Sport Pilot Talk

spooky981 · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 45

My parents own three houses, all on large bodies of water. My girlfriend's parents are retiring at a lake home in Virginia. My favorite place to travel is Ocean City, MD which is basically a long beachy island. It seems completely logical that I would get involved in an amphibious LSA.

I read recently though that maintenance on a float plane is similar to that of a boat. Whereby every single time you do an amphibious landing there is considerable maintenance involved when you get back on land. I also heard that salt water pretty much destroys anything it touches over time.

Anyone with experience in this avenue? I need some advice.

Daidalos · Joined: 12 Feb 2009 Posts: 137 Location: KHWV

I've never flown a float plane. But did consider getting the rating once.

A tiedown neighbor of mine had a Republic Seabee at KHWV. He landed mostly on lakes but occasionally salt water. He always pulled up to the FBO to rinse off the hull upon return after either fresh or salt water operations. They are high maintenance!

Also note that a mistake that would cause a hard landing in a land plane could sink one on floats.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

Daidalos wrote: They are high maintenance!

Let's see, now... if a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money, and an airplane is a hole in the sky into which you throw money, isn't it a logical syllogism to consider a floatplane as a hole in the sky into which you pour water?

spooky981 · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 45

I can handle a little spray down whenever I land at an airport. Small price to pay for the flexibility to land in a lot more places.

MiamiSeaplane · Joined: 03 Mar 2010 Posts: 1

A topic i enjoy most! :D Seaplanes & amphibs; off the bat owning a seaplane, amphib is going to involve more work, however with the right care & mind set you will be rewarded with an ability most pilots envy! Things to consider...Are you seaplane rated? How often do you anticipate flying? What type of water environment are you anticipating upon? I personally fly Lockwood Drifters **note i will post photos shortly since you'll be scratching your head "Drifter?"** Fk-9 on straight floats & a Cessna 172 on straight floats; all which have been on salt on a working basis. All of the birds come home to a fresh water lake. I spend about 2 hours alone when caring for the C172 as its a "large" bird, after washing the liberal use of corrosion X or WD40 goes a long way in keeping your bird in good working order. Notice i mentioned all aircraft on straight floats; we had a cessna U206G on edo 3500 amphib floats, the floats alone came in at 800Lbs! So goes payload when you add wheels. Maintenance will naturally increase due to the mechanical nature of anything in a watery environment. There are so many more items i can get into! :) Just post what comes to mind & i'd be more than happy to share my 16 years of exp!

Light chop & Blue skies!

Helen · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 119 Location: Maryland

That's certainly a problem with aluminum planes but modern composites can minimize the problem. We are putting a SeaRey on the line next spring and they have an excellent salt water history including full certification in Australia where they operate almost exclusively off of salt water. We have the wash pad ready and plan to scrub her down after every flight. We also can get parts domestically (made in the USA) which will keep cost and time out of service to a minimum.

Helen

Pawlander · Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Posts: 51 Location: Pawleys Island, SC

Helen wrote: We are putting a SeaRey on the line next spring

Helen, will that be the LSA version of the SeaRey? If so, can you give an idea of what would be involved for existing Sport Pilots (and higher licensed pilots exercising sport pilot privileges) who want to get checked out in it? And will you be renting it, or just using it for instruction?

Thanks,

Helen · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 119 Location: Maryland

It will be an SLSA. We will be offering add-on ratings at the light sport through commercial levels on it. At this point I do not believe that we will be able to get insurance to rent it out so the plan is to sell shares of the planes. (I know we can do up to at least quarter shares which means about $30K each which I think is reasonable in this area.) Owners will have renter like ability to use the plane. When they aren't using it, it will be leased back to the school for everyone else to train on. Lease back will address the costs and work of ownership of a salt water amphib for owners as the school will take care of it for them and the flight training will pay to hangar and maintain it.

We will be offering both basic (for the rating) and advanced courses on the plane. The advanced course will be required to check out owners.

Helen