HISTORY

Prior to winter flying, it is necessary to warm up the oil tank in the wing, and then the engine itself.

summer flying, also the pitot heating system.

Checks immediately prior to taking off are normally done, but can’t be with the skis on. The

moment you stop, the skis immediately begin

freezing to the snow. So, the moment you are in

motion, you can’t stop. The end result is that the

final checks are partly conducted back at the

hangar, and partly while in motion. Once that

photo Marek Mincberger

Above All, Avoid Freezing!

Finally, my turn came. I did my regular pre-flight walkaround, and I had a look at the fluid

levels in the wings prior to settling in into the

cockpit. This procedure always reminds me of

the Bf 109. It was similarly cramped and arranged. Especially those belts! In the Trainer and

the Bf 109, they are damn near identical. As

I settled into my seat in the back, my instructor, Adam, climbed into his. And yes, for those

who don’t know this fact, the pilot’s seat in the

Z-226 Trenér is the rear seat. The result of this

is that student has a miserable view straight

ahead. With both of us settled in, I brought the

engine to life through the manipulation of switches like on some keyboard. The engine, still

being warm, didn’t require priming, and this led

to the yell of ‘prop clear?’ from the cockpit, followed by the ‘clear!’ answer from the ground.

I engaged the starter, and the engine beautifully came to life, as I felt a rush of cold air

against my face. I quickly closed the canopy

and switched on the radio, and, as opposed to

photo Marek Mincberger

with no tentativeness. We also went over the

oft asked question regarding estimating height

under these conditions. By the time it got to be

my turn, the strip was padded down a bit from

those who were before me, and the sun was

shining, so visibility was excellent. But if the

field was smooth, it would be difficult to make

orientation estimates, and it would be better to

taxi up and down the strip prior to taking off. Similarly, if the sun is behind the clouds, you lose

the shadows, making orientation of the uniform

ground surface more difficult. It’s actually quite similar to normal skiing, and I was able to

confirm all this through further flying over the

following week.

The Church of Saint Jakub and Philip in the foreground, with Konopiste in the back.

INFO Eduard - March 2021

was done, I gave final instruction to the guys on

the ground, and they rocked the wings to “tear”

us away from the snow. This being successful,

we began moving. Safety is paramount. I didn’t

see a thing directly ahead, above the instrument panel and past the instructor. To top it off,

the skis have no brakes. So, I did the traditional

snake maneuver, just with a little added care.

Immediately, I noticed that the tailwheel works

well, so that there was as much control as there is in the summer months. Nevertheless, we

were moving over fresh, slightly frozen, powder. On ice, it likely wouldn’t be as much fun.

The alternating of rudder pedals allowed me to

see what’s in my direction of travel. I just had to

remember to not stop. After entering runway

27 under constant, if gentle, motion, I throttled

up quickly, and all 180 horses come to life.

After a short while, as always, easing up on the

stick lifted the tail off the ground. The instructor

advised easing off on this operation, as compared to summer flying, and even though this

increases resistance, the skis do lift off the

ground sooner.

Calm and Collected

The moment we reached 120 km/h, we began to

climb. At that point, the RPMs were rolled back

to 2200 and the flaps were pulled up and the

trim was set. Under these settings, there is not

much climbing going on. Later, during my solo,

I was just under 2 m/s, while under normal

conditions, the figure would be above four. In

order not to torture the engine too much, our

circuit would be flown at around 150 to 200

m. That was reached fairly soon, and so the

RPMs are pulled back again to 2000. We didn’t even get close to the maximum speed, and

maintained at some 130-140 km/h. I scanned to

my right in search of the airfield, and despite

knowing where to look for it, it took me a moment or so to zero in on it. When everything is

coated in white, things are harder to see and

navigation becomes considerably different.

A look out over the white wing with red tips

takes my mind to the boxart of the Italeri kit of

the MiG-3. The end of the daydream is brought

on by the main task at hand, the landing. This

eduard

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