Question
: Can skis be attached to tricycle landing gear? Thanks, Colton
Answer : Skis can be installed on any type of landing gear configuration, from light planes with tricycle landing gear, like the Piper Tri-Pacer, to large transport category airplanes operating in the Arctic and Antarctica, such as the Lockheed C-130. Installing skis is not very difficult, but operation by the pilot certainly changes when skis are installed on an aircraft. First, there are no brakes, so taxiing must be planned carefully. You wouldn't want to slip into a structure, person or another airplane! For a tricycle landing gear equipped airplane, the pilot will need to have an even greater knowledge of the surface being taxied on, since the propeller on some airplanes with tricycle landing gear will be pretty close to the ground, or in this case, snow. Like water, running a prop in snow can rapidly erode its leading edge, causing significant damage. Still, many tricycle landing gear airplanes operate very well on snow, with plenty of prop clearance. Flying on skis is a lot of fun, as nearly every frozen lake becomes a beautiful airport.
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