Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

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Styggron
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Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

Hello everyone,

FSX doesn't have "snow field" airports to my knowledge. Just wondering where people land the Piper Cub with the Skis on to test it out.
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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Lewis - A2A »

I've flown it around the alps a bit in winter, bush style.

thanks,
Lewis
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Styggron
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

Lewis - A2A wrote:I've flown it around the alps a bit in winter, bush style.

thanks,
Lewis
So you just pick an area in any alps and hope for a flat area and land and if there isn't one......then.............. ????? But you have to take off with skiis too don't you ?
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Styggron
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

I guess no one uses skiis then.
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Nick - A2A
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Nick - A2A »

You might find the following link helpful Styggron:

http://www.simtours.net/runwaysurfaces.php

However, as far as I know, skis don't serve any function in FSX, other than a cosmetic one. In other words, if you can land on a snowy surface in a ski-equipped plane, you can also do the same in plane with 'standard' wheels. I might be wrong though. :wink:

Nick

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Styggron
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

Nick M wrote:You might find the following link helpful Styggron:

http://www.simtours.net/runwaysurfaces.php

However, as far as I know, skis don't serve any function in FSX, other than a cosmetic one. In other words, if you can land on a snowy surface in a ski-equipped plane, you can also do the same in plane with 'standard' wheels. I might be wrong though. :wink:

Nick
Are there any planes with skiis in default FSX ?

So if the skiis are not needed, then Skiis on the A2A cub are profligate bar cosmetic purpose ?
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Nick - A2A
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Nick - A2A »

Well, "profligate" is a bit of an exaggeration, unless you've got gold-plated ones fitted! :mrgreen: The default Maule comes with a ski-equipped version (in FSX-SE / Deluxe anyway).

Nick

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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by sandi »

Nick my Ski’s are gold plated. with little diamonds in the tips, and silver on the oversight, and lets not forget its cheerfully pink scheme, and purple prop, 2 blondes just gotta have it you know, but it is not all, me and Heidi really decided that , well Scot did not add an outlet for our iPads with our collection of Brad Paisley country music on it , so well, it have a power line from the engine as well, we did talk about adding a microwave, a multi kitchen machine and a Portta potty but decided that was over the top. Of course we also have not 1 but 2 GPs’s they are driven from the windmills mounted on the wings, yes it is about being as creative as 2 girls can be, and they say we blondes are stupid! haha!
Okay we did dye my hair dark, but yay, you get the picture, now you ask, how do y’all get warm coffee and waffles, believe it or not , but the guys in greenland have it.
Seriously though i really hope FSX have snow, else flying the cub from Ksfo, too copenhagen denmark won’t be much fun. Have done it once in the Storch in Flightgear , and now the turn has come too the cub.
btw the windmills are not free fantasy some guys in a cessna once have done that , I’m sure of it , but not sure why.
Now for the ski’ing question, greenland have snow, if that is all you land on the glitzier. Okay you have to reach 13000 ft, first, but I’m sure if you try hard enough you shall see the light :)

Heidi calls, she is so flighty ,, y’all know this… tc,

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Styggron
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

Nick M wrote:Well, "profligate" is a bit of an exaggeration, unless you've got gold-plated ones fitted! :mrgreen: The default Maule comes with a ski-equipped version (in FSX-SE / Deluxe anyway).

Nick
Exactly which bring me back to my point that there must be skii areas to land in else it would be profligate :)
I did find some but was interested if anyone has found non airport places to land that might be interesting.....hence the thread :)
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Oracle427
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Oracle427 »

If you have skis, you can land anywhere with snow at least a couple of feet deep. Never tried it in sim so I have no idea how it handles.

The only time I got to try this, I was landing in fresh snow and had to make 4 passes asking the runway on what is normally a grass field. Each time I came down very gently and as soon as ground contract was made I added power to keep my speed and to pack down the surface to create a firm surface for the landing.

There was a lot of resistance to forward motion and it required a fair amount of power to keep from stopping.

After the snow was satisfactorily tamped down, the landing was fairly conventional except that you can't stop moving to turn. You have to keep the power in raise the tail and give very short controlled bursts of power to come around. The skis make the airplane turn very wide and the nose of the airplane does not follow the path at all. It's somewhat like making donuts with a car in the snow.

The first time I tried to turn after landing on skis, I held the throttle in just a moment too long and the airplane went wide of the tamped down area. The skis dug into the snow and the airplane sunk in and got stuck. After a few minutes of digging with our boots in waist deep snow, we managed to dig the stuck ski out and lifted the airplane back onto the surface to try again.

The takeoff is also fairly conventional and requires one too while the airplane tail lie to prevent nosing over. Acceleration is initially.poor from the drag. The skis allow the aircraft to slip from side to side very easily when on the ground. The instructor said that the handling is much like a seaplane, but I haven't tried that yet.

One thing about landing in snow is that you can't easily tell how high you are off the ground as there is very little contrast, especially if there is cloud cover. You need to look for features with known heights such as trees and houses and then put the aircraft in a tail low attitude for ground contact and carefully control the descent rate using small throttle movements. It is weird not knowing exactly when you will touch the ground, but if done correctly, it is very gentle. With all the extra resistance of the snow, you don't eat up much runway at all.
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Nick - A2A
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Nick - A2A »

That's a very interesting post - thanks Oracle. I'd never considered the need to make multiple T&G's before the full stop landing in order to tamp down fresh snow. I'd guess the novelty of having to do that each time would wear off pretty quick! :P Was the ski-plane operation part of the float plane endorsement which I seem to recall you've got? The landing technique you describe sounds very similar to the 'glassy water' landing for float planes.

Cheers,
Nick
sandi wrote:Nick my Ski’s are gold plated. with little diamonds in the tips, and silver on the oversight [...]
Hey - that's a lot of bling for the poor little J-3 to haul around Sandi - especially on the Greenland ice sheet! :mrgreen:

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Oracle427
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Oracle427 »

You have it right Nick, it is a glassy water surface landing technique.

No sea plane rating for me, but it's on the bucket list. Unfortunately, seaplanes are not welcome in NJ. :(
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Nick - A2A
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Nick - A2A »

Okay, thanks Oracle - must have been thinking of the tailwheel endorsement. This made me wonder by the way...
Oracle427 wrote:Unfortunately, seaplanes are not welcome in NJ. :(
So I did a quick Google and found this article: N.J. a wet blanket for seaplanes.

What the... ?! :roll:

Nick

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Styggron
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by Styggron »

I love sea planes after I got Accu Feel V2
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Re: Where do people land if they want to test the skis ?

Post by BrettT »

I messed around this past winter the Cub on skis and ORBX's SAK region. There are a bunch of forest service cabins on lakes which get frozen over for winter in this scenery. It is definitely a very slippery experience. Not sure if its accurate or not....but it was fun :D

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