On a perfectly clear winter day, these photos should whet your appetite for winter flying. With hydraulic wheel skis back on my Cessna 206, I flew with my instructor and friends for a few hours to try out the skis on the fresh snow on Lake Hood.

The airplane, of course, behaves very differently than it had the week before on straight wheels. Slower, heavier and with more drag, it was easy to land and taxi, but turning back was a different story. The turning radius had gone from small and efficient to huge and ponderous -- another set of new experiences for the perennial student pilot.