The day started off with a predawn drive out to the hangar. A day ago we were hit with a pretty good dumping, and the cold temps kept it light and fluffy. We have about 12" of the white stuff here in town, but I was relived to see only a few inches of snow on our runway (but of course a 1.5 foot drift was in front of the hangar door).

After a few hours of getting things ready and a healthy preheat (single digits this morning), I headed west to meet Mush at a neighbors strip. The takeoff from our place was non eventful, but upon landing I realized the snow had become a little deeper. After walking the runway, I figure the deepest spot was about 10" and overall about 6-8". Not bad at all and the bushwheels performed great.




In the middle it ended up being pretty deep (The official King Soopers card measuring stick. It's all I had. )




Bill showed up with his son about 20 minutes later and I prepped him on the conditions. He did a great job on the landing and avoided the middle section.




From there we plowed our way off the ground and headed to a spot we use, it looked to inviting to pass up today. The snow here ended up being about 2" with small drifts up to 6".


Not a cloud in sight the entire day.


We couldn't stop there, so we ended up in a neighbors field to check the depth there as well. Ended up being 4" with a occasional 8" spot.




A great day playing in the Colorado sun. The snow started to get a little wet about the time we quit, and overall the 31's do a great job. If I keep this up, I may have to go find some skis to borrow. I can see how this could become addicting.

More videos to come.

Matt

Of course you need skis. We didn't need a whole TR to tell you that. You fly a taildragger in snow country, you need skis. Any questions? Good! Now go get em!

Very nice! See you all in a couple weeks!

Very nice looks like fun! Did know the snow depth there before you landed?

Here's Mush landing, it was an impressive sight to see in person.

robw56 wrote:Very nice looks like fun! Did know the snow depth there before you landed?

I had a general idea and knew it wasn't over 12". I guessed 6-8" and it was a little over that. Our strip 10 miles away had about 2".

Nice video Matt
Gotta love the bush wheels.
My experience is they work great in snow.....right up to the moment they don't.
Blu

Great pics and vids!!

Hey Matt and Backcountry Pilots,
Great pictures and video, looks like your having fun! Winter so far has been a non-event in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. So I'm thinking about trading my Aeroski 2800s for a set of 35' bushwheels. They are like new and completely rebuilt. I guess I should call Wup. Been busy working on my airstrip anyway.

Merry Christmas,

James
Check out the retail price on this link: http://aeroski.net/wp-content/uploads/2 ... t-2011.pdf

Thanks James, I think 35"s would do rather well in moderate snow. Even the 31's offer a good amount of floatation.

Here's a good recap of the day:



Another Stinson Takeoff:



Can't wait to go flying next year!

Matt fantastic videos...on the first one, with the cam set up on your stab...looks like you have a canard at the front. Good job editing, cheers!

Hey Matt you're scaring me with those snow op's! The spooky part is the next time even less snow but set up different could be not so fun. You know that I'm sure. As one with skis and Bushwheels (not at the same time though), all I can tell ya is getting into the ski flying thing is AT LEAST as much if not more of a game changer as getting Bushwheels. I have also found out that you can land on a fair bit of dirt and whatever while on the skis, just a little snow every now and then is all I need, at least for landings, with no pitching over evident... your Stinson would look GREAT on skis!

I understand your concerns Tom, and I plan to keep this type of flying to a min. The snow conditions were as good as anything so I figured I'd give it a shot.

It's nice to see the bushwheels are able to give some floatation and allow one to land in snow. But Blu said it best, "bushwheels work great, right up to the point they dont'".

I think our dear friend with a yellow Super Cub learned this one the hard way. I think in his case, he got attacked by a drift-- nominal depth was totally doable, but the drift was not.

Yup... You just can't tell by lookin'

Gump

Careful out there

NTSB Identification: WPR12CA060
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, December 10, 2011 in Lowman, ID
Aircraft: CESSNA 182C, registration: N800YD
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.

WPR12CA060

The pilot reported that after overflying the snow-covered runway he determined that it was suitable to land on. His determination was based in part on observing snowmobile tracks on the runway, which indicated to him that the surface was firm enough to land on. After touching down he held the nose wheel off the ground with full aft elevator pressure, but when he lowered the nose wheel onto the snow-covered surface the airplane pitched down violently. The airplane subsequently traveled for about 80 feet in the nose down attitude before it abruptly nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the right wing and rudder. The pilot indicated that there were no mechanical issues with the airplane that would have precluded its normal operation.

Now Matt be careful you don't end up like that guy in Ashton, Idaho last month. Love the videos

Burp
You bunch of mothers.....let Matt have some fun would ya?

Great job Matt, the videos are excellent .. Remember to keep the yoke back at all times and stay off the brakes while landing in the snow. The problem with people landing in the snow is they tend to relax after touching down , then they apply the brakes not good for them. I did get a HD170 camera. I will hold off on putting it on the plane till it warms up some. Right now it is -40 and the daylight is to short. Keep us posted and fly safe my friend..

Ken Stinson flyer.

Terry wrote:Burp
You bunch of mothers.....let Matt have some fun would ya?

Do I need to link you to the low-flying thread for a refresher?

Ha, At the risk of this biting me, I don't recall.
Give me a little bit, it's New Years Eve, a drinking night......maybe it will come to me.