DIY Snow Skis - Yet Another Thread

[Nodd]

Well for those living up near the top end of the planet Winter is upon us. While many spend this time hibernating in the warmth of their workshops, I decided to slap some cheap skis on my plane & venture out into the snow...



And then, just when I was starting to have fun, total buzz-kill...



I won't mention the brand name but I expect you've come across these at your local hobby shop. Did I mention they were cheap? As with most things, you get what you pay for. So I tossed em in the bin, fired up the CAD software & set about designing my own skis...

Download Plans (PDF)



I've heard Formica (used in counter tops etc) makes a pretty good ski material. Tough as nails & best of all, nice & slippy on one side...



I used a heat-gun to help form the ski-tip...



The ski's spine I made from scrap pine. I used contact cement to temporarily tack my templates to the wood...



A little time at the scroll-saw, some sanding & we have a pair of ski-boots...



Clamping while the epoxy cures...



That looks like it might work...



Happy with Mommy & Daddy ski I produced a Baby ski too...



Masking off the slippy side of the Formica in preparation for some paint...



A dusting of primer...



A coat or two of black & they're looking the part...



While this looked good on the bench, as expected when I picked her up the skis flopped around all over the place. My el-cheapo skis used a spring to hold the skis in a slight tips-up attitude. While I could have copied that system I chose to take a slightly different route...



A length of wire bridged between the forward section of the two skis attaches to a spring. This holds the tips up while in the air & also helps keep them parallel to each other...



String attached to the rear acts as a stop & maintains the tips-up attitude. Once she touches down the string goes slack allowing the skis to follow the terrain...



I slipped the string under a screw & washer so that I can easily adjust the angle of the skis...



The baby ski is a little simpler, looks like it'll work fine with just a spring...



Well there she is, ready for some fun in the snow...



No doubt there's lots of other DIY ski designs out there & this obviously is not the only way to go but I figured I'd share what I came up with.

Download Plans (PDF)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Oh yeah & before you ask, the plane is a Spacewalker by House of Balsa. Awesome park flyer & a lot of fun to build.