How do planes with floats or skis stop and turn on the ground?

Question

How do planes with floats or skis stop and turn on the ground?

Answer 1

they don't land on the ground.  ever.

Answer 2

They have wheels

Answer 3

Planes with floats don't do well on the ground unless there are wheels on the floats... In that case, there are brakes on the main wheels.  They steer using differential braking.  On the water, floatplanes have water rudders on the back of the floats, so they steer much like boats do.

I have no skiplane experience, so I'll defer that part to somebody who can give you a good answer...

Answer 4

If the skis are the type that allow landing on runways or non snow areas, the wheels extend below the skis by about three inches.  Sometimes they are along side the skis, and other times they are inside of them.

Answer 5

In a floatplane, the friction of the water slows you down very quickly, and with a wind blowing (you usually land into the wind), you'll come to a complete stop about as quickly if you were on wheels using minimal braking.

On most floatplanes (except some twins and single-pontoon types with outriggers) you have retractable water rudders that you lower once on the water, and you steer with the same rudder pedals you use for airplanes on wheels. Turning in a strong wind can be a challenge, so one must also learn to "sail" backward. You can also do high speed "step taxi" turns simply by using the rudder, but these turns are necessarily very wide.

Docking is a whole different ballgame. With a reciprocating engine, you cut the engine and drift in slowly. A typical technique is to "blip" one magneto on and off so you can maintain just enough forward momentum, but not too much, and then you completely shut down the engine a few feet to a few dozen feet out, depending on the mass of the aircraft and the conditions. You have to carefully judge your approach, taking into account wind and water currents, the presence or absence of aircraft handlers, and other aircraft parked at the dock. You try to arrive at almost zero speed so you can hop out and stop yourself by grabbing a strut and then quickly tying off to a cleat.

In a turbine equipped floatplane, it's easier. You can use reverse thrust, and "beta" to stop after landing, and can get on the water and stopped in amazingly short distances. For docking, you control your forward speed by going from zero thrust (beta) to a slight amount of forward thrust. If you misjudge and come in too fast or at a bad angle, you just add reverse thrust to stop, back up, and try it again. In a multi-engine floatplane, you can also use differential thrust for maneuvering.

There's more to it than that, but those are the basics. Going to a beach with no facilities can present all sorts of other challenges that I won't address here. I have not flown on snow skis, but I understand that friction will stop you quite fast, particularly if the snow is deep. You can do slight turns with power and the rudder, but generally the plane is turned by hand after it is stopped. If you landed on ice with a very thin covering of snow, I imagine you could go quite a long way before you came to a stop.

Answer 6

Most float planes DO have water rudders on the back of the floats to help turn the aircraft while on the water.  Some of the larger planes have reversible props, so the pilot can use reverse thrust to stop, but the little ones just have to rely on the skill of the pilot to cut the engine in time for the airplane to drift to a stop.  

Planes with skis frequently have a steerable ski fitted in place of the tail wheel, and it turns along with the rudder.  Stopping on snow using skis is strictly by friction.

Answer 7

Coffee is right so far. planes with skis usualy still have their wheels and that skis are attached to them. if they dont have wheels then they wont land on anything except snow.