Only in Alaska....drifting an airplane

Awesome sauce. Only thing that would have been better is if it was filmed from a drone.
 
I'll have to get some clips of ops on the creek at my cabin. Landing over tall trees onto a narrow creek with an S turn. Takeoffs are all about skidding and keeping the wings level. Don't wanna snag a bank!
 
Landing on the beaches in Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks this summer including sliding. Because of the slope of the bank, and the need to steer away from the water, the plane was actually sliding a little sideways to stay on the beach. Takeoffs were the same as well.

Only difference was I was sliding on gravel, not snow.

I have landed on ice runways with 40 to 90 degree crosswinds. Landed and taxied in the crosswind correction crab using rudder and power to stay on the landing strip.
 
That was some amazing skill keeping the skid in almost a perfect circle.
 
Zeldman said:
I have landed on ice runways with 40 to 90 degree crosswinds. Landed and taxied in the crosswind correction crab using rudder and power to stay on the landing strip.
Click to expand...

Yup! I know that dance. I once did a J-turn to keep from going off the end of the runway it was so icy!

Power-sliding airplanes is a perk to winter flying in alaska.
 
What are the control inputs required to pull off a maneuver like this? (serious question)
 
Wow, a short take off too!

I think I woulda wanted to check to make sure everything was still intact before taking to the skies again.

The only thing cooler woulda been a tight "donut".
 
asicer said:
What are the control inputs required to pull off a maneuver like this? (serious question)
Click to expand...

Throttle and rudder. Pretty simple. The trick is finding smooth ice under the first snowfall. It's more about timing than skill. Once that snow bonds to the ice he wouldn't do that.
 
The camera operator was like a pylon for that plane's circles. I would have been afraid to stand there -- what if the plane somehow pointed at me?
 
Been there, done that with ultra lights on a frozen lake near here. Lots of fun! The trick is trying to keep the tires in the same track you just made. Lots of fun, but I don't have videos so it never really happened.
 
Stewartb said:
Throttle and rudder. Pretty simple. The trick is finding smooth ice under the first snowfall. It's more about timing than skill. Once that snow bonds to the ice he wouldn't do that.
Click to expand...

So do you kick in rudder to initiate the rotation then hold that input (with small corrections of course)? Or is that once you have the desired drift angle you go to neutral rudder (again with small corrections)?

Throttle, I imagine you modulate it to keep a constant speed over the ice.
 
Cool video. I'm assuming that is entirely dependent on there being smooth ice under the snow. I can't it working well any other way.
 
asicer said:
So do you kick in rudder to initiate the rotation then hold that input (with small corrections of course)? Or is that once you have the desired drift angle you go to neutral rudder (again with small corrections)?

Throttle, I imagine you modulate it to keep a constant speed over the ice.
Click to expand...

Thrust modulates speed and rudder. Centifugal force would require a balance. Once established it'll go in circles providing there's no resistance at the tire. It's very hard to do on skis with skags, I can tell you that.
 
Well now..... I like that you were able to keep the pattern well, but it certainly wasn't 1 min legs and I couldn't quite figure out the name of that waypoint for the hold. Either way, post up the approach!!
 
That is awesome! But I would never try that on purpose. I'm too paranoid!


Isn't it easier to do in a tail dragger?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top