TomKatz wrote:Hard packed snow looks like it works well. A nose wheel will keep you from flipping (I guess). James hit the nail with the skeeeeezzzzz. Just need mo money.

This is how good the little nose wheel works.

Alaska Maule


Owners story

Evidently I made a poor choice of landing sites. Until today, the plane was sitting on it’s top in the remote Boulder Creek drainage.

I was going to land and check out a back country cabin and take a break. There was a fair amount of turbulence and I was getting beat up pretty badly. I did a low and slow pass. Light was kind of flat and I guess there was enough ash/dust on the snow to make it look like a thin layer of snow over the underlying gravel. Made a second pass to drag the strip I had picked out. Gently put tires to earth and all was well. Firm and smooth. On the third pass I touched down without problem and started the rollout. Hit a small drift, maybe 6" tall but enough to bounce. Came back down as gently as possible but the wheels broke the crust and sank. Deeper than expected! Bounced higher and came down hard with little speed or lift left. Tires dug in, flipped me over, the tail dug in and pulled me sideways, tweaking the left wing. I was going so slow at that point there was really nothing to the impact.

Hanging upside down and looking through a busted windshield at snow is no fun. I crawled out onto the underside of the left wing. When I stepped off the wing, I went in about knee deep. Shakes head and thinks "stupid costs extra". I put snow shoes on, stomped around and cussed a bit. No cell service and I was pretty sure the ELT signal wouldn't reach out of the canyon. I did have a GPS signal though so I pushed the 911 on my SPOT unit. I hung out at the crash site for about an hour and a half. I was just about to walk up to the cabin when I saw headlights coming down stream.

Hooked up with a couple of snow machine riders who gave me a lift to the road. THANKS GUYS! Called the Troopers from the highway. The Trooper I talked with was really sold on the SPOT and said it worked perfectly. They were able to see I was walking around the plane even saw when I took off from the crash site at about 20mph so they knew I was OK and heading for the road.

Anyway, she was helicoptered out today and now sits on the ramp in Palmer. The damage isn’t as bad as I feared but it is not going to be inexpensive. Lessons like this seldom are I guess. It was a cheap lesson though. Cheap lessons are the ones you survive and I walked away from this one, literally, without a scratch.

Guys/Gals
This is exactly why I asked. Tons of real life wisdom! Thanks so much. I will fight the itch!

I'll throw in. Sorry if any of it's repetitive.

I have 8.5s on my Pacer.

-If there is a crunchy layer below the top layer of snow, WATCH OUT.
-If the snow is slushy/wet, WATCH OUT.
-If you have snow then rain then snow, WATCH OUT.
-Don't land on gray ice.
-Snowmobile trails (especially well established and recently traveled ones) are usually good.
-Consistent density snow that is dry or medium over a solid hard pack is good, but you can't tell from the air. You have to walk the field.

First landing, land a little fast and "feel" the snow. Be prepared to go full power and full up elevator.

If you haven't personally walked the field or had a credible source describe it to you then stay off with wheels.

Generally, I don't go in more than 5" or 6" but that all depends on the conditions as described above.

You might check with Wup at AK Bushwheels and see if they have snow tires.