The Datum people are up to all kinds of stuff, this is unreal.....besides being on an amphib, I didn't know they up to 3500 GW skis, very cool. Of course, this combo would open up all kinds of new ways to get in trouble

Nice pic of your plane on the site as well

Man, I'd love to have a set of Datums for my 2+2

Tim

courierguy wrote:The Datum people are up to all kinds of stuff, this is unreal.....besides being on an amphib, I didn't know they up to 3500 GW skis, very cool. Of course, this combo would open up all kinds of new ways to get in trouble

Courierguy,
Back when you were first looking for skiis I had talked with Datum about these. At that time they had been selling models for the two place and were only working on them. The spec sheet doesn't point out the difference between the 3500 model and the 3000 model except for the price but this looks like a chance to rekindle my romance with retract wheel skiis.

Dang it, I should have kept my ole Lycoming powered Seabee, had lots of fun on the water, could have had fun in winter too! I was never brave enough to land on the hull in the snow, although I know it was regularly done.

coming back to life...

IF you're going to run a Bee on skis, you'd best have one of the Lycoming engines and the wing extensions......

MTV

As long as it is someone else paying for the gas, what about a Twin Bee on skis?

Bob Munro at Kenmore Air used the SeaBee and landed on glaciers on the belly. I think they also removed the landing gear too. The keel is stout!
The SeaBee has a soft spot in my heart. It has very simple systems, easy to work on in the field. I used to maintain two, a stock one with the Franklin and one with a O-540 and wing extensions. I flew in the Frank powered one and was a nice ride. Supporting the 220 Franklin was another story.
And one more thing, never overfill the gear/flap pump reservior. You'll be cleaning the 5606 off the ceiling, seats, carpet, clothes, etc. That isn't in the service manual.

Dave

courierguy wrote:The Datum people are up to all kinds of stuff, this is unreal.....besides being on an amphib, I didn't know they up to 3500 GW skis, very cool. Of course, this combo would open up all kinds of new ways to get in trouble

Datum tail ski is on it's way. To say Jean-Marc is a character is a gross understatement!

My dad had a SeaBee back in the 1950s. He took the wheel gear off as there were no landing strips near where he did his flying. It made for a lighter, faster plane. He never flew it in the winter. They are also awkward to dock.

As for the ultimate plane for overflow conditions I saw a video of a Kitfox flying with Full Lotus inflatable floats landing on frozen lakes, shallow weedy water, and even grass.

http://www.full-lotus.com/

Yeah that Kitfox combo would also be a contender!

I've landed the Datums on frozen grass, no problems.

If you need ideas on how to mount that tw let me know.