Landing on the frozen lake

[MCDsiena]

Does anyone ave any experience landing on the lake in their Mooney?  I did some low passes yesterday along Lake Sacandaga in upstate NY and  considered landing but ultimately did not. I've seen a few other planes on the lake over the years Champs, various Cessna, Pipers, and a few RVs but never a Mooney.  I've also seen the Alton Bay videos but I am talking about just a frozen lake not a plowed attended to runway. Right now there is little to no snow on the lakes and they are thousands of feet of smooth ice, seems like a perfect landing surface an easy access to some distant ice fishing. 

Edited January 9, 2017 by MCDsiena

[Brandontwalker]

Considered that as a ditch option, but thankfully never had to.  I would need floats for the plane to be reusable after a lake landing in central Alabama.

[neilpilot]

If you do attempt a land, be sure to move your aircraft a bit if it will sit awhile.  Otherwise your tires maybe sufficiently warm to slightly melt the ice under them and then re-freeze to the surface.  This could possibly delaying your departure until spring. 

Don't ask me how I know this.

[bonal]

Definitely a GoPro opportunity 

[1964-M20E]

Can you sure but  do you want too??  If there were several others there and you had communication with them and knew surface was OK the sure but I would suspect it would be slippery.  I don;t have any experience with lakes freezing down here maybe a ditch or a puddle.

I tell anyone who asks if I can land my Mooney on the water?  Once!!!

Would you need SES rating?

 

 

[rbridges]

what's the adjusted landing distance on ice?  I just picture you sliding until you reach Canada.  

[Candy man]

I was wondering the same thing but from the legality point. Is it legal to land on a lake?

[MCDsiena]

Here is a YouTube video of the lake in question.  Lots of planes but I haven't seen a Mooney  

 

[thinwing]

From the video it looks doable..I would not retract gear after takeoff to avoid ice /snow freezing in wheel wheel

[LANCECASPER]

Growing up in Minnesota most snow and ice on lakes in the winter is not all the smooth. I think you would tear off your gear doors. In a Cessna yes I'd do it, in a Mooney no. People took their wheels pants off of their Cessnas in the winter up North landing on runways, let alone lakes.

[XXX]

Looks like all tail wheel aircraft, made for the bush. I wouldn't do it in a Mooney. Unless it's low and slow, I'd say no-go.

[Hoeschen]

In a Mooney I would stick to plowed ice runways. I've landed on lake ice, it's similar to grass runways but harder. If it is a plowed runway make darn sure to watch the low wings on the banks. Here is a photo from Red Lake, MN this weekend. It appeared nice, but was very rough, even in a pickup. There are definitely better lake runways than this.


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[MCDsiena]

Great suggestion on the eaa chapter. I reached out and met a guy who is going to take me up for some lake landings in his Cherokee. He does it every year at the lake in the video above and at Alton bay in NH the only faa designated ice runway. 

Ive ice fished since I was a kid so spent a lot of time on the ice. Depending on the weather and how the lakes freeze they can be super smooth. This year it got cold quick and stayed that way and we've had very little snow. The lakes are smooth enough to ice skate on, and with literally miles in either direction you've got plenty of time to stop breaks or not. 

I probably won't attempt it in the Mooney with the gear doors so low. Sounds like I need two planes Mooney and a expiramental bush plane of some sort. I better start working a little harder and make some more $$$

[Yetti]

Down south something like this would be proceeded by "Here hold my beer and watch this"

 

[Hank]

1 minute ago, Yetti said:

Down south something like this would be proceeded by "Here hold my beer and watch this"

 

Down south, our lakes never freeze hard enough to land on, and rarely hard enough to walk on . . . But my 1/4 acre pond was almost half skimmed over with ice Monday morning! It was our second day in a row with lows around 20°F, far colder than normal here.

[mooneysteve]

I do it all the time, no problem at all.

[FBCK]

You also have to be careful with he use of your brakes on snow, -25c here yesterday, taxied back to my hangar which wasn't plowed yet, opened up the hangar door and went to push the plane in.  The break pad had froze to the disc, and no amount of pushing was getting it unstuck.  Had to pore some alcohol on it to get it unfrozen, thanks to my local mechanic.

[yvesg]

This is me landing on ice. Be careful not hitting the brakes too hard....

 

[BradB]

Probably worth checking this out:

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2017/01/american-legend-al3-n38lc-incident.html

[MCDsiena]

From years of ice fishing you have to know the lake and where the currents and springs are. We have over 12 inches of ice up here which is enough to drive an 18 wheeler on but that doesn't mean there isn't a spring or current pattern eating away the ice from underneath in a particular location.  I wouldn't suggest anyone not familiar with the lake to go venturing out on the ice.  With that being said if you know the lake and avoid the thin spots it can be very safe.  I've put a lot of miles on driving on the lakes, learned how to drive my father truck out on the lake when I was 12 or so.  As long as you are on known good ice you are fine.  

[peevee]

I've always wanted to do that, not in a mooney though.

I'd hate to hit a pressure ridge.

[aaronk25]

I use to race snowmobile ice oval 440 champ class and still do and would love to fly the mooney up to a race the straight ways are about 1,000 ft long and plowed and sometimes brushed too but that just seems to short to get the mooney stopped on glare ice. Could do a low approach and set the wheels down right at the start of the 1,000 ft but the consequences of a mid calculation don't seem to make sense.


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[Shadrach]

If you don't tell the airplane it's a frozen lake, it won't know.  Then it will land just like it does any where else. Braking and ride quality might be degraded a bit, but that's not a big deal.  It goes without saying that it's best suited to folks that are adept at airspeed control, but that can be said of any field.

 

Here's a 201 at Alton Bay filming form inside the cockpit.  This guy could really benefit from some editing...

[Guest]

5 hours ago, yvesg said:

This is me landing on ice. Be careful not hitting the brakes too hard....

 

Yves,

Can you fit the hockey stick through the vent window?

Clarence

[Brandontwalker]

Looks interesting.  I can't walk on ice, much less try to land on it...