Even the one that Dave has his Cub on?

I almost have the FRZ paperwork done...now if the Potomac would just freeze over I might be able to partake in some of this fun over here on the right coast...

aktahoe1 wrote:It was my please Coz!

A couple more pics. These just came from our own NVFlyer. Many of you met him in Reno this year at the races...blowing hard here now. A little snow tonight.

[img]http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery/albums/userpics/12335/normal_DSCF0293a.jpg/img]

AKT

More like wrong coast

Went skiing with the plane today and did laps on both sides of the lake today. It was negative 8F at the airport this am. COLD!!! The day warmed up fairly quick like and we ended up getting in about 3500' skied vertical on our feet.








My airplane and ski track...


We had the place all to ourselves until some sled heads arrived and did donuts all around the plane...


Days end...a few ski runs in the background. Went to the highest point here 3 times on this side of the lake. Pretty easy once the skin track was in.


Ended up having to hand prop the 520/MT Prop... That was a first... Think I need a new solenoid...
I have some great pics of the hand propping to post in a bit. They are just not on my camera.

Stay tuned...

It was a good day!

AKT

Awesome!

Highroad and I were just talking this afternoon about how we both dream about doing this sort of thing.

Outstanding!

Nice!!!
Just finished watching Jeremy Jones film "Further".......then I get on BCP and see this! Not going to be able to take it much longer, lol!

Awesome.

Curious about the lakes you are landing on: BLM or NFS?

Way to earn your turns! I needa ski plane.

So does had propping a 3 blade 520 looks something like this?

Absolutely awesome Kevin, thanks for posting those shots, talk about taking the norcal lifestyle to the max! Love it!

I'll pile on, thanks for the great pics! I moved from NW to CA a few years ago, my straight floats are sitting idle now, but now I'm missing both floats and skis! Hadn't really thought about winter ski flying in the Sierras but now I am! It's only an hour away... Hmmm, time to start shopping for retractable skis... You guys are expensive to talk to.

soyAnarchisto wrote:Awesome.

Curious about the lakes you are landing on: BLM or NFS?

All of these lakes allow float planes... Most of it is in the NF but controlled by Bureau of Rec.

Going in an hour. Feels like the Arctic today. Negative 17 an hour ago here.

Back to the plane




There is now two of us in Kalifornia with skis on... Anyone else gonna join?



More on the hand propping



My start rely circuit keeps popping for some reason. Thinking Solenoid now but...Here is whats happening. Press the start button and circuit pops every time. Put jumper cables on it from car battery to plane battery and it starts without circuit popping. Amps show 12.7 and that should but sufficient to start plane. Nope...Connect it to another battery and it shows 14.7. Fires up. Was thinking battery but in flight it does not indicate a discharge. Shows good volts and amps. Fly for an hour, turn plane off and try to restart, start relay pops. Have replaces all wires, new starter, new voltage reg. Putting in new battery and solenoid to see what happens...weird. I am terrible when it comes to electrical but this is not rocket science. Any ponders?

AKT

I absolutely love this!! I am a HUGE skier here in CO and have yet to mix the two...your killing me as I might have to start looking into skis for the stinny!!! Granted we need snow here first and also let it get stable.

I have a dumb question- when you fly in like this I am guessing you factor in avalanche conditions to your landing spot? I've heard (at least out here) many occasions where a sled has triggered a remote slide running a flat area beneath the slope? Very interested in hearing/learning about your operations and decision tree.

Good question! I am not a fan of parking close to the shoreline as often times thats the weak area on the ice. Even more so here. South aspects see a lot of sun so I am always thinking about run off. And yes, thinking about alpha angles for slide path runouts as well. That's something we think about daily for my business Heli skiing.

Akt

Interesting and good to know- ill have to brush up on my avalanche awareness (novice understanding) .
One of theses years I'm going to come visit your outfit as heli skiing is on the top of my list!

It sounds like your battery is at fault. Replace that first. Just because a battery "looks good" in flight, doesn't mean a whole lot. This is due to what's referred to as a "surface charge". Lead acid batteries gain a bit of capacity during the first few discharge charge cycles when new . . . then it's all downhill from there, loosing storage capacity over time.

Generally speaking, you should not be surprised if even a well cared for battery needs to be replaced after 4-5 years. Goof and deep discharge a time or two, or leave it stored not fully charged, and the sink rate is worse. Some batteries are specifically made for longer life, and one might see a few more years or so, but those are not widely used in aircraft.

The clue that your battery is the culprit is the fact the plane starts right up when jumped. The reason the CB is popping is that a stalled DC motor (starter motor in this case, and stalled due to low voltage) will draw higher current. Otherwise, one might simply suspect the CB - - though your symptoms don't point to that.

bumper

if you get a battery go with a concord extra cranking! They are spendy but they do wonders!

That's awesome, Kevin! Wish I could do that with the 170!

This is an epic TR!

FLYNAKD wrote:I have a dumb question- when you fly in like this I am guessing you factor in avalanche conditions to your landing spot? I've heard (at least out here) many occasions where a sled has triggered a remote slide running a flat area beneath the slope? Very interested in hearing/learning about your operations and decision tree.

If there's one person I would do this kind of stuff with, it's Kevin. He's a professional avalanche forecaster and backcountry ski guide, two roles that don't immediately come to mind when heli-skiing, but they're really critical. Avalanche safety takes almost every aspect of meteorology into account, as well as terrain slope angle and how it's oriented to the sun. The biggest culprit is high wind-- It loads, or deposits snow on slopes and beats the crap out of the snow flakes, causing them to become "faceted," a shape that doesn't bond well with other snow crystalline structure. It can be a hoot to ski, but it makes super weak slabs. The absolute best skiing snow ever falls with near zero wind.

Damn, now I am getting exciting to get out into the backcountry to do some skiing! Kevin, I'm not sure what's going on this next week. Work is picking up and just got home from a SoCal trip, but it will happen soon. When do you depart north?

Kevin -

I can't believe that you are having that much fun just 30 "skywagon" minutes from my home base!
If only the "ugly bird" was finished, and if I was competent to fly it, and if I had skis, and IF my knees would hold up to skin to the top....that looks like a great way to spend a day!!! Oh well, spring will be here soon, and I will be ready to start following you on your circuits!

Zzz -

Thanks for your informative post....For all these years, I was under the impression that I was just another a**hole, but now I learn that I don't play well with others because I am just well "faceted"

mch

Kevin,
Will you ever have time to take your 180 north with you? Would be some amazing footage, I am sure.
Just wanted to warn that the government types have made it difficult for folks in the past and pilots have gone to court to defend the water landing = water landing whether liquid or frozen. All depends on the local administrator, unfortunately.
Can't tell from the photo if you dropped your wheels prior to propping? Seem to remember that the wheels sit right behind the bulkhead on the fluidynes/Federals when wheels are up, which they don't seem to be in the photo. Did you do anything else to anchor the plane prior to hand propping? I found the 3 blade much easier to prop than the 2 blade. I had asked my mechanic if there were any other ways to index the 2-blade prop to get the compression stroke to hit differently, but never pursued further. 3 blade on and now better, but with the Odyssey battery no longer any problems anyway.
Just put the skis on the citabria yesterday and got out for the day. Plenty of snow and should be a great season. The cold weather should have made many of the lakes safe by now. Is there anywhere to find lake ice depth reports in the western states? Yes I realize the conditions that can alter this, but it would certainly be reassuring when someone has reported a depth of so many inches on a given lake.
Thanks again for the pics. Like all have said, it is expensive conversation as I am needing to put a set on the 180 as well.
Matt