What to get, what not to get, and why. I pretty much no nothing about skis or ski flying.

LH 4000 hydraulic wheel skis might be my choice if money were no object. They can use the same electric and standby hydraulic pump as my Aerocet floats. They’re as close as you can get to straight skis when deployed. No gaping holes where the wheels retract.

I have TrickAir penetration wheel skis. What I like is that I didn’t have to add the cable attach points to my airframe. I’m using the supplied brackets at the top of the main landing gear. I can install and remove them myself in about 5 minutes and make my own log entry. No maintenance professional involvement. They’re light.

I would not want to have to install the huge manual pump in the passenger footwell with Fluidyne skis. I think if you run Wipline floats you can run the pump for the floats with the Fluidyne skis, now owned my Wipline.

First a question or two:

1. Where are you going to park the plane in winter?

2. If you have a hangar, does that airport have a groomed “ski strip”, or will they allow ski ops somewhere on the airport?

3. Do you plan to fly to places that do NOT have ski strips, as in will you need to land on pavement?

4. Depending on your responses to the above, you’ll need to choose straight skis (as in no wheels), or some form of “wheel ski”.

My guess is, you’re gonna want wheel skis, either retractable or penetration.

Next, read the articles in the “knowledge base” on this site about ski flying.

As noted earlier, in my opinion, the Fli-Lite LH 4000 skis are the BEST “wheel skis” made for a 185. They are not cheap. But they perform!

Penetration skis, like the Trick Air skis, are simpler, and may get it done for you, depending on ski conditions. If you ever get into fresh, deep snow, you WILL really wish you’d spent the coin on LH 4000s.

Same goes for the big Fluidyne retractable, the AWB 3600s. I’ve been so stuck in a 185 on a set of those I get chills just writing this. They are hell for stout, which is a GREAT asset for skis, but not enough surface area.

Read the articles on this web aite, they’ll help.

MTV

I have the Airglas LH4000s for a 185. They have great floatation. And for skis, floatation is worth A LOT. That's about all I like about them.

I don't like the minimal clearance when operating on wheels. Due to the angle of the cessna spring gear, you end up scraping the aft outboard runners of the skis before touching the tires and it can make for even more challenging landings especially when landing in a crosswind with a wing low.

Making tight turns on pavement are slightly awkward because the skis drag on the aft roller wheels.

There is a lot of drag with the skis in the up position.

Summary:
Whatever you do, try not to get stuck. Floatation is important and the LH4000s are good in this department. Don't sweat the other stuff.

mtv wrote:Read the articles on this web aite, they’ll help.

I will add the link since this is such a great guide (writeup by MTV.)

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... ski-flying

I’ll be keeping it at the airport in the hangar.

Not sure what happens with the grass runway, the paved one stays plowed.

Regardless I’ll have to land on pavement a fair bit.

Airplane is on straight floats in the summer so there’s no hydraulic pump in it.

Probably sounds like wheel skis are the best choice, at least to start with.

Thanks guys!

I’ve not had my TrickAir skis in any deep snow yet, but I suspect they’ll perform above my expectations. My expectations have been greatly suppressed by naysayers, but the shape of the skis is appealing to me, and I think they’ll be OK.

Let us know how it goes!

What about a tail ski? How necessary is that?

It’s not clear if these kits come with them.

I didn’t have a tail ski installed for my first year of ski flying. I have one now, but I haven’t ever installed it. Snow conditions allowed me to get away without it. I did note though that after a summer of float flying, and returning to wheels, my tail wheel bearings were rusted and unserviceable. Need to repack the bearings at the end of ski season from now on, not at the beginning after they’ve been on a shelf all summer.

A tail ski is a wonderful device if you operate in snow that actually suggests skis are a good idea. More so on a heavier plane, like a 185, but they can be beneficial on Cubs, Huskys, Scouts, as well.

Depends on conditions. But a 185 on skis…..I’d want a tail ski.

MTV

I ended up buying a used set of Airglass wheel penetration skis. Going to try it with just the baby Bushwheel on the tail and see how it does.

Ross4289 wrote:I ended up buying a used set of Airglass wheel penetration skis. Going to try it with just the baby Bushwheel on the tail and see how it does.

When you get stuck, take out that tool kit that you wisely carried along, and remove those "tailwheels" on the back of the skis, assuming they're the older type that are mounted at the end of a leaf spring. You can't believe how much drag THOSE things produce. Get airborne, go somewhere with a LITTLE snow, land, re-install the tailwheels and go to the airport.

Those are decent skis. A friend of mine has a cabin in the Brooks Range, and a 185 on those skis. He flies up to the cabin, lands on the lake, prepares his "airstrip", lets it set up, and when he's ready to go home, removes those tailwheels, takes off, lands in Bettles on the groomed runway, re-installs the tailwheels, and flies home.

Seriously, they make that much drag. Good news is, if you get stuck, it may be just that simple to get un-stuck.

MTV

These ones have the newer style “tailwheels” without the leaf spring

Ross4289 wrote:These ones have the newer style “tailwheels” without the leaf spring

Ah, good deal! Those are MUCH better performers.

Tailski: I’ve never flown skis with a Baby Bushwheel (I strongly dislike the things, frankly). But, if you wind up landing in very much snow depth, you are probably going to want a tailski. Burl’s tailski is BY FAR the best out there.

It’s not just a matter of “float”, but steering as well.

But most of all, HAVE FUN!

MTV

Sounds good.

Other than in snow, what’s wrong with the baby Bushwheel? My plane came with it, so I know nothing else.

Ross4289 wrote:Sounds good.

Other than in snow, what’s wrong with the baby Bushwheel? My plane came with it, so I know nothing else.

If most of what you do is on unpaved surfaces, especially very soft surfaces, they work fine,
On pavement they tend to shimmy, and shimmy is hard on old (or new) airframes.

Other than that, they’re heavy and don’t steer quite as well as std tailwheels. And, of course, they’re expensive. Those are pretty minor considerations, though.

I’d argue that most of them out there never land on anything soft………but, that’s not my choice.

MTV

I have noticed a shimmy on pavement sometimes, particularly when landing in a crosswind. I thought it was just my poor tailwheel skills. I've been wheel landing in crosswinds to hold it off as long as possible, but it doesn't help much.

Doesn't seem to ever do it when landing full stall straight into the wind.

Thanks!

Ross

Ross4289 wrote:I have noticed a shimmy on pavement sometimes, particularly when landing in a crosswind. I thought it was just my poor tailwheel skills. I've been wheel landing in crosswinds to hold it off as long as possible, but it doesn't help much.

Doesn't seem to ever do it when landing full stall straight into the wind.

Thanks!

Ross

Then yours is probably rigged about right. In the crosswind, that tailwheel is cocked a bit when it touches. That's what initiates the shimmy. If it doesn't shimmy in straight ahead winds, then it's probably rigged well.

MTV

skis on C206 worked for me