fitting skis in an airplane

TheGolfPilot

TheGolfPilot

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A fun amount of snow is in the Sierras for the first time in years. Can you fit skis in the plane?
172? Archer? 182? can you do it and how.
Pictures would be cool
 
DA40 with a tailcone STC.

For 2, AA5B with the rear seats folded down flat.

Modern skis are pretty short. I've seen couples do it in a post 172L (i.e. with the tailcone shelf instead of the hat shelf). I didn't get a good look, but I imagine part of the ski probably went underneath the rear seat
 
I had the same question. I heard rumors of an STC for some sort of inside-the-tail-cone protector for skis. Seems like there could be an exterior tube out there too but I've never seen one.

But if only two people in the plane, just lay the back seats flat. Skis today are much shorter (140 to 180 cm) than even 10 years ago. They'll fit that way for sure.

Anyone remember skiing on 210+ cm GS skis back in the '90s? :D
 
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My problem is they jam up in the wheel wells when the gear retracts.

Some DC-3's however have managed to successfully use them.
dc3t-on-skis-mike-denton.jpg
 
I fit a pair of 190's in a Cherokee 140 but it was just me in the plane. There is no way it would have worked with a passenger. BTW, the plane had a hat rack.
 
185, they just slide in going from the rear extended baggage to almost touching the 2nd row seats. If you have dual wing struts in a smaller plane I wouldn't have a issue doing a external load with them.
 
petrolero said:
I had the same question. I heard rumors of an STC for some sort of inside-the-tail-cone protector for skis. Seems like there could be an exterior tube out there too but I've never seen one.

But if only two people in the plane, just lay the back seats flat. Skis today are much shorter (140 to 180 cm) than even 10 years ago. They'll fit that way for sure.

Anyone remember skiing on 210+ cm GS skis back in the '90s? :D
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I used to slide on a set of Rossignol 207 GS boards back in the late 80s when I was still a kid. I was about 5'2" with monstrous skis. I grew up in a ski town, a mile from the ski area. Never tried putting skis IN an airplane, but I have tons of time flying RC airplanes ON skis. :)
 
I actually learned with Clif Taylor's GLM method of skiing, but was up to the long skinny skis for most of my skiing back in the day. I had a pair of shorter (170cm) freestyle skis.
Taking a break from skiing I was rather surprised when I returned and everybody was using the shorter shaped skis.
 
I never did get accustomed to parabolic skis, was raised using long parallel skis- yes, 210s.
Can't rent anything but these silly shorties now with aggressive sidecuts that spin me out of control.... might have to get some oldies on ebay! (I don't have to feel all oldschool either; my pal of a previous generation still uses his Telemarks)

The Viking has a nice ski tube built into the fuselage as well.
 
Bellanca Super Viking has a ski tube built in. Works great for transporting my son's hockey sticks also.

Jim
 
jimhorner said:
Bellanca Super Viking has a ski tube built in. Works great for transporting my son's hockey sticks also.

Jim
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I can fold the rear seat in the Navion. That will give me enough room for even 210's. It's amazing what I've packed into that thing.
 
Shawn said:
Solution: Start snowboarding!
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Snowboards and skis are about the same length these days. I ride a super short board to fit through the trees most of the time but even that isn't much shorter than my friends skis. You can fit em though.

This was just before new years going to Mammoth with a friend. My Mooney does not have a hat rack and it's a short body so it's probably the most limiting of 4 seaters.

1533_10208366344142112_8970991877870284557_n.jpg


I did it again a couple weeks ago without folding the seat, and with slightly longer skis. Ran em diagonally from the floor of the back seat, up the seatback to the roof of the baggage area. Tight squeeze.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I never did get accustomed to parabolic skis, was raised using long parallel skis- yes, 210s.
Can't rent anything but these silly shorties now with aggressive sidecuts that spin me out of control.... might have to get some oldies on ebay! (I don't have to feel all oldschool either; my pal of a previous generation still uses his Telemarks)

The Viking has a nice ski tube built into the fuselage as well.
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Demo a pair. Shaped skis will have you skiing like you are 20 years old again. I fought it for a number of years, but it really makes a difference. I am back skiing the bumps again at 52. You do go shorter, because they are wider and the surface area is greater for the length. I went from 200s to 191. They were actually recommending 183s. I am now on my third pair of shaped skis (mid fats). You need to give it a few runs. They are also a lot better off piste in the crud and heavy powder.
 
Started on 180's, grew to 210's, now back on 170's. Used carry in the car, then roof rack now back in the car. Much easier bringing the loaded toboggan down the hill with the short ones when I was a Patroller. :yes:

Cheers
 
Yeah, it was kind of odd choosing the shorter skis when switching to shaped, but the work well enough and they still have great straight ahead speed in addition to their superior handling. When I got my GPS watch I actually got scared when I found out I was exceeding 50MPH on longer downhill runs. I'd never really thought about it before.
 
The problem I've always run into is that weather that makes for good skiing also makes for poor flying.
 
DJTorrente said:
The problem I've always run into is that weather that makes for good skiing also makes for poor flying.
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There used to be an airport located at a ski resort. This seemed like a good idea until I found out it was closed when there was snow on the ground (in fact, some of the trails went straight across it). It was primarily there when they operate the place as a golf resort in the summer.

Actually out in Colorado, the front range (and even the mountain) runways are typically in pretty good shape during the ski season.
 
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