Original Posted By: "John"
To Chuck G., who said it was 4 degrees F outside, and:"Hearty individuals like Shawn Wolk and Graham Hansen, call this'Pietenpol weather"!!!"Well, I can't speak for Shawn, but this old geezer never flew his Pietenpolwhen it was THAT cold! I guess the coldest was around 18 degrees F.,but that was when I was young and stupid. Now I am old and stupid, butnot nearly so tough as I used to be.On November 15, 2000 I flew my Pietenpol to commemorate the thirtiethanniversary of its first flight. The temperature was -6 degrees C (or about22 degrees F). The flight is well-documented by photographs and, if I geta scanner, I'll post a couple. This anniversary flight was made on wheels;there wasn't much snow. The very first flight was made using FederalA1500A aluminum skis similar to the ones in Shawn's photos. Since thenI have used home-made skis made from ash and currently have a set ofold Federal SC-1 aluminum skis rigged for the Pietenpol. In recent yearssnow conditions here have not been favorable for ski flying, but this winterseems to be shaping up to be better. Usually February and March are bestbecause the days get longer, the temperatures moderate, and the chancesof getting a sunny day improve. My Pietenpol is an excellent skiplane. How-ever the open cockpit is a serious limiting factor. A nice canopy for thepilotand a cover on the front pit would be great for solo ski flying. Installingacanopy in the front would be more difficult to accomplish. A HISTORICAL NOTE:75 years ago, in early January, two brave men took off from Edmonton,Alberta in an Avro Avian two-seater biplane, on wheels, to deliver diph-theria antitoxin to Fort Vermilion, about 500 miles to the north. The tem-perature on the ground was -33 degrees F when they left. It was a night-marish adventure and the round trip took several days. After landing atvarious places along the way, they literally had to be lifted from the cock-pits because they were practically "frozen stiff". This remains one of thegreatest feats in the history of bush flying. Their names: W.R."Wop" Mayand Vic Horner.(The Avro Avian they flew was a wood-and-fabric opencockpit biplane powered by an in-line 4 cylinder Cirrus engine. It was abit larger and heavier than a Pietenpol Air Camper, having a longer fuse-lage and an extra wing.)NOTE: Wop May was set up to be the 81st victim of Manfred Von Richthofen on an April day in 1918, but the "Red Baron" was shot down while chasing him at a very low altitude.Wop May became a WW I "ace" with 7 victories.Graham Hansen [Pietenpol CF-AUN is in the hangar at Camrose, Alberta, where the current temperature is now only -28 C (-21 F), and I think it will staythere for the time being!]________________________________________________________________________________