snow landings

[Victor Gennaro]

Does anyone land on snow with 8:50 tires? How deep? Am I crazy?

[Hottshot]

Not crazy, it can be fun but...... I would recommend Skis..... Not worth the repair cost. It all depend on condition, fluf and powder I have played in as much as 18" but crust will put the damper on it in a nanosecond !!

[Mountain Doctor]

FWIW....

7" mains, 6" nosegear on my MXT.

I've landed in up to 2-3" powdery snow on paved runways no problem. If that's all you plan on doing should not be an issue.

[pilot]

Yes, you are crazy.

[YELLOWMAULE]

I wouldn't say crazy but I would definitely exercise extreme caution. You may be inadvertently playing a sorry game of "You bet your empenage".
The snow depth you can land in will be determined by the snow type. That being said, the Eskimos have 51 different words describing snow. You just have to ask yourself if it's worth a bad outcome. I've seen it go both ways.

[iceman]

Ask Gary Standhart over on BCP... landed his 180 with 29 11 10;s on snow not all that deep... nosed over in a nanosecond.....

[PNGpilot]

While on this topic, what about sand landings? Is it safe in the 8.50s or too risky? and do you want to do it on packed sand or fluff?

[TomD]

Way too many variables here.

I land on the beach quite often on the Washington coast. The wet sand there is hard packed and like landing on a runway while the dry sand will bury the tail wheel and may sink the 8.50's to three to four inches.

Some sands are quagmire when wet instead of packed.

Local knowledge or personal observation is probably the best bet.

A bad choice can leave you upside down in a remote location.

TD