Waldo M
MEMBER
Actually, I gave up for the season and put the airplane back on wheels today. I'm based in the Finger Lakes area. Maybe next year I'll try to tag along with the folks that bop around Adirondack lakes on skis in the winter.
No, don't give up. You have stock brakes so switching from skis to tires is a 15 min job. I've switched twice on the same day. Always be ready to go, I even got NY ski time on the 3rd Saturday in May a few years back. This is upstste NY, snow is possible 12 months a year.
Glenn
Actually, I gave up for the season and put the airplane back on wheels today. I'm based in the Finger Lakes area. Maybe next year I'll try to tag along with the folks that bop around Adirondack lakes on skis in the winter.
Good point, Glenn. dig out the old bottle jack and I can swap back pretty quickly.
On a side note, I do have a another set of Federal 1500s that would take longer to mount. They are a full set including tail ski that came off an L-4. Instead of bungees to keep the ski tips up, they have a small hydraulic or spring canister attached to a flange that bolts to the gear leg where the brake assembly is attached. The brake assembly would have to removed to install them. I never tried to mount them, but that system does do away with the bungees.
I have never mounted the tail ski either. It seams like that might be useful in deep powder, but the tail is light enough on a PA-11 for forward elevator input and a little power to keep the standard tailwheel from causing too much drag in the snow.
The airplane has a C90-8F on it now, but was powered by an A65-8 for 69 years until the C90 was installed in 2016. The skis I have for it were acquired in 1964, but they were old then.
Regarding the comparison to the shorter, wider Federals, I don't know because I never flew on the others. The short skis look like they cover about the same area of snow, so the "flotation" should be the same. I'm guessing that your shorter skis make the airplane more maneuverable on the ground.
BTW, what is the model number of those short federals?