Backcountry Pilot

Early Lessons About Ski Flying

As a youngster growing up in Superior, Wisconsin and flying aircraft with my dad I remember him saying, "If you want to wreck your airplane, put it on skis!"

After all he should know as I watched him and his WW2 Army Air Corp buddies plan wolf hunts by ski plane like they were planning a mission to bomb the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt, Germany. Safety was always a concern since they were shooting shotguns out of the open door of the craft as they swooped down low on the wolves. Bounty hunting of wolves by ski plane along the south shore of Lake Superior ended in the early 1960s.

A Routine Winter Flight

I earned my private pilot license in 1980 and built a Merlin GT in the 1990s, which I still fly out of the Cloquet, Minnesota airport. In March 2018 some of my EAA friends were planning on flying up to Ely, Minnesota for lunch and asked if I wanted to come along. Since it was shaping up to be a nice winter day I quickly said yes. We all fly similar types of aircraft which allows us to stay together on a trip, cruising about 85 to 90 mph.

On the day of the flight we assembled at the airport and preheated our aircraft engines. The wind was out of the north northwest about 10 mph with a temperature of 10°F and the sky was clear. We all taxied out, and since I have wheel penetration skis, I could use the runway while the others used the snow packed side of the runway. I taxied and waited further down on the runway, then took off after the last of the three departed the snow.

Richard Schimenek's Merlin GT Photo: Richard Schimenek

Everything was normal as I monitored the instruments. My aircraft climbs rapidly after takeoff and I was soon at 2,800 MSL so I decided to stay there. I could see the three other aircraft in front of me at a lower altitude. As we passed navigational landmarks, I was settling into an enjoyable flight. However, I did start to notice the other aircraft seemed to be pulling away slightly, though nothing was out of the normal. I thought maybe the north headwind might be stronger at my altitude.

Uncomfortably Rapid Descent

The flight time to Ely was slightly over an hour and I did notice it may take me a little longer to arrive. Approaching the Laurentian Divide (a barely perceptible but significant topographic feature of northeast Minnesota) I lost visual contact with the other three aircraft, but again everything was normal by instrumentation in my craft. About 15 minutes south of of my destination I flew past the tiny town of Babbitt and could see the Ely airport in the distance, when suddenly the aircraft violently pitched down and to my left.

What happened next takes only seconds and although a pilot is trained for emergency conditions they are all different when they occur. Quickly scanning the panel I noticed I was descending about 600 feet per minute at 90 mph at 1,400 feet above the ground!

Since I could not right the craft, I immediately pulled the power to slow the descent and used stick and rudder pressure to keep it straight, as the view through the windshield was nothing but snow covered trees. I quickly looked at my left side ski and noticed it was extended to the safety cable but the bungee cord was still attached.

My dad would constantly point out possible landing sites as we flew and sometimes make a practice landing pass, now it would be a real life lesson for me. Knowing I could not make it to the Ely airport, I settled for Bear Island Lake which was directly in front of me.

Forced Landing on Bear Island Lake

Now my concentration was on clearing the pine trees in the swamp and attempting to make a landing as slow as possible without flipping the aircraft due to the hanging ski. I tightened my lap belt and shoulder harness and thought about landing on the right side ski. I cleared the tree tops by only a couple feet and descended to the lake. Seeing a snowmobile track helped me understand how deep the snow may be when I land, as my thoughts were racing between focusing on the best landing of my life and surviving the aircraft either flipping on its back or cartwheeling in the snow.

The aircraft was rapidly slowing down as it passed through 60 mph approaching the lake surface. I took one last look out the side window at the snow and the left ski hanging on its safety cable and anticipated the outcome, when suddenly just before touching down I heard a bang and then hit the snow. Luckily, just before landing the speed was slow enough that the memory left in the stretched bungee cord brought the ski up and the snow did the rest as the aircraft settled and landed.

I continued a high speed taxi run toward the many snowmobile tracks between the mainland and Bear Island knowing I could stop there without sinking in the deeper snow. Bringing the aircraft to a stop I collected my thoughts then called my fellow flyers to tell them what had happened. They were ready to go fetch some snowmobile rubber bungees for me and fly them in, but prior to leaving the hangar I had noticed three bungees on the workbench and threw them into the baggage compartment (who knows why?)

After inspecting the aircraft and installing the spare bungees on both skis, I fired up the aircraft and took off toward downtown Ely, arriving safely. Needless to say I had a lot to talk about at lunch!

Iceport departure Photo: Richard Schimenek

Post-Flight Analysis

During the flight back, I flew a little higher and slightly slower, straining to maintain focus on the last leg of the flight rather than the event that occurred. Every pilot mentally reviews over and over again any event that is out of the ordinary and runs every possibility to ground. Upon landing I wrote down my thoughts and continued to think through all the possible scenarios and causes.

Since I followed FAA AC43.13-2B during the design and installation of my skis I decided to test the deflection force of the single bungee. The test definitely proved the original shock cord bungee could not handle the force when preloaded. Upon further investigation I determined that the cord was not aircraft quality even though it was purchased through a reputable aircraft supplier. I also learned there is an aircraft quality cold weather shock cord available, and in winter it may be best to unhook your bungee cords when not flying as they can retain load memory when the aircraft is sitting and may not be able to immediately pull the ski up to flight position after takeoff.

The Importance of Adequate Altitude & Preventative Measures

When ski flying around Minnesota, it is not uncommon to fly low and slow over the many frozen lakes and rivers. The day of the flight I stated that my aircraft climbed to 2,800 feet and I flew it there. I believe this may have saved my life, as thinking back to that day, the craft violently pitched down so rapidly.

The extra altitude allowed me that split second of time to respond and stretched my descent to keep me out of the trees. Also, when I was slowly dropping behind the other aircraft, I did not realize the bungee was stretching and allowing the ski to slowly drop down until the increasing aerodynamic force overcame the bungee cord and dropped it all the way to the extent of the safety cable.

I now have two new aircraft quality bungee cords on each ski with slightly shortened safety cables and have taken a lot of ribbing for it, so if you see my aircraft at a ski fly-in you will know why!

A weight test on the new 45 lb bungee cord Photo: Richard Schimenek

Appendix: Ski Tips from the Backcountry Pilot Forum

1. Limit Cables Prevent Ski Over-Extension

"Those bungees just keep the toes of the skis up. The limit cables are designed to prevent a ski from 'going over'. I’ve seen at least one plane land (nose high) with a broken bungee." — @mtv in Bungee Question

2. Preflight Checks Can Save You

"...when it was around zero, and it had been warm earlier in the week—on preflight I found the bungees loose. Stuffed it in a heated hangar and they got tight...again. Give them a good tug on preflight..." — @UP_M5 in Installing skis

3. Ski Taxi and Surface Awareness Matter

"On skis you can't necessarily steer the plane in the direction you want to go. So have an alternate plan." — @Barnstormer in Lessons from learning to Ski Fly