wrote:

For a standard trainer type airplane does anyone (who owns one not used
for training) go out to the airport when not flying just to wipe the
snow off? Does the weight of snow and/or ice damage surfaces, etc?

I used to do this. Once we got about 9" of snow, followed by freezing rain,
which turned the top 2"+ of snow on the wings of my 150 into ice. Another storm
dumped 6" more snow on it. By the time I got to the airport, the gear was badly
splayed out, with the tires pressed nearly flat. After that, I'd be out there
with a broom as soon as I finished shoveling the walk at the house.

The 150 would always wind up on its tail as the snow built up on the horizontal
stabilizer. The tail tiedown ring was a piece of angle iron embedded in
concrete. One storm pushed that iron right through the lower rudder cap.

With the Maule, if I brushed the snow off while it was still snow, any ice would
usually melt off in the sun within a week. If I didn't do this, snowmelt would
seep down through the snow to the wing and freeze, forming an ice layer that
might take a month to go away.

Bit of advice. If you buy a tailwheel aircraft, get a tiedown that faces north.
The flight surfaces will be exposed to what little sun there is all day long.
Facing east is a good second-best. *Never* park one facing south in the winter.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.