Waterskiing Tiger Moth

[India Four Two]

I had always assumed you needed locked brakes to do this, but apparently not:

Tiger Moth biplane waterskiing on lake - like skimming stones - YouTube

[smarthawke]

Reported elsewhere as being flown by the 'new' Mosquito test pilot.

It appears to have a tailwheel so probably has brakes fitted.

[Flyingmac]

An old friend of mine did this in the Sudan while spraying canals. He told me the first time he did it was by accident. So it's unlikely he had brakes on.

Seem to remember something about killing snails.

Into Africa - AG PILOTS - CROP SPRAYERS & AIR TRACTORS HOPKINS - YouTube

[India Four Two]

Reported elsewhere as being flown by the 'new' Mosquito test pilot


Yes, Dave Phillips. "A pilot for all seasons."

Wonderful Tiger Moth aeros, one of the test pilots for the Ardmore Mosquito and displays a Hawker Hunter. :ok:

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Can anyone say how this is done?

I was often tempted in the Chipmunk, but never did. If I had to do it, I'd do it as a nose-low 'wheeler' touch and go with high power kept on, the aeroplane trimmed nose-up, and the wheels gently applied to the water surface with forward stick (into-wind and wings dead level of course!).

I suspect there's a resistance to submerging the wheels as they plain across the surface, but too insensitive a forward push might sink them, leading to disaster!

[treadigraph]

"Wonderful Tiger Moth aeros"


Yes indeed, I think Dave would be a most welcome guest on the UK airshow scene should the opportunity arise - along with John Mohr's Stearman aeros.

[fwjc]

Same principle as these guys. It's an old video and flown by pros. Don't try this at home, boys and girls.

The runway is wet - YouTube (http://youtu.be/oYqa6DFkVzQ)

[India Four Two]

SSD,

I've read that the trick is to touch down above aquaplaning speed, which for a Chipmunk would be either 43 or 55 kts, depending on which formula you use ( 7 or 9 time the square root of the tyre pressure in psi (38 for the Chipmunk)).

It is interesting that the Tiger in the video skips along the surface, whereas the Harvards in the "Runaway is Wet" video stay in contact for quite a time.


Flyingmac,

I suspect the killing snails comment was to do with trying to eradicate bilharzia/schistosomiasis, a very nasty parasite disease.

[FlyingOfficerKite]

9 times the square root of the tyre pressure I was always taught?

[abgd]

Googling around, newer tyres have a lower aquaplaning speed hence (possibly) the different formulas.

A few thoughts - 'aquaplaning' on a thin layer of water over a hard surface will be quite different from aquaplaning on a thick layer of water and the critical speeds may be different - I wouldn't expect the same formula to apply. Lift will be split between lift from the tyres and lift from the wings, which may also lower the aquaplaning speed.

On the other hand, aquaplaning would be likely to increase the angle of incidence of the wings (wheels must be in front of COG) so you would want to be in the right part of the lift-drag curve (i.e. not going too slowly).

Just my pondering... Presumably somebody actually knows how to do it and may pitch in (figuratively).

I wonder if ditching is easier/safer in taildraggers?

[cockney steve]

I wonder if ditching is easier/safer in taildraggers? OK, I'll stick my neck out and say YES

Reasoning:- trike has mlg behind Cof G as you neared the water, you'd want to hoick the nose up to stop the front wheel ploughing in....so, you're looking to drag the tail and keep the wheels out of the drink until the wing stalls....soon as that happens, the mains touch and the drag rotates the nosewheel down , tending to cause the aircraft to polevault over and wind up on it's back.

the taildragger will have the tailwheel drag to slow it down more rapidly and it will still rotate when the mains hit, but the moment on the nose is lower and the profile is somewhat flatter, having no "shovel" of nosegear to plough it in....I'd expect to see it nose-over until the cowling slapped the surface, but the mains would brake it before it could pitchpole and the tail would slap back down.

I probably talking a total load of boilix and all bets are off with extreme stuff with a huge Radial up front, etc. A low-wing 'dragger is probably the best for waterskiing.

[Runaway Gun]

You are talking some truth there Steve; as evidenced by a recent fatal accident in China where an inexperienced airshow pilot went into the drink, attempting the same in a nosewheel aircraft.

[Ridger]

Very impressive skills but frankly it worries me that a pilot needs to do that to get their kicks. I'm all for expanding personal horizons but that seems disproportionately risky for the sake of an airshow audience, as if the game wasn't already risky enough..

[snchater]

This accident report makes interesting reading:

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Pierre%20Robin%20R2160%20Alpha%20Sport,%20G-SACK%2005-11.pdf

''allegedly'' the pilot was trying to waterski in a tricycle Robin! - he killed himself and his passenger a few months later flying into a hillside.