SeaPlane landings

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Now that the dust has settled on our Africa tour and my flight school office is finished and the CAA inspection complete, I can turn my attention again to the lessons on flying a seaplane I need to finish before going to the States next month to gain my seaplane rating.

The fig. alongside demonstrates a crosswind landing which is described in the study material as follows:

Another technique used to compensate for crosswinds (preferred by many seaplane pilots) is the downwind arc method. Seaplanes need not follow a straight path during landing, and by choosing a curved path, the pilot can create a sideward force (centrifugal force) to offset the crosswind force. This is done by steering the seaplane in a downwind arc as shown in the figure. During the approach, the pilot merely plans a curved landing path and follows this path to produce sufficient centrifugal force to counter the wind force. During the landing run, the pilot can adjust the amount of centrifugal force by varying rudder pressure to increase or decrease the rate of turn.

This technique allows the pilot to compensate for a changing wind force during the water run. Interesting stuff!! It's going to be challenging. 

At this stage it looks as though I will be doing the training on Lake Havasu which is an inland lake on the Colorado River on the border of California and Arizona, not too far from Long Beach, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada and the Grand Canyon also in Arizona.