Skiis and such

Looking at Ursa's pics reminded me of how I used to do the spring thing. One day I was helping an older fella with his skiis. When it came time to attack the springs he produces a small block and tackle, for a 1/4" rope. He proceeds to attach one end to the spring tab and the other end to the gear leg. One arm, short pull and no effort and the spring is loaded. I also have a fitting made of tubing I attach to the rear gear leg, with worm clamps, that I use as a jack fitting for a hydraulic jack. These tips have made installing skiis a much easier and more stable process.pak

pak,

Thanks for the tips, I was kind of dreading the return to wheels if I had to tip the cub back up on its nose. It can get kinda scary if things slip, especially if you're doing it by yourself.

Jack it up without the rear cable attached. Lift the ski tip and connect the cable. Let the jack down. The ski will flatten out, pulling the spring, and when on the ground, the rear cable hooks right up.
SB

That's the way I do it too. If your jack doesn't lift the plane high enough, it will help to set the tail up on a saw horse, barrel or something first.

Tie a rope to the tail pull handle or tailwheel.

Run the rope through your tiedown or whatever.

Unhook the aft ski-check cable.

Pick up the tail and put it as high as it will go. keep walking forward if you're short. when the airplane wants to fall on its nose, Tie the tail rope. The tail rope will be holding the thing from falling over on its nose.

go to the front of the a/c and hook or unhook the bungie.

let the tail down.

Simple, and been done that way as long as anyone can remember.

Sure, you can mess around with jacks and such, but you'll have to jack pretty high to get all the tension out of that spring. Sure, a barrel will help, but why mess with all that? The only drawback to the "tail high" method is that you may leak a bit of fuel. Hey, I LIKE the smell of 100LL. Hate the smell of auto gas, and don't use it much, either.

I've done these things alone, without help, for years. The above process works fine if there's no wind to make it scary.

Dave Calkins.

PS Mark, thanks for, I think it was you, the idea of using a board between the gear legs to jack on, instead of messing with a jack that bumps into the ski or tire when trying to jack on the axle near its inboard end. This worked slick on my first try. Thank you.

I've been using the little block tackle idea for years. It's quick & safe and no lifting or straining.

When I put skis on or take them off, I usually try to do it in a hanger so I don't freeze to death, so the tie down doesn't work. And when you change from wheels to skis you have to jack up the main gear anyway, right? Just lift it a little higher, connect it, and your done.

I have used the tie down method for connecting rigging when outside. I never thought about the block and tackle, probably because it's to simple. It's handy to keep a block and tackle or come-along in the plane anyway, expecially on bigger, heavier ski planes.

Lots of ways to skin this cat, I guess you use whatever works best for the particular situation. It's nice to BS about ski flying anyway, record low snow levels this year, haven't had enough to warrent skis yet.

Okay... Am I an idiot????

We just got enough snow for me to justify putting my skis on (just yesterday). I don't have springs only bungees.

Pretty simple, stretch the bungee and attach the front cable fitting to the gear leg.

Am I an accident waiting to happen???

If you put those little bitty 1500's on, yes you are!

Just remember to take them off the plane after the accident before the Fed's and your insurance adjuster get there....

Ouch!

I'm not here to hear what I want to hear. I'm here to hear what I need to hear!

Here, here Mark!

Bungees are the least of my problem...

I stand corrected and embarrased! You don't forget anyting do ya?

I know you're trying to hep a brother out!

I guess the hint wasn't so subtle... 1500's are nice...for a ultralight...if it's a real light ultralight.... I'm just looking out for your best interests, and want to make sure you fully understand the possible cosiquences(sp) of your actions....

By the way, Atlee's springs are a big improvement over the bungee's. (I could have been really mean, and told you to call him and ask for a set of springs for your SC on 1500's.)

Skis

For the small amount of snow this year a set of child size snow boards would work. I'm thinking about switching back to wheels. Landed on some lakes the other day and the ice started giving away. Bearly made it out of there. This is late January in Alaska, 4" of snow and thin ice, go figure. Crash

Crash:
I know how you feel. We finally got 6" of new snow to go on top of our 4" powder Saturday night. I quickly put my skiis on Sunday morning to do some serious day long skiing only to run into freezing rain at +5 degrees.
(second time in one week) half an hour and I had to fly home looking out the side. Then it turned 50 deg and all the snow melted. Bummer weather. Talked to a friend in Georgia and they have been down to 18 deg
What ever happened to the old days of Snow by middle of December and Never see bare ground till April. Or was I just hallucinating back in my youth?