Anyone fly a pacer on skis? I'm wanting to know if a tail ski is really necessary. I have a baby bush wheel and am wondering if that will be enough flotation or if I really need to hunt up a wheel penetration ski that will fit the bbw.

Thanks for any help

Personally I'd be going with a ski. While there are times when the snow conditions may be suitable for a wheel only, it's also true the conditions can be extremely variable even within a limited time period and you will want to error on the side of caution I think

I think you will probably want the tail ski. A Pacer is a little lighter than the 170B I used to fly, but not by much. When landing on bare ice or hardpacked runway, a tail ski wasn’t needed, but as soon as I got out in the back country, landing on unpacked snow, the tail ski was essential. Even with the tail ski, there were a few times the stabilizer was almost resting on the snow. I would pack a runway with snow shoes out at my cabin, but until the runway had set overnight, or better yet several nights, the tail ski would sink in 3-4 inches. The strip was short enough I don’t think I could have cleared the trees at the far end without the tail ski. I had a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the 170 if that helps to compare to your Baby Bushwheel.

Sorry to break my own rules and chime in with barely any experience on the matter, but:

1. I have a Pacer
2. I have skied powder a lot.

Gotta get that float ASAP during takeoff. i don't think even the BBW presents enough surface area to provide much slow speed float on deeper snow. Judging from the weigh of my Pacer tail, it would be submarining hard in a calm wind situation.

You ever talk to Eddie Trimmer up at Willow?

Just buy one of Burl’s tail skis. Bad news is, there are no tail skis that fit a BBW.

Which is a message: Lose the BBW.

MTV

I definitely need a tail ski on my PA-16 Clipper. All of the short wing Pipers have pretty heavy tails compared to the long wing pipers. I find that my penetration tail ski is ideal because it works on hard packed snow and the fluffy stuff.

I flew my pacer with and without a tailski and I much preferred with. Burl’s makes a tailski that’s compatible with the BBW as well.

mtv wrote:Just buy one of Burl’s tail skis. Bad news is, there are no tail skis that fit a BBW.

Which is a message: Lose the BBW.

MTV

Am i dreaming? Pretty cool.... (when did they start polishing the fork arms?)

Zzz wrote:

mtv wrote:Just buy one of Burl’s tail skis. Bad news is, there are no tail skis that fit a BBW.

Which is a message: Lose the BBW.

MTV

Am i dreaming? Pretty cool.... (when did they start polishing the fork arms?)

Hmmm, that's interesting. How to add weight waaaaay back aft, I reckon.

MTV

mtv wrote:

Zzz wrote:

mtv wrote:Just buy one of Burl’s tail skis. Bad news is, there are no tail skis that fit a BBW.

Which is a message: Lose the BBW.

MTV

Am i dreaming? Pretty cool.... (when did they start polishing the fork arms?)

Hmmm, that's interesting. How to add weight waaaaay back aft, I reckon.

MTV

About 4 pounds, which every Pacer I've flown would have more than benefited from.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk to specifically annoy:
Zane
Hammer

There's a tailwheel ski on anchorage craigslist currently. Not the BBW size though

https://anchorage.craigslist.org/avo/d/ ... 47323.html