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  • AeroSki 2800

    So I put my skis on today, and I thought I’d share them with you because they’re a good fit for the Bearhawk as well. They’re a retractable wheel penetration ski from the standpoint that you can retract the wheels manually while on the snow so that you have minimal drag for takeoff. Landing on snow, leave the wheels up. Landing on pavement, pull a couple of T-handles, and the skis spring upward, allowing the wheels to stick through the bottom. It uses a lever-bar arrangement that lets you grunt-lift the wheels up where they’re held in place by a spring latch.

    First, the 850s come off and 600s go on. They may be adjustable for larger tires, which I’ll research for next season. On the back side of the axle, an attach fitting is welded in place. On the outside, an axle insert is, well, inserted... and the outside of the ski attaches there. The insert is held in place with a bolt that goes through the axle tube behind the brakes, and is threaded into the axle insert.

    This will be my first year flying on them, and I’ll report back with details once I get started. I know that there’s a fellow in New England using retractable skis as well, but his work a bit differently. It’s cool to have options. These are quite simple for retractable skis, but differ a bit from other wheel penetration skis like the TrickAirs.

    The Maule and Bearhawk gear are very similar. If you’d like more detailed photos, I’m happy to share. Just let me know what you’d like to see.























    Last edited by Chris In Milwaukee; 11-10-2017, 05:38 PM.
    Christopher Owens
    Bearhawk 4-Place Scratch Built, Plans 991
    Bearhawk Patrol Scratch Built, Plans P313
    Germantown, Wisconsin, USA

  • #2
    Hey Chris; In a lot of the 'bush flying' videos, you see the guys touch down in the water and ski up to the bank, to land real short. I've always thought that looked a bit risky. I figure Id end up about butt deep, staring at the shore. I'd REALLY like to see a video of a Maule on skis, set down on the water and ski up to the sand bar! Wouldn't that be cool!
    Think you could work on that??

    Bill

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    • #3
      Ha! I seriously lack the adventure bone for those kinds of shenanigans! Landing on the frozen lake is about as close to water as these landing gear plan to approach!

      That said, there is a guy on YouTube who is doing exactly that in Alaska, I believe, although I think it’s a Cessna of some variety. I suspect you can find him on BCP without looking to hard.
      Christopher Owens
      Bearhawk 4-Place Scratch Built, Plans 991
      Bearhawk Patrol Scratch Built, Plans P313
      Germantown, Wisconsin, USA

      Comment


      • #4
        Chris I have a Maule M5 , I am considering the Aero Ski 2800 . What is your take on the Maule and the wheel version of the Aero Ski . ? My Citabria I used Trick Air which were OK up to about 6 or 7 inches of powder deeper than that they tended to bog down and were not very good .

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Colin McCune View Post
          Chris I have a Maule M5 , I am considering the Aero Ski 2800 . What is your take on the Maule and the wheel version of the Aero Ski . ? My Citabria I used Trick Air which were OK up to about 6 or 7 inches of powder deeper than that they tended to bog down and were not very good .
          I thought they were fine for the kind of flying I did. I never landed in any deep powder so can't really comment on that. I really only landed on compressed stuff and not-too-deep snow in the time I owned the airplane. They are fairly complex for mounting and do require some welded fittings be installed. And the rigging takes a bit of muscle to set up. But all-in-all I think a reasonable set of skis. The retraction mechanism is unique. And once the springs have sprung and the wheels are deployed, you're not able to put them back up until you're on the ground.
          Christopher Owens
          Bearhawk 4-Place Scratch Built, Plans 991
          Bearhawk Patrol Scratch Built, Plans P313
          Germantown, Wisconsin, USA

          Comment


          • Colin McCune
            Colin McCune commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks Chris I really appreciate . Happy landings bud

        • #6
          Originally posted by Bdflies View Post
          I'd REALLY like to see a video of a Maule on skis, set down on the water and ski up to the sand bar! Wouldn't that be cool!

          ►👕Buy Merchandise! My Store https://www.bigrockslongprops.com►☕ If you'd like to support my channel consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.co...


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          • #7
            Looked like he nearly didn't have enough power to pull up off the water onto the ice! But must be fun. My Maule was on straight skiis, I didn't have a tail ski, was impossible to turn much in deep snow, so planned landings where I could take off straight ahead. One time out by myself, had to turn it around, took me three hours of shoveling and shoving to get it turned 180. Totally drenched in sweat despite the 5 deg F day.

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            • kestrel
              kestrel commented
              Editing a comment
              The water was VERY shallow there. He was riding on rocks and it seemed to me to be about 1800-2000 rpm? Not so much power given the flat prop he was running and considering the steep, even if short, bank that he needed to get up.
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