Landing a Taildragger on Snow

[jiott]

I appreciate the comments about fairly soft snow, but what I am really looking for is advice for slick hardpacked paved runways. I understand landing as slow as possible, 3-point and keep her pointed straight ahead with rudder as long as there is enough airspeed. What worries me is when speed has bled off and you can only depend on brakes, but braking action may be nil to none.

[Slyfox]

kitfox is a piece of cake, really. don't go fast and when you need to turn and it doesn't, hit the rudder in the direction you want to go and give it some throttle, it will turn. I prefer the kitfox over the rv in slicky snow or ice. it's not that bad, just take baby steps when you move, it is slick it will slip. but the rudder is your friend. it will seem a little odd to push the rudder, hit the brake too, and give power to turn, but it works. try not to slam on the brakes or the tires will break loose. then you slide, so just go slow. hope this helps. oh I have the nanco slicks.

[WWhunter]

Yes, what has been said about slippery and avoid your brakes. Hitting the brakes only makes it worse. Rudder is the only effective thing you have when on slick surfaces. Hopefully the winds aren't bad either.....a plane on slick/icy surface with much wind can be a recipe for disaster! The reply stating to use engine power and rudders is spot on. I no longer fly much in the winter unless on skis. I've seen too many 'opps' episodes with guys trying to land in snow cover runways or slippery ones. Almost bought a 180 that a guy landed and couldn't stop...slid into a slight bank and...everyone got a very good view of the underside of his plane.

[jiott]

Great! This is what I am looking for.

[Floog]

It's like driving a car in the snow. Not recommended unless you have to.
Seems like it's irresistible for a lot of people (me). I want to enjoy the winter flying, so I accept the challenge of the ice/snow. In a car or plane, approach it as if you have no brakes. Basically, it's inertia management. Making sure you have enough room (distance and width) to coast to a stop. Or ground loop to a stop (worse case on a smooth icy surface). Taking off and landing in snow is like having the brakes on. I imagine the amount of braking it would take to nose over on landing as the the friction produced by the snow. That's a LOT of braking in a KF in a 3 point configuration. And if you can take off in it, you can land in it. So, (if you MUST), have fun!

[Micro Mong Bldr]

How about ice? I've been wanting to try Alton Bay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1LWE4-CDXk
The model 2 has less rudder & vstab than the later ones, does that matter?

[trentp]

Just stay on the rudders, brakes will be useless since your tires will just slide but the plane won't want to pull like it does on asphault since the tires don't have much traction so ground looping isn't much of a risk in really slippery conditions. It's fairily easy, just feel it out once with a touch and go and expect to slide around a little which is a little discomforting at first. Lots of fun once you are used to it. Beware of heavy snow, even a couple inches of heavy soft snow can pull heavily on your tire, but on hardpacked snow/ice you should not have that problem.