Not what you think probably http://www.kpvi.com/mostpopular/story/S ... niDcQ.cspx I've missed this in years past, but I plan to see if I can get an invite for my "snow plane". I may have to bribe my way in, using a real snow plane prop off a 6 cylinder Continental I got from a deceased neighbor who was a "snow planer". I have two of his props on the Wall of Shame, I could live with just one. Out of respect for the events organizers i won't just be happening by and drop in, but if I HAVE to deliver the prop that may be a good incentive for all concerned.

Last year I was headed skiing and got to see them all lined up along the road. Some pretty cool machines there.

When I was a kid about 1950 something my Grandpa had a hunting friend that lived at the west end of Rimrock Lake...the other end of the lake where the Tieton airstrip is. He had some kind of an old airplane fuselage with huge wooden skis on it. He would take it up the logging roads and once in a while out on the frozen lake and go like hell.

I have seen a couple old snow planes give demonstrations at West Yellowstone at the old airstrip west of town. They didn't go nearly as fast as my Grandpa's friend did. At least that's the way I remember.

PM'd you a number that should get you in. I love those things. I got in on the tail end of the movement as a kid in Montana, our neighbors had some pretty tricked out ones with heaters and stereo, comfy seats. 80mph across the fields in style!

PIREP: I noticed yesterday that someone drove a jeep or something across their rally area in Tetonia leaving deep ruts on about a 04/22 heading.

I did a search for snow planes, Wow talk about a different breed of snow machine.

Nosedragger wrote:PM'd you a number that should get you in. I love those things. I got in on the tail end of the movement as a kid in Montana, our neighbors had some pretty tricked out ones with heaters and stereo, comfy seats. 80mph across the fields in style!

PIREP: I noticed yesterday that someone drove a jeep or something across their rally area in Tetonia leaving deep ruts on about a 04/22 heading.

Thanks ND, let's hope the WX cooperates. I am sick and tired of the fog also, and no new snow to boot.

Well, I called the event organizer, and was cut short in explaining what I was hoping to do. I was given 2 numbers, one an attorney and the other their insurance company, and we all got together in a conference call and after I checked with my attorney and my insurance company, I may be good to go.

Not really, about 15 seconds after initial contact I was told "great, come on over, see you there". Now that is what I like about Idaho.

I should mention that when I first rolled through Pocatello in the mid 70's, we, my wife and I, were hang glider pilots who also gave lessons. We were living full time in a Hanomag camper conversion (think Sprinter Van, real similar, to Mercedes like GMC is to Chevy). I got a job framing a new mall and she got a job as a waitress, in our time off we went looking for flying sites. We stumbled upon what turned out to be a perfect training site, and they are the hardest to find, this one had just the right slope, access, distance. etc. It was fallow farm ground, and after finding out who the farmer was I went and knocked on his door. Less then a minute later I was given permission to do whatever the hell I wanted on his property, no strings attached. I did go on to teach his son and son's wife to fly, but that was because they became friends, not because I had to. One thing lead to another and I never moved on from this area, you can't beat the locals.

I passed one of the Robson's this morning and was reminded to ask about the event. It starts at 10am next Saturday Jan 24th in Tetonia Park. I'm not sure where that is, but the town is about 20 square blocks, so it should be self evident. I'm going to go just to get my kids a ride in something that probably won't be around much longer. http://www.idcomfdn.org/gtcf/document.doc?id=699 Courierguy, I hope weather allows you to participate I've seen you come and go at a few events but I'm always too busy flying kids to introduce myself.

I got directions, it's on the road to Squirrel I was told, Hwy 32 cuts off the main highway, then something about an A-frame on the right, I'll find it or/and have fun looking! IF the wx cooperates I'll be there and I will bring them a prop, see ya there.

Squirrel is for real, you non locals, google it, Squirrel Idaho, can't make stuff like that up

Unfortunately I can't point you at the specific episode, but there was an episode of Ice Pilots where Joe got an old snow plane out of storage and managed to get it running.

In my younger days, I spent some time in my Dads two snow planes, one powered by a 100 hp Kinner radial 5, the other powered by a Ranger inverted six. That's how we got to the car, which was parked in a garage 30 miles away. No heaters, though.

They can haul ass in good snow.

MTV

My first "encounter" with a snow plane was right after the infamous January 1949 blizzard in Cheyenne. We woke up to hear kids sledding off our roof down one of the many drifts that engulfed our house. There was a drift across the front yards of our neighborhood that blocked any view of the street. But there was this loud airplane noise that zipped by--but no airplane although the skies were clear. My folks and I went out to see what everything looked like, and pretty soon we heard the airplane noise again. I remember climbing the drift, and a silver snow plane went by. I can still remember it well enough that I could sketch it.

There used to be some snow planes that ran on Lake Hattie west of Laramie back in the 70s and 80s. I don't know if they still do that--haven't been out there in the winter since then.

Cary

mtv wrote:In my younger days, I spent some time in my Dads two snow planes, one powered by a 100 hp Kinner radial 5, the other powered by a Ranger inverted six. That's how we got to the car, which was parked in a garage 30 miles away. No heaters, though.

They can haul ass in good snow.

MTV

Wow, I never thought about how they were used, i was just thinking they were just playing around with them, not using them for a practical situation, like getting to the pickup 30 miles away! I'll mention that to some these guys, MTV, this would have been around the Kilgore area? I am really looking forward to this event, as I think it will have some real cool old time restored machines there, also some newer ones no doubt. The thing to keep in mind about these bad boys, as far as I know, like a ski plane, they have NO BRAKES

We found one in a field in Montana years ago with no engine and pulled it up and down the roads with a jeep till it broke apart. All us kids got to ride on it.

There is a sort of famous wreck of a military plane in Idaho back in the forties and the S&R guys used a couple of snowplanes to get was into the backcountry and rescue some of the flight crew. They were used quite a lot in the flat country east of the mountains.

I don't remember the stopping part being a problem as much as getting going. Our neighbor's had a slide back hatch like an air coupe. He couldn't close it though until the thing started moving because the drill was to give it the onion, then stand up in the seat and jump up and down like riding a pogo stick to loosen the huge front ski. After it started moving, he'd slide in behind the wheel and slam the hatch. It was a good show for us kids in the back seat under a horse hide blanket.

courierguy wrote:

mtv wrote:In my younger days, I spent some time in my Dads two snow planes, one powered by a 100 hp Kinner radial 5, the other powered by a Ranger inverted six. That's how we got to the car, which was parked in a garage 30 miles away. No heaters, though.

They can haul ass in good snow.

MTV

Wow, I never thought about how they were used, i was just thinking they were just playing around with them, not using them for a practical situation, like getting to the pickup 30 miles away! I'll mention that to some these guys, MTV, this would have been around the Kilgore area? I am really looking forward to this event, as I think it will have some real cool old time restored machines there, also some newer ones no doubt. The thing to keep in mind about these bad boys, as far as I know, like a ski plane, they have NO BRAKES

Centennial Valley.

MTV

As luck would have it, I had a call from a well pump outfit for crane service in Driggs, right under the approach path of the airport no less. Driving up Hwy 32, (33?) I saw the turnoff that leads to where the snowplane poker run is going to beheld, after the morning static display in Tetonia. No one else would have noticed, but my attuned eyeballs picked up a odd set of tracks that lead from Tetonia, through a field, and across the bare highway, and back onto a snow covered farm field. NOT a snowmobile or even a ski plane. Had to be a snow plane, point being. I had assumed that after the static display in "town" they would be trailed the short distance (but across a somewhat busy road, that serves Grand Targhee Ski area, but maybe they just goose them across the asphalt, cool. I was concerned about following the somewhat vague directions I got to the poker run, but now I see all I've have to do is follow the tracks from Tetonia.

The work day I was there was perfect weather wise, except some dense fog down low, looks like odds are good Saturday will be fine, I'm getting jacked!

The view of the Grand from the job site.

It was a pretty good turnout. 15-20 snow planes.

That is probably some sort of Guinness record, "worlds largest gathering of snowplanes"! I was real glad to see your video ND, but hoping it didn't show blue sky! I was on high alert all day, ready to go, but it never lifted enough up here to let me even consider it, above the passes behind me, and it was that real moist freezing real bad news kind of fog. Today is the same, but when it does clear, I still have a old snowplane prop, loaded in the plane, ready to deliver to the brothers. It should be easy enough to find the place, just follow all the tracks. Once I get a go ahead to fly into someones place, it's in perpetuity, in my mind anyway

Better to be on the ground complaining then up in the air..... you know the rest.

CG- we talked about you, sounds like your invitation is still open to drop by. Just look for the red and white quonset in the field north of Tetonia. Weather sucked, haven't seen the sun for a couple days and can't keep the ice off the winshield in the car fast enough. Flying type weren't completely unrepresented though, the little guy here:


Stopped for five minutes to put his chute on: