oh man!
 
Bill, Thanks for the hook up!

Personally, I have a few landing spots picked out on lakes that I KNOW get packed pretty solidly by sled traffic and planned on landing there. These areas I am familiar with and have personally driven my sled at higher than RV landing speeds for the entire length (about 9 miles at 110 mph).

This stunt would be a "gee whiz" event for me. I wouldn't dare put down in uncharted territory!

I am checking out your link right now. Thanks!

:cool: CJ
 
CJ,

I know what you are saying about knowing where you are landing. The places where we might land will be a good bit different than where someone in AK might land.

That said, I remember one friend who was landing their Citabria on a frozen lake back home in Michigan that was covered with about six inches of snow. Everything looked great, until the left ski hit a snow covered cinder block some idiot left out there to mark his "tip-up". (That would be an ice fishing hole for those who think I'm talking about an RV canopy.) The unfortunate part was he it hit it right after touch down and it destroyed the plane. Luckily he and his daughter were uninjured.
 
glacier flying

This is a link to a glacier flying website: www.gletscherflug.ch. It is in german, but it might be interesting for you. Lots of information about mountain flying, glacier landing techniques etc.
 
...say, how hard would it be to whip up a pari of these?

aeroski1.jpg


Would be nice to get a set of plans someplace!

:) CJ
 
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