We had 5-6 inches of snow last Thursday followed with a mix of
rain/freezing rain on Saturday. We went to the airport on Sunday
arming with shovels, snow brushes, isopropyl alcohol sprayer etc. Right
after entering the gate, we glanced at the ramp and was alarmed to see
the other Cardinal on the ramp in a tail-down, nose-up position. A
quick survey of the tie-down area indicated that this was the same
predicament for all high-winged planes with nose wheels. The heavy
weight of the snow and ice pushed the tails down with the tailcone and
horizontal stabilators glued down to the pavement by a heavy layer of
ice. Of course, we found our poor bird in the same noseup position.
All the tools which we brought along came handy for the rescue mission.
After gingerly lifting up the heavy sheet of ice off the stabilators,
I breathed a sign of relief to see the plane got back to the
nosewheel-down position. A careful inspection of the stabilator,
tailcone and tie-down ring did not reveal any damages.
We had thought of this potential problem and had planned to put a
tire around the tail tie-down ring but the winter snuck in before we
remembered to do so. A careful survey of all tie-down planes in the
ramp revealed one unaffected high-winged plane with nose wheel. Rick
pointed out to me that this plane was pushed farther back to its
tie-down spot such that the tie-down rings were located in front of the
wings and tail. The tension of the ropes were what held the plane in
the nose-down position inspite of the snow/ice weights. Rick told me
that our intructor, Bud Struck, an experienced tailwheel pilot
originally from B.C. had told him that it was the way to tie-down the
plane during the winter! Our last flight was the one where we
experienced icing condition due to an unexpected encounter with
freezing rain. Needless to say, we were so relieved to get back to the
ground all in one piece. Ensuring proper tie-down was the last thing
in our mind!!
This was another winter operation lesson for us. Luckily it was a
cheap lesson. Except for a good 2 hours or so of careful and tedious
work of removing ice and snow off the plane and tie-down area, nothing
seemed to be damaged. Hope that the weather will clear up in the next
few days for a check-out flight. You can bet that we will spend quite
a bit of time in preflight inspection before a takeoff attempt.
Hai Longworth