I was posted down to the Antarctic in the forces many years ago. We used to drain the engine oil and water from the planes and vehicles as soon as we stopped using them. When we wanted to use them we preheated the oil and water (not too hot to prevent damage) and poured it back into the motor. Starts first time. You can also buy preheaters that fit in the block that wll warm the motor. You plug them into a shore line.
We just put a pre-heater on it this annual. Usually the plane lives in my hangar in the winter time and doesn't come out until the lake is open. I was just too late to get it to the side of the lake to pull it out before the lake froze.
My Honda lawnmower does that every spring, 2 pulls max. Insert Oh brother emoji. That was fun. Please next time way less music so we can hear the music.
I don't run 100LL all the time. That aircraft has an Auto Fuel STC, so I use MOGAS a lot. There is no fuel truck service to that part of the lake, so bagging MOGAS is the easiest way.
We brought it up to our mechanic at annual. The gauge itself was reading off due to a loose connection. It’s been adjusted. Good eye!!!! Thanks for watching out for us!!
The one word answer is "drag." But to go a bit more into detail.... the floats are the wrong shape and would just plow through the snow without allowing the aircraft to get up to flying speed. Skis are flat on the bottom and create less drag, allowing the aircraft to get up to speed.
It can and has been done before in a pinch. More so with a long keel of the floats, you’d have a hell of a time trying to make tight, turns and steer in the snow. The larger service area would incur more freezing adhesion, to the snow when parked overnight.
@@jimstrieby4998 we winterized the engine. Thankfully anchorage doesn't get as cold as other parts of Alaska. Most of the time in the winter all my aircraft make it in the hangar, this one didn't because Lake Hood froze overnight unexpectedly. I'm parked in a spot on the lake that doesn't have access to get back to the hangar on a trailer, so there was no way to get it back into the hangar for the winter.
Don't show this video to any old Alaskan pilots they will just laugh at you. We see these people, instant Alaskan aircraft operators, come and go. If you want to learn how to fly that pacer well, got talk to Fishing Joe. If you don't know who he is, call the Short wing Piper club.
