Chad and I have been having a good time playing on the water with our planes lately.....and without any luck have tried to talk our buddy Dave into it with his 182 on 8.50s. Dave always seems to have other plans (recon at tree top level).
So what do you nose wheel drivers think, is Dave just being puss or is he smarter than his buddies?
Seriously, has anyone done it?
Talking out my ass here....but I think if you fly it on at a slow enough speed the nose gear would not even touch the water. If you hit the water to hard it might force the nose tire into the water to hard and be upside-down?

Terry wrote:Chad and I have been having a good time playing on the water with our planes lately.....and without any luck have tried to talk our buddy Dave into it with his 182 on 8.50s. Dave always seems to have other plans (recon at tree top level).
So what do you nose wheel drivers think, is Dave just being puss or is he smarter than his buddies?
Seriously, has anyone done it?
Talking out my ass here....but I think if you fly it on at a slow enough speed the nose gear would not even touch the water. If you hit the water to hard it might force the nose tire into the water to hard and be upside-down?

As long as someone holds his beer while he tries it I'm sure it would work out fine

i think if its tried it will only be tried once...

If the nose gear never touches the water, then by definition you're not "waterskiing a nose gear". To the contrary, the proper technique is to *only* touch the nose gear, sort of the like the caribou in this video. It looks like it should be a piece of cake!

^^ that's a trick you don't see very often.

Sounds like a terrible idea.... be sure to get video!

As long as someone holds his beer while he tries it I'm sure it would work out fine

For those who miss irony, I believe he is saying something like this:

If you directly ask for trouble-often enough-an avalanche of it WILL arrive......sooner or later.....
Sometime there are no "re-deals", no "do-overs", and "I'm sorry" doesn't cover the tab.......
OR
Weigh risk vs. reward-objectively.....


Am I close????


Great humor, love it in fact, but there can be youngsters reading us.....
lc

Just don't try it! The nose gear does extend way down below the mains. Now if you want to see how fast you can flip one up side down in the water, go for it!

Littlecub wrote:

As long as someone holds his beer while he tries it I'm sure it would work out fine

For those who miss irony, I believe he is saying something like this:

If you directly ask for trouble-often enough-an avalanche of it WILL arrive......sooner or later.....
Sometime there are no "re-deals", no "do-overs", and "I'm sorry" doesn't cover the tab.......
OR
Weigh risk vs. reward-objectively.....


Am I close????


Great humor, love it in fact, but there can be youngsters reading us.....
lc

Well yeah, I rather assumed that line of humor wouldn't need much further explanation here. Nontheless, there's a whole vein of humor along these lines here... http://www.holdmybeer.com/

What can I say ,balls aren't big enough ,it's called a puss wheel for a reason....

If one of the best Cub drivers on here say's he wouldn't even give it a thought (I have asked the same question ), I'm thinking it's a really bad Idea!!

I loved it, Vick. I really did. But it is in the 'wide open' part of the forum until it gets tossed in 'members only' for cause. So, it is here for youngsters....... You know, the under 25 set who's risk assessment part of the brain hasn't jelled yet.. OK, OK. late teens (For some individuals-actually a lot more for others).

Sorry, Vick, its just my WIDE puritanical/cautious/good example "streak" (as in 'down my back') that got repeatedly BEAT into me as a kid (by the world at large PLUS parents/teaches/older siblings/etc)(that I sometime have to wrestle with... ...). I was a 'Balls to the wall' rug rat/yard ape/neighborhood terror that needed it, though, and it has helped to keep me alive.....

Sorry, Vick.....
lc

It was a WAY different world us oldsters grew up in....
(in case anyone cares)

Wouldn't even consider it. The center of gravity is ahead of your mains on a tricycle, which combined with the tire drag will conspire against you to highly encourage your ship to pitch nose down. A nose gear in the water sounds like the quickest way to convert a high wing aircraft to a low-wing.

Dont do it. But if you are to do it, I think it should be done this way. Flaps 0, faster than 100mph, 700 nose wheel tire or greater, not glassy water but light ripples, along the shoreline so you can see your height above water. Flaps 0 and less stol mods would increase the fuselage angle raising the nose wheel so you dont wheelbarrow like the caribou or Twin Otter at the STOL config. Faster would be better so the tires Ski. I have seen a great photo of a Rutan Defiant with 600x6s on the mains and nose wheel retracted skiing. That plane would have been flown at 100mph to 120mph. I think it at first it was an accidental touchdown on glassy water and was told that it worked great and the plane didnt want to nose over. Do it next to the shoreline to get a great video to post or so everyone will see how cool you are and or get good documentation of the crash. http://rlv.zcache.com/long_ez_skimming_lake_poster-p228724103140823415t5ta_400.jpg Found this long eze photo it looks like 500x5s on it for mains. Ive done this with my long eze at 200 mph but the water was below 32degrees F.

I think it's a horribly bad idea so if you can get multiple camera angles set up first. With a little creative editing the final woosh will look great!
I have seen a video of a '56 182 in a slight left turn on glassy water doing a buzz job that had an accidental touchdown with the left main and nosewheel. It was really high speed and seemed solid but looked real sketchy. Big risk for what purpose? Skiing the heavies isn't like skiing the Cub's.

Remember to use a Camera Tripod on the bank, instruct the camera operator and anyone close to the microphone to refrain from the OH S__T ! and F__K! until the camera is off. Rescue boat and safety divers should be well out of frame but could have the upwind POV camera. Chase plane on the sunny side. Use a U206 for camera chase, take the doors off, strap in the vidit, you will get better pans. Im waiting to see this on HD TV. Even better, Shoot in 3D!!

Physics should be considered.

In a tricycle gear airplane the CG is forward of the mains. Proof is that the plane doesn't tip back on it's tail on the ramp. Now knowing this, when to touch down on grass, snow, rocks or water the CG forward of the mains causes the plane to pitch down resulting is a loss of lift and causing even more downward motion.

So, if you try to bounce your mains on a lake in a tricycle gear airplane the mechanics are working against you and the plane inherently will want to pitch down into the drink.

Now, in a tailwheel, the CG is aft of the mains and the touch down causes a pitch up and in this instance that would be self correcting. In other words the mechanics are working with you and you are much less likely to get wet (or die).

That said, I agree with the above poster who mentioned the risk : reward equation. Doesn't seem to be there for this adventure.

GP

The landing/ waterskiing will look just like this......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6e3n1RYvsI

I am pretty sure I saw this done in the show Flying Wild Alaska with 182 or 206 coming into a gravel bar, I am also pretty sure they kept the nosewheel out of the water until they hit the gravel. Get video to remember how cool it was or how cool the airplane looked before you tried it.

Yeah I remember seeing that too.