Winter Flying

[Flying Trucker]

Goodly morning all...

Those of us who Aviate Real Aircraft have a soft spot in our hearts for Float, Amphibian, Ski and Wheel Ski Aircraft...

When it comes to adding an undercarriage to an aircraft one has to stand back, scratch their head and wonder what they were thinking about sometimes.

Time is of the essence many times, cost of development are at the forefront of most modifications and many like me will stand back after the fact and say "why did they not do it this way"...

Technology and the Lack of Proper Funding stood in the way of many of the Winter Flying Ski Equipped Aircraft you are about to view, there are some interesting stories also, one about a Spitfire using wooden boxes that would fall away from the wheels on takeoff off snow...

Enjoy the read as Winter is upon us and lets do some ski flying...

Scroll half way down to view the start of the ski equipped aircraft however the float section is excellent also...

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... heels.aspx

[Tug002]

Great pictures Flying Trucker, brings back memories of my father and I flying in his Cub in the winter with skis on in the 60's. I remember on time the was trying to start it on a cold day with me in the plane and had the throttle open a wee bit too much. She caught and he ended up chasing the plane with me in it across the field. I eventually thought to throttle back and he caught up with me LOL. I was about 6 or 7 at the time. I also remember him having to break the skis free from the snow if it sat too long on the ground.

Keep smiling
Tug

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks for the reply Tug...much appreciated...

I remember trying to unstick the skis on the Douglas DC3 with a Hand Held small propane torch...both engines would be running at the time burning off the Oil Dilution...

Back in the 1950s around the time of the Avro Arrow I believe that a Royal Canadian Military College Graduate designed a Landing Gear which would land on Snow, Water, Rough Surfaces and Paved/Unpaved surfaces.
Next to VTOL which was also being developed here this Unit Retracted Streamlining the Flying Machine. (Fixed or Rotary)

Like today our Government shelved the projects and those working on the project sworn to secrecy.

Wheel/Skis or Amphibious Floats are the way to go and with today's technology and materials are advanced to what we see on the aircraft in the article provided by the Link...