Borrowed a friend's bushplane, filled my pockets with kit, and landed on the ice at four back-country ponds. Sure beats walking.
Visiting remote ponds
- Thread starter Oblio13
- Start date
The ice on the lake in front of our house is almost two feet thick now. Presumably it's similar at other ponds and lakes. I just stay well away from inlets and outlets. The plane is pretty light.
I would think 2 feet should do it! 
If I remember correctly the 'ice road truckers' hawl huge loads over a foot or so of ice!
- not sure I would though unless i'd fitted my truck with a 'primed' sunroof and an ejector seat ala a fastjet pilot! - them are brave guys!!
If I remember correctly the 'ice road truckers' hawl huge loads over a foot or so of ice!
- not sure I would though unless i'd fitted my truck with a 'primed' sunroof and an ejector seat ala a fastjet pilot!
- them are brave guys!!Just as with a sand bar or field, one usually makes a low, slow pass to eyeball it before attempting to land. There's always an element of risk of course, and ultimately you either accept it or go home. Around here at this time of year, sticks and logs hidden by snow are a greater worry, or crusty snow that traps the tires. We have very cold temps, good clear ice and not much snow right now, so the hazards are minimal. I keep kit in my pockets just in case - knife, fire starters, first aid, signal mirror, compass and most important of all a cell phone.
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I'm not surprised you plan for the worst I know I would!
How well is the cell phone reception coverage over there? we have dead areas here and as an island are pretty densely populated in comparison to you. I expected there were vast areas of lovely wilderness with no coverage.....
I was wondering the same i landed at newark in the ice and was a bit hairy as they use the thrusters in reverse to slow down is it simmilar for a prop plane, or have you got an anchor you throw out the window?
I like the plane Did you check the ice thickness? Or have someone check it for you? I don't think I would consider landing on it if I just assumed it would be thick enough
Did you check the ice thickness? Or have someone check it for you? I don't think I would consider landing on it if I just assumed it would be thick enough As long as there's air over the control surfaces, either from forward motion or the prop, control's not a problem, it's all aerodynamic. And stopping is easy because the prop has a variable pitch. It's a 7-foot diameter speed brake if you make it go flat. Once stopped, though, the wind blew me down the ice a couple times. Had to jump out, grab a strut, and swing the airplane around by hand to where I wanted it pointed for take-off.
The little gay fellow who took his laundry home to his mother? Yeah, that's not me.
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