Nubbins | C-185 Frozen Lake Takeoff The day after new years day can be a great time for a ski plane party on the lake. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
| 1/02/2010 | C-185 Takeoff from frozen & snow covered Pleasant Lake |
| Gear | Nikon D300 with a AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED lens |
| Exposure | 80mm (120mm) f/4.5 1/400s 0ev 200iso |
Nikon D300 Salad | Cessna 185 on Skis Not many folks hold a lake party in the middle of the winter. However, as part of a day after New Years Day party, this Cessna 185 was giving ski plane rides on Pleasant Lake. The lake is pretty small so good piloting technique is necessary. For more information and images, go to Ski Plane Weekend | a 7 Image Story.
The Back Story To complicate matters, the mid-teen temperatures made waiting on the frozen lake for the next landing a bit chilly. The snow kicked up by the propeller and skis add to the drama. Except for the cold weather, it was a simple click. Sure, I was lucky to get some prop blur with a 1/400s shutter speed. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details….
| Event | Day after New Years Party |
| Location | Pleasant Lake, Michigan |
| Date/Time | 1/02/2010 4:23pm Local Time |
| Weather | Cloudy | 11°F | Moderate Winds |
| Method | Simple click. |
| Gear | Nikon D300 with an AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR lens |
| Exposure | 80mm (120mm) f/4.5 1/400s 0ev 200iso |
| Post |
Nikon 1 V1 Potpourri | C-185 on Skis This Cessna 185 made a nice landing on Lake Sapphire. After some coffee, a warm up, hangar flying, I was able to hitch a ride with Steve, the bush pilot owner. His C-185 wears skis in the winter, floats in the summer, and tires in between. For more information and images, go to Ski Plane Weekend | a 7 Image Story.
The Back Story The snow kicked up by the propeller and skis add to the drama. The image was captured with a simple click using shutter speed mode and selecting 1/100s to blur the propeller. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details…
| Event | Ski Plane Weekend |
| Location | Lake Sapphire, Northern Michigan |
| Date/Time | 2/08/2014 2:58pm Local Time |
| Weather | Mostly Cloudy | 18°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Simple click using shutter speed mode and selecting 1/100s to blur the propeller. |
| Gear | Nikon 1 V1 with a Nikon FT-1 Adapter and Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR lens |
| Exposure | 70mm (189mm) f/18 1/100s -0.33ev 100iso |
| Post |
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | C-185 Landing on Grass Landing on the “mains” is very important. Those “nose” wheels won’t take much abuse. A nice long lens makes this this image possible.
The Back Story This beautiful Cessna 185 on floats from Northwoods Aviation showed us how it’s done at the Memorial Day fly-in breakfast at Home Acres Airport in Lake City , Michigan.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | C-185 Snow Taxiing This C-185 snow taxiing stirs up a snow cloud making a nice background for the image.
The Back Story During ski plane weekend, several planes headed over to Lake Sapphire to get a hot drink and do some hanger flying. The Cessna 185 started taxiing before we did.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | C-185 Snow Vortices This image is all about the wing tip vortices stirring the snow on top of the ice. Air sliding off the end of the wing tips create the vortices. Normally, they are invisible, but today the blowing snow provides us picture perfect vortices.
The Back Story Not many folks hold a lake party in the middle of the winter. However, as part of a New Years party on the day after new years day, this Cessna 185 was again giving ski plane rides on Pleasant Lake.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | C-185 Landing on Lake Ice This landing view really shows off the skis. They seem bigger and wider than you might think. Notice the wing tip vortices stirring the snow on top of the ice.
The Back Story Not many folks hold a lake party in the middle of the winter. However, as part of a New Years Day party, this Cessna 185 was giving ski plane rides on Pleasant Lake. The lake is pretty small so good piloting technique is necessary. To complicate matters, the mid-teen temperatures made waiting on the frozen lake for the next landing a bit chilly.
Ski Plane Weekend | C-185 on Skis This Cessna 185 made a beautiful landing on Lake Sapphire. After some coffee, a warm up, and engaging hangar flying, I was fortunate to hitch a ride back with Steve, the pilot and owner. He had recently completed an engine overhaul himself; aren’t all bush pilot’s also A&Ps as well as CFIIs. Well, maybe not, but Steve let me fly a bit. His C-185 wears skis in the winter, floats in the summer, and tires in between. I tried to do some air-to-air photography from the copilot’s seat. Next time, I’ll use the back seat and perhaps I’ll get better shots. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Ski Plane Weekend | a 7 Image Story.
