crash bandicoute

please post any pics, videos, or all out fun stuff you guys have been through with skis on your planes. i know it's a little late in the season for some of you lucky(???) folks that got snow earlier in the year, but we JUST now started getting ours, and i'm off the next 3 days. i took the deminsions from the dubro skis and laminated some ply and basswood and scratch made myself a pair of skis. i'll post photos this evening. thing is i had a question about how MUCH snow is really needed for using them. we only have about 1/2 to 3/4 inch on the roads and parking lots, but the grass is a couple inches thick and ALMOST, but not quite, covered. i've never used skis on my plane, so is this still not enough? it's pretty powdery too. not really packed down or frozen good. the news goons are saying we may get upwards of 6-12 more inches over the next couple of days.

Zor

[quote]ORIGINAL: crash bandicoute


Hi bandicoute,

A half inch of snow of any kind is good enough to use the skis.

Do the best you can to waterproof your receiver and ESC if electric motor.

Once home open anything that can help ventilate and dry anything that may have got wet due to the prop blowing snow inside.

Have fun,

Zor

crash bandicoute

so here are the skis i made. they're actually getting a coat of black epoxy paint for protecting them a little more than regular paint.

oh... and my snow melted away over night. they say we're supposed to get more, but all i'm getting right now is rain.

ARUP

Cool! Thanks for showing. I've never done snow skiis with my airplanes.

Jacque

My Feedback: (22)

You can use skis on wet gras with out snow

Zor

Even if the grass is not wet. Not pleasant to fly in rain.

Green grass is slippery enough with the powerful engines used these days.

The skis I made were of aluminum (dural) and mounted on the wheels like many bush airplanes are using. No need to remove the wheels.

I posted pictures a while ago in a similar discussion.

Zor

crash bandicoute

Zor,

do you still have a link to it? i was looking at making some like that, but got short on time with everything else going on. so i just made some quick ones for now.

Zor

Here are the pictures again.

A note of explanaton _ _ _
The wires fitting around the wheels are going longitudinally underneath to provide some directional guidance but without hindrance to maneuvering on the snow. We have to be able to taxi and turn on the ground (on the snow) with the help of the airstream on the rudder but also with the tail ski acting like the tail wheel does on the ground. The tail ski also has those ridges on the bottom surface.

These skis were originally on a Piper Super Cruiser in the early 1960s.
The mounting method is not the most ethical but it will work on wheels of different diameters.
They were also on a home designed mid=wing plane 72" ws and 8 lbs.

One morning I woke up with about 4" of snow on the ground with sunshine and mild weather so I made them in about a couple of hours and went flying.

Hey "The Good Old Times". I am waiting for snow here so I can go and ski fly my Skybolt.

Cheers,

Zor

crash bandicoute

So my snow turned into the ice storm of the century. Just getting power back on after a wek of black out. Needless to say, i didn't get to get out and play. We had downed trees all over the place, plenty of snow, but no way of charging things up enough to go flying. Now things are thawed and the snow and ice age gone and back to wet grass. Guess i'll have to try the wet grass with the skis.

Zor

You will find that whether you try "the wet grass with the skis" or try "the skis on the wet grass" will work just fine.

The disadvantage of skis on the wet grass is that you cannot draw these beautiful tracks on the snow.
I used to taxi and write my name on the snow in a similar way that aerobatic airplane write smoke messages in the sky. I used so called small scale lettering since it is not possible to stop the snow engraving between the letters. Aerial smoke writing can interrupt the smoke between letters.

Lots of fun.

Zor

hutch1940

I went out at 12:30 today and run 4 batteries . Temp was 26 and sun, no wind. We had about 2 inches of fresh light power. My slow stick had a hard time getting up but it made it. My Fun Cub took right off and was a hoot. I got in 12 landings and take offs. Got the batteries charging for tomorrow. I will try to add pictures. I made my skis out of 1 1/2 inch aluminin sheet with a piece of yard stick glued on. Drilled a hole for axle and just change it out. No ski on tail wheel.

Zor

Hey hutch,

Talk about having fun and enjoying fresh cool airona runway as wide and long as can be.
The center line is always dead center with the wind.

Flying from snow has a charm hard to describe.
So I will not try .

A prime requirement is your sun glasses and keeping your fingers WARM.
Oversize winter gloves with fleece inside covering a pair of heavy all wool gloves is a good idea.

See, all you southern fliers, look at what you are missing ?

Hee! Hee! _____Here up north in the winter every solid frozen lake becomes an emergency airport.

Zor

Toysareforkids

My Feedback: (4)

I had just sold 8 sets of aluminum skis for all size planes, I like the ones withtorque rods the best (movement). 2 and 3 gear sets. Ilike a tailski better then a tailwheel on snow.I have used skissince the '80'sin MN, but I moved to TN, and don't need them any more. If it snows, it's usually gone by the next day. I have also used floats on snow, they work great also, but you need to glass the bottoms, or you'll reck them on the ice sheet on top.

Pat

Zor

or cover the bottom with a thin aluminum sheeting.

Zor

jeffEE

My Feedback: (5)

Never try this on snow. The axle wing digs into the snow and flips it over ever time. Take off was OK, but landing was not cool.

Zor

Hello jeffEE,

When a ski has a front "bend up"sufficient to make it try to climb up on the snow, there is normally not enough snow pass the axle to offer any resistacne to make the airplane nose over.

I suspect anoher reason as follow.

Supposing that you are referrring to the model seen in the picture; a tri-wing has a high level CG location. High level in the sense of height above ground.

Recently there was some discussion about the weight on the tail wheel of a tail-dragger. I suggested 10% to 15% of the total weight of the model. The higher the CG is aboveground the higher should the tail weight be.

In your case, if referring to that tri-wing, you need a good 15% and possibly more.

I suggest you look at this aspect of the situation.
A good idea is to also observe the skis behavior while taxiing at moderate speeds including what you think is near stalling speed of the model. On snow we have to touch down at as low a speed as we can such as at full stall or nearly so with full up elevators.

Good luck with your observations and setup.

Zor

loopyrc

Here is a pic of my twist on skis, a hoot to fly on a nice 30 degree day.

I use the dubro skis, they work great with the spring that holds the ski tips up when in flight.

Toysareforkids

My Feedback: (4)

I can't tell from your picture (it's to small for my eye's)But, if you just removed you wheels, and put ski's on you are sitting to low to the ground, and the lower wing is on the ground also. You'll need the type skias with the axle hole higher up. (or make risers)Your D1 had tall wheels that kept the wing up, you'll need to dothe same thing with ski's. That's wayit's always digging in,not that the CG is highand the tail wheel weightis to light. Tripes land & take off on snowgood.

Pat

Zor

Hello Pat,

It looks like you are talking to loopyrc but you are quoting jeffEE ___??

Zor