Will a set of wheel penetration skis work well enough to land on unpacked powdery snow? I do have access to a couple strips that are under a few feet of otherwise untracked and unpacked snow during the winter here in Colorado. How much extra performance can you expect with hydraulic skis?

My experience on deep powder has only been on retracts, but I think I can answer your question.

"Sometimes, maybe."

Not trying to be funny, but just addressing the changeability of the snow making ALL the difference.... just a couple hours of being in the sun OR in the shade can make enough difference to make it a fun day, or less so. When I made the decision of what type ski to get, the simplicity, lighter weight, and less expensive penetration type ski was tempting, but everything I read on the subject indicated that overall a retract was the ultimate ski for all conditions. I do know the one ski fly-in I attended everyone else was on wheel penetration skis, and I was chagrined to see that they had a trail groomer working the landing area! I landed in the undisturbed powder along side the groomed stuff, making some kind of point I guess? They ruined a perfectly good LZ by running that groomer up and down it, nothing like landing in untracked powder.

Pinecone wrote:I like the idea of going on skis, but the reality is that I have a hard time motivating myself to go preheat in the winter. I fly on really nice warm days when they appear, other than that I'm working, trying to save up for another summer of flying!

This story frightened me enough that I'm a bit turned off also.

http://www.yukonflying.com/DaveStorey.html

I had an experience as a kid with open water and overflow on a snowmobile that I'll never forget either.

Glad you posted this. He tells the story really great in person as well. Heck of a nice guy.
I really enjoy ski flying. I think I preheat just as much or more when I'm on wheels to fly in the winter anyways, so skis are just an added bonus. I'll have to keep on eye out for a set for my 206...

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I just skimmed that story as I don't have time right now to peruse the whole thing, but wow, he nails it perfectly. That sinking in feeling when coming to a full stop, nothing like it! The best (or worse?) thing I can say about ski flying, especially on slopes in the mountains, is it makes me THINK harder then any other flying I do, I mean steam coming out my ears, I imagine landing a fast flowing river on floats would be about similar. I'm looking forward to savoring his write up on the "joys" of ski flying, from the comfort of home.

Pinecone wrote:I like the idea of going on skis, but the reality is that I have a hard time motivating myself to go preheat in the winter. I fly on really nice warm days when they appear, other than that I'm working, trying to save up for another summer of flying!

This story frightened me enough that I'm a bit turned off also.

http://www.yukonflying.com/DaveStorey.html

I had an experience as a kid with open water and overflow on a snowmobile that I'll never forget either.

I got really cold here in the living room reading that. Brought back memories of an almost identical episode in a 185 just north of the Arctic circle. Except I was by myself, and thankfully the snow wasn’t as deep. I got really wet and cold, bunny boots kept my feet warm. And it was -30 F and getting colder.

Got home about 9 that night, Skis frozen down, so had to land on the (unlighted) ski strip at Fairbanks International.

That experience led me to seriously upgrade my gear in that plane.

And change sequence: Get stuck, build a fire and get a shelter put up, THEN try to get unstuck.

Fortunately, most lakes don’t have near as many surprises as he describes for his trapping lake.

MTV

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