Snow Landing Gear

[carnator]

Anyone know when it was invented / adopted for aircraft?  Was it used in WW1 ?

[LongBlade]

Sorry. A quick search of the net yielded nothing of value and this is beyond my scope.

[carnator]

yeah, same, google wasn't giving me much.  looks like it was invented in the early 20's in Alaska. 

[LongBlade]

OK, I used some google-fu (Bing, actually) to find this tidbit. Reference to a New Zealander first landing on a glacier. So we know no later than 1955. I'll keep digging.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-136990034/first-ski-plane-landing.html

[LongBlade]

History of retractable ski landing gear. This may be as good as it gets.

http://www.skiplanes.co.nz/About-Us/Mt-Cook-Ski-Planes-history.asp

[carnator]

This refers to the invention in Alaska in the early 20's, but I can't find any other reference to it anywhere...

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/aero/aved/museum/aviation_firsts/southdakota.html


Clyde Ice, what a name.  "Without ever having flown or worked on a plane before in his life, he repaired the Trainer's three damaged wings and learned to fly it through experimentation and a lot of good luck."

[steve58]

May not quite qualify as landing gear, but this link mentions that a Russian flying boat (Grigorovich M-9 - 1916) was capable of landing on snow...

http://www.wwiaviation.com/flying-boats-russian.html

[carnator]

May not quite qualify as landing gear, but this link mentions that a Russian flying boat (Grigorovich M-9 - 1916) was capable of landing on snow...

http://www.wwiaviation.com/flying-boats-russian.html

Thanks, yeah, it looks like the water gear can handle snow landings.  Going to go with a Curtiss N-9H

[Staggerwing]

http://www.aviapress.com/viewonekit.htm?AMO-7273

AMO-7273 1/72 SPAD S.A.4 with ski gears WW1 Aircraft model kit
During WWI the firm SPAD has designed a double fighter of original layout. It was a usual biplane with a tractor propeller, but the gunner cabin was placed ahead of a propeller disc plane. The gunner cabin was applied to wings and landing gear by a system of racks. Such layout provided the large sector of bombardment from a machine gun. The prototype named SPAD A has made the first flight in spring of 1915. About one hundred SPAD S.A.2 distinguished by an improved design were produced. The following modification was SPAD SA4 with the engine Le Rhone 9J by power 110 h.p. More than half of them have been sold in Russia. After the invention of the synchronizer, which allowed to shoot through a propeller, milrtaires have refused to use SPAD S.A.2 and SPAD S.A.4. In Russia these airplanes were used to the end of WWI and during the civil war.

Also,

http://www.wwiaviation.com/bombers_France.html

Voisin VIII

Voisin VIII - 1916
The Voisin VIII entered service in November 1916 as a French night bomber. Gabriel and Charles Voisin designed the Voisin VIII to replace the Voisin VII. The more powerful, and more successful Voisin VIII, was also known as the Type LAP and Type LBP. This was the French army's main night bomber in 1916-1917, with over one thousand built.

The Voisin VIII flew in a wide range of environments, from the freezing Russian steppes to Mesopotamia. The Voisin VIII operated by the Imperial Russian Air Service substituted skis for the rubber wheels used by other operating nations . Equally adaptable to desert conditions, the sturdy Voisin VIII was used by the British Royal Flying Corps in the Middle East.
[Read more]

The original engine choice for the Voisin VIII was a Hispano-Suiza, however there were not sufficient quantities available for the demand, resulting in the installation of Peugeot engines. The change in powerplant forced a redesign of the Voisin VIII. The engine compartment was widened and the airframe was strengthened to accommodate the engine.

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has a beautifully restored example of a Voisin VIII on display. NASM's Voisin Type 8, serial number 4640, is the oldest surviving aircraft that was specifically designed as a bomber. When manufactured in February 1916, it was equipped as a night bomber, with internal bomb racks, cockpit lights, and provision for landing lights. Painted in the markings of French bombing squadron VB 109, it is the sole survivor of the 1,100 Type 8s produced.