There have been several items recently on Daybreak about ice skating. A particular one today about a ski plane cruising over the Connecticut River brought back memories. The video on Daybreak did not show if the plane landed on the river ice, but it might have. I’ve been there and done that.
Some years ago I photographed a feature for Upper Valley Life, a great magazine that is unfortunately no longer published, about a group of pilots who flew 1940s ski planes out of Post Mills Airport. I had four rides with two different pilots, including a fabulous first ride to Lafayette and Lincoln and then a low cruise over the ridgeline of those two mountains.
That ride was in mid-January. In early March I was invited to a skating party on the Connecticut River near the home of the pilot the article featured. During the party, three different planes took off and landed. Here are two of them.
A red parachute gave three ice skaters great rides down the frozen river.
The next day I returned for a cruise in the one plane that stayed on the river overnight. The mouth of Grant Brook in Lyme is at the bottom right in the photo below.
I remember the flight as very windy and bumpy. We had planned to visit eastern NH but decided to cut the flight short because of the wind. It was an exciting landing at Post Mills. Here is Thetford Academy as we flew past.
Over the year I have enjoyed ice skating on the Connecticut River many times, always with at least one other person and with safety gear — poles, spikes, ropes, etc.