Ice runway fly-in (central MI)

R

Roller

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Roller
Of course I’m working that day

IMG-6076.jpg


So I’ll share and just ask for some photos :)

Looks fun

MOP/206/23
43°15.90'N/84°55.55'W
16TFN683923

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Not to be confused with the Crystal Lake at 322 degrees and 103 nm from Alma (KAMN).
 
Did anybody fly/drive to the Crystal Lake ice runway? It looks like it was 500 foot ceilings across Michigan all day yesterday.
 
i was wanting to participate in the iceport 2025 in lac Mille lacs this coming up saturday. I just watched the video of the landings 2 posts above and then got me thinking i don't have a lot of clearance on my RV7 wheel pants if the snow is very deep. is there a way of finding out the runway conditions as far as snow depth and how packed the runway is before I head up that way saturday morning? thanks for any input anyone can share with me.
Jim
 
The last two days (Saturday and Sunday,) I have landed a 7AC Champ on the Iceport runway on Mille Lacs. The runway was beautiful - all hard-packed snow with a few spots of bare ice. Unfortunately, the weather warmed yesterday afternoon and it's currently 40°F+, and it looks like the rest of the week will be the same. I saw the event's promoter on the lake yesterday and he sounded optimistic about the ice conditions this weekend, but I saw a lot of pooled water on all the lakes I drove past today. I'd expect Mille Lacs to be pretty slushy due to the warm temps, but I'm sure the plow will be making passes to keep the runway somewhat groomed.

If I understand correctly, they had spread some of that snow on the runway in an attempt to increase traction in years past, as there wasn't an existing hard-pack layer. I landed the Champ on a glare ice portion of the lake yesterday and braking action was nil; trying to turn tightly while taxiing was challenging - I was furiously pumping the heel brakes trying to get some ABS-like action.

I'll update this thread if I hear any firsthand reports of the ice conditions this week.
 
ColinD said:
The last two days (Saturday and Sunday,) I have landed a 7AC Champ on the Iceport runway on Mille Lacs. The runway was beautiful - all hard-packed snow with a few spots of bare ice. Unfortunately, the weather warmed yesterday afternoon and it's currently 40°F+, and it looks like the rest of the week will be the same. I saw the event's promoter on the lake yesterday and he sounded optimistic about the ice conditions this weekend, but I saw a lot of pooled water on all the lakes I drove past today. I'd expect Mille Lacs to be pretty slushy due to the warm temps, but I'm sure the plow will be making passes to keep the runway somewhat groomed.

If I understand correctly, they had spread some of that snow on the runway in an attempt to increase traction in years past, as there wasn't an existing hard-pack layer. I landed the Champ on a glare ice portion of the lake yesterday and braking action was nil; trying to turn tightly while taxiing was challenging - I was furiously pumping the heel brakes trying to get some ABS-like action.

I'll update this thread if I hear any firsthand reports of the ice conditions this week.
Click to expand...
thank you Colin for that report! i'll look forward to hearing what you have to say. i'm 300nm south so really don't want to make the journey if the conditions won't permit a safe landing without tearing up my wheel pants. thanks again for your reply
 
You bet! I can't promise I'll fly up there again this week (it's a slog from KPEX in a 70 knot Champ,) but a few of the guys from KSTC fly up there almost every day in Skyhawks and get lunch at 'Da Boathouse' restaurant. I can probably get a condition update from them.

There may be some Iceport updates this week on the CreateLift Aviation facebook page.
 
Iceport is still on! Apparently the runway conditions are good.
 
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