Definitely not the highlight of our trip, but at least all it took was a couple hours of digging and strip repair to get us going again!

I’m thinking a weekend in a recliner might be in order.

You should have filled that hole in with some salt that you had in back for ballast... I have heard that makes good hole fill.

Jim

Rich, another method to get out of a hole "next time" is to dig the ramp behind the tyre, front chock the other tyre, then by hand push and/or pull the tail on the side of the sunk wheel. The leverage arm is great and tailwheel swivels in direction and the sunk wheel will roll right out with no risk to prop.
My hole was so deep the wing tip touched.

Looks like a great adventure! It's nice when everything goes smoothly and according to plan, but there is seldom a story in an uneventful excursion.

maules.com wrote:Rich, another method to get out of a hole "next time" is to dig the ramp behind the tyre, front chock the other tyre, then by hand push and/or pull the tail on the side of the sunk wheel. The leverage arm is great and tailwheel swivels in direction and the sunk wheel will roll right out with no risk to prop.
My hole was so deep the wing tip touched.

I was going to point out that same thing.

I once "walked" a Cessna 170 30 feet out of a swampy area from of which I could not taxi using that method. We alternated a chock in front of the stationary wheel and pivoted the free wheel rearward using the tail as a lever. Took about 50 swings of the tail and the ship was back on stable ground.

Ended up here after aborting a takeoff. The surface was too soft to accelerate under the thrust of the mighty O-300

maules.com wrote:Rich, another method to get out of a hole "next time" is to dig the ramp behind the tyre, front chock the other tyre, then by hand push and/or pull the tail on the side of the sunk wheel. The leverage arm is great and tailwheel swivels in direction and the sunk wheel will roll right out with no risk to prop.

Great tip!

That reminds me of the time I got stuck in a prairie dog hole in Wyoming. We were able to dig a ramp behind the tire and push the plane out.

Haha...great vid Rich! Looks like a pack shovel needs to be added to the "keep-in-plane" list.

Zzz wrote:Haha...great vid Rich! Looks like a pack shovel needs to be added to the "keep-in-plane" list.

No question about it. I bought one two days later when I was in town returning the loaned one.

Who knows? This may be the most useful thread I’ve read all week! It made me think of a six band puzzle ring I brought home one time.

That was fun to watch...learned something.

robw56 wrote:That reminds me of the time I got stuck in a prairie dog hole in Wyoming. We were able to dig a ramp behind the tire and push the plane out.

You'd a thought that the "Virginian" would have at least given you a room for the night.