Help! Should I fly planes without removable landing gear in the snow?

[Yusernaym]

I'm back! And I haven't flown at all since I crashed the x-29, not necessarily because of the crash, but because I didn't want to deal with the cold while also figuring out how to make time with school and work. Now, I have a break from both, and I'm planning on going out tomorrow to fly. I'll only be bringing two planes, my Night Radian and FT P40. The Radian should be fine, but the P40 has fixed, non removable landing gear. It has 5 inch wheels, which can be taken off, but that would leave it with two wires sticking out, which would be worse. As it's currently set up, this plane lands at a decent speed, which wasn't a problem on grass, but I worry about it catching the snow at that speed and flipping, which would cause damage. It doesn't have much pitch authority at the moment, and to get it to flare properly, I'd have to change the position of the elevator pushrod, which wouldn't be difficult, but I have it trimmed perfectly for the current setup. I haven't gone up to take a look at my field recently, but it's not far from my house, and we've gotten a fair amount of snow. I would imagine it's been left loose, and that will make it a challenge to land on. There is a parking lot, which is almost certainly packed down, but it's a difficult approach even ignoring the possibility of hitting a car. Anyone have advice? I'd love to go fly again, but I want to keep my planes in good shape, and I'm not willing to cut off my landing gear. Any input is appreciated.

 

[OliverW]

I'm back! And I haven't flown at all since I crashed the x-29, not necessarily because of the crash, but because I didn't want to deal with the cold while also figuring out how to make time with school and work. Now, I have a break from both, and I'm planning on going out tomorrow to fly. I'll only be bringing two planes, my Night Radian and FT P40. The Radian should be fine, but the P40 has fixed, non removable landing gear. It has 5 inch wheels, which can be taken off, but that would leave it with two wires sticking out, which would be worse. As it's currently set up, this plane lands at a decent speed, which wasn't a problem on grass, but I worry about it catching the snow at that speed and flipping, which would cause damage. It doesn't have much pitch authority at the moment, and to get it to flare properly, I'd have to change the position of the elevator pushrod, which wouldn't be difficult, but I have it trimmed perfectly for the current setup. I haven't gone up to take a look at my field recently, but it's not far from my house, and we've gotten a fair amount of snow. I would imagine it's been left loose, and that will make it a challenge to land on. There is a parking lot, which is almost certainly packed down, but it's a difficult approach even ignoring the possibility of hitting a car. Anyone have advice? I'd love to go fly again, but I want to keep my planes in good shape, and I'm not willing to cut off my landing gear. Any input is appreciated.

My tip would be to make plywood Skis to attach instead of wheels. Its very simple and effective!

 

[OliverW]

Oh, and welcome back to the forums!

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Put floats from the cub on it

 

[Yusernaym]

Oh, and welcome back to the forums!

Thanks! I'm going out tomorrow so I can get some practice before flying my friend's Bird of Time, and I figured I might as well bring the P40 while I'm at it. One solution I was considering that doesn't involve modifying the plane is to bring some tarps, pack down a decent area, and use that as a runway, but I wanted to see what other options there are. I meant to build some skis for this plane, but I never got around to it.

 

[The Hangar]

Thanks! I'm going out tomorrow so I can get some practice before flying my friend's Bird of Time, and I figured I might as well bring the P40 while I'm at it. One solution I was considering that doesn't involve modifying the plane is to bring some tarps, pack down a decent area, and use that as a runway, but I wanted to see what other options there are. I meant to build some skis for this plane, but I never got around to it.

The tarp idea would totally work. @BATTLEAXE ‘s suggestion of floats is great though - I’ve flown my simple cub off snow with goals and it works great.

 

[Merv]

If the snow has a sufficient crust, the wheals work.
In my area the winter has some of best flying sites. The park that is always too busy in the summer, is now empty, with a landing strip “parking lot” that has been snow plowed.