Three Recommended Winter Tie Downs for Ski Planes

Black Diamond Ice Screws

For remote flying in Alaska - which includes rural airports, private strips, and landing on frozen lakes and rivers, prudent pilots create means for tying down a plane to protect it from sudden wind gusts with quick release for departure.  We use the three methods described below: for tie downs elsewhere, we stow ice screws and rope in the plane. For the tie down on the frozen lake at home, we shove boards through holes in the lake, and for easy and fast departures, we park the plane's skis on slick covered planks.

Ice screw

ICE SCREWS:
In our plane, we keep a 75 foot length of heavy duty nylon rope and three ice screws, which are really designed for ice climbing.  Made of aluminum with a steel tip to shed weight but remain strong, they weigh less than one pound each.  Ours are about 8 inches long.  We paid about $55 each.

https://blog.weighmyrack.com/black-diamond-ultralight-ice-screws/

Once he has taxied to a stop, Bryan picks three points (under the U brackets on the wings for tie downs and near the tail), hand turns the screws (easily) into the snow and ice and then lashes the plane to these anchor points with the rope.

He has done this at transient parking spots, for example, at Willow Airport (in Alaska) that lack permanent tie downs, as well as off-airport locations.

plane plugged in and tethered with ice screws

They are a cheap, light, small, and easy tool for winter safety.

NOTE:  These screws are not appropriate for mud or soil.

We received this excellent tip from long time flyers, George and Dorothea Murphy, who used ice screws over decades of Alaska bush flying.

SUBMERGED BOARDS:
A  second tie down is one we use all winter at home.  Here, Bryan uses our 8 inch diameter ice auger to cut two holes through several feet of ice on either side of  where we plan to park the plane.  Into each of the open holes, we drop a board through which a thick nylon rope has been looped and knotted.  We poke and prod the board until it pops horizontally beneath the ice.  When the ice hole freezes solid, the rope is locked in place until spring.  We thread the above surface lines through a pair of orange traffic cones set over the holes, so they are easy to find after snow storms.  We learned this useful technique from Larry Schachle.  In May, the lake ice breaks up and the boards float to the surface.  We retrieve them by kayak.

Podcast: Episode-2405- Bryan and Laura Emerson on Life in a Fly In Only Location

Please click here to listen to a recent interview of us by Jack Spirko of www.thesurvivalpodcast.com.  It focuses on what it is like to live in a fly-in-only location in remote Alaska.  Enjoy!

Want to Buy a Remote Property? Think Again or Think Ahead

We routinely hear from friends or colleagues who say that “one of these days... I too will move out to the boonies.” Are you sure that is what you want to do? Developing a remote property is challenging and perhaps that is good, because living there is too and it is not for everyone. In fact, it may appeal to one family member immensely and to another not at all. Below are seven suggestions based on our experience buying and clearing woodsy land for a cabin and various outbuildings in the middle of Alaska, 42 miles from the nearest road.  However, several of the points are also valid even for people who decide to move across the country to a condo in Boca Raton.

In general, the suggestions are to take stock of what you do and don't know about yourself (and your spouse), the land, and the people in the targeted area before you commit to move long distance to an isolated property.

16x24x2 + porches

1. SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION:
   
   a) Do not buy the property before your spouse sees it. He/She will never let you forget it.
   b) If you make the mistake #1, make sure that the property looks REALLY GOOD when you take your spouse to see it. Do not, as in our case, take your Texan wife up to Alaska in her little Land's End jacket when it is 30 below zero and windy and act all enthused about walking around the property in snow shoes. (When my father-in-law showed his wife his proud, rural purchase, the appealing log cabin was obscured by several rusted cars up on blocks and empty barrels of diesel). I promise you, your spouse will never let you forget that first impression, either.
   
   

2.  LEARN ABOUT THE LAND AND WEATHER before you build, garden or buy virtually anything.

a) If circumstances allow, visit the property in different seasons before committing AND TALK TO LOCALS. Ideally, rent a property in the vicinity first. This information absolutely will save you money, time, and regrets. Before even considering the obvious importance of seasonal variations for future buildings, gardens, landscaping, clothes, and activities  is the relevance of allergies!  If you have never lived in the region you are now contemplating, you need to find out first if you are allergic to anything there or if you will be miserable at certain times of year.  In Alaska, for example, the trees bud out so quickly (in Fairbanks, literally overnight) that the pollen count is astronomical during that period, but it is brief.  My sister's dogs are on allergy medications in Phoenix, AZ (!!!) 

Relative to more mundane building placement possibilities, are assessments of where does the sun rise and set at various times of year?   From which directions are the prevailing winds (and rain and snow)? (See websites such as www.suncalc.net).   Such data will impact your desired activities,  your placement and sizes of porches and windows, the angle of your roofs, positions of gardens, trees to keep, and many other decisions. Our location is protected by the ridge behind us, but the hunting cabin at the end of this lake had to have the roof tied down with pulleys to the ground because hurricane force winds tunneled up between the ridge and the mountains!  

Some places that are particularly beautiful have tortuous rainy seasons.  If that was the time of year you most wanted to be there, think again or ask early about adding on huge porches that can function as outdoor rooms.  Add grow lights for plants, etc. Long rainy or dark seasons can be depressing for people.  Research precipitation by month. Plan ahead.    

Favorite Remote Cabin Purchases under $50

 Favorite Purchases under $50 for our Remote Home

 

(no compensation for any of the following testimonials) 

Living far from any store means that any rural or remote property owner relies on supplies on hand.  Some of our least expensive purchases have been worth their weight in gold because we use them over and over, or in a variety of ways, or they specialize in increasing our safety or comfort in a way that no other item can do as well.

IceTrekkers.com cleats

I have purposely NOT included obviously important items, like matches or an axe, that anyone should know.   

 

 Here, I just wanted to illuminate some of the “unsung” products that we rely on to great advantage in the categories of attire, home, yard, tools, and communications devices.  Perhaps this list will be of interest to readers considering a move to a rural location, particularly in a four season locale.

 

I encourage readers to respond with their own "best"purchase lists for various eco-systems and climates.