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Old 11th July 2012 | 20:29
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Pilot DAR
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If you are attempting to land at anywhere near full power, regardless of the surface, if you can even get the plane into a controlled descent, you are going to bang on the tail first, then mains, regardless of the configuration.

Landing in unbroken snow is a whole different thing - be it tricycle, or taildragger, skis or wheels. If you get into deep snow, you have a better hope in the taildragger, but it is still heading to be bad. I tested a 150HP C150 taildragger skiplane into 18" of loose power snow during certification flight testing. It was not taking off from that snow, no matter what I did. I gave up, and taxiied for the plowed runway.

There are a very few pilots on Proon who know how to land on unbroken snow of unconfirmed depth, and they know who they are. If you are not one of them, just do not do it, regardless of the plane or landing gear. Nosing over either aircraft type is quite likely.

Taildraggers work better on skis, as the use of power tends to lift the tail out, otherwise it drives the nose ski in deeper.
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