The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

Hi,

I finally managed to get my 140 on skis and took some video. It was a whole bunch of fun. Now that I know they work I'm brainstorming all the lakes I can go ice fishing at. My friend with a 180hp 170b on skis keeps tempting me to go to a high elevation lake to do some back country skiing but I don't think my old bird is up to a 6000ft asl takeoff in powder. I was quite surprised at how draggy they feel on takeoff.

I did have one mishap: I pulled the plane out of the warmish hanger, taxied on dollies to the snow, taxied on skis for a couple hundred feet then stopped to collect my thoughts. Big mistake. Froze solid to to the ground. I had to run back and use my dollies to lift the ski so I could scrape the snow off the bottoms.

I'd love to see others on skis, any tips or tricks are appreciated as this is my first time on skis.

https://youtu.be/gaQRri44PV0

Very nice video!

That looks like great fun. My only experience with skis was way back in the 70's and an old timer who had a non electric 65 hp champ. We landed that in a flat with deep powder just southeast of Golden BC, so not 6000 ft but still up there and were still able to take-off again. I suppose the thing to do is gradually work your way up in altitudes to see how she performs. Enjoy!

Looks like fun! It appears that the soft snow is a lot easier on gear/gear box than landing with wheels...and, certainly, floats(?). You make it look easy and fun, in any event -- thanks for sharing! Mac

Now Marshal, that's cool! I think you've found utopia!

Watch out for those snow machine trails. They hit pretty hard when you cross them!

Steve A H

Now that's just awesome cool (or is it plane cool!)! I'm a bit jeolous, to say the least.

Very nice classy video, music and all!

After landing when taxiing to parking spot try to taxi slow, then prior to shutdown give a burst of power to move an inch or two forward. This lets your skis cool down so they don’t stick. After unloading and before you jump in give each ski tip a slight kick to make sure it’s broke free of snow or ice. Some grab a strut and rock wings instead. Once you start taxing for takeoff (especially in cold temps) try not to stop. Scraping ski bottoms sucks.

Watch undulating snow surfaces and drifts. Oversized UHMW ski bottoms help in deep snow as well. We had federal 1500 skis many years ago on our 140. Kinda looking at some Trick Air Skis in the future. Ice fishing and ski flying are one of my passions (have PA-18 on wheel/skis).

Cool video!

Thanks for the feedback folks!

I'll try those tips next time. I was also thinking a short length of rope might work for sawing the Ice off while its stuck.

Marshall

I don’t do snow myself at all.but have heard that some will carry pieces of cardboard to place under the skis to keep them from freezing in.
Don’t know how well that would work though