Seaplane Pilot

My complimentary membership of the Seaplane Pilots Association arrived in the mail today. Thanks guys - am enjoying the read of your magazine and hope to train many more seaplane pilots in South Africa through our Flight School here which is preparing documents for seaplane training through our SA Civil Aviation Authority.

I did it!

I did it! I have my United States SeaPlane Rating and USA Pilot's Licence - flying a Cessna 172 Amphibian N172MY at Lake Havasu, Arizona after completing my SeaPlane training there.

Check the video clip on their website here.

The training included learning how to take off and land the amphibian plane on land and water in glassy sea water conditions, rough water and normal water, take-offs and landings in confined spaces, taxiing, sailing the plane (backwards) on the water with the engine off, beaching, mooring and docking and working with other water users - boats, jetskis and skiers. The process involved getting my South African land-based Pilot's licence validated for use of the foreign licence in the USA, the issue of a temporary USA Private Pilot's licence, training on the water, a flight test by a USA FAA-approved Examiner and the issue of the rating which will then be added and a USA Pilot's licence issued to me.  

Durban Skyye Flight School CEO Dave was in Arizona this week - this is his Flight Test (called a Check Ride in the USA) where he passed his test with the Flight Examiner to earn his SeaPlane Rating and USA Pilot's Licence in addition to his South African licences.

The shadow of the seaplane shortly before landing at the airport. The plane has retractable wheels which enable the plane to land on land or with the floats on water.

Refuelling the plane on land is quite high as the undercarriage are floats which in water submerge to half-way down, but on land  are completely above the ground, and the wheels also protrude to enable the plane to land on a hard surface but which raises the height of the plane further off the ground.

Part of the training involved learning techniques in beaching the plane and taking off again from the beach.

Wearing a life vest when over the water is compulsory 

Dave flying the amphibian with instructor Moe 

Lake Havasu, Arizona

The amphibian SeaPlane at Lake Havasu Airport with wheels down 

After each flight you need to open the bulkhead covers and pump any water out with the bilge pump - there are 8 compartments on each float and there was water in at least 3 compartments each time that needed to be removed as the additional weight affects the balance of the seaplane and affects it's flight performance and safety. The plane is able to float with one of the floats completely damaged and FAA regulations prohibit flying if any 2 of the 16 compartments are flooded.

The seaplane pilot needs to understand boating, sailing and the handling of the 2550 lb weight-bearing characteristics of each float. Each of them are sufficient to support the seaplane which weighs 1790 lbs and has a useful load of 760 lbs. Of course everything was in US gallons, pounds and miles and in my head I was doing a few conversions.

Ready to roll for my training at 5.30am each morning. Sandles were preferable as I needed to jump in the water and manoeuvre the plane on the water after beaching. 

Todd Underwood was my FAA approved Flight Examiner and he flew in from Prescott, Arizona, to do my flight test or "check-ride" as it is called there.

This test took two hours and included an oral test, a familiarisation test with various aspects unique to seaplanes and the practical test which included 5 take-offs and landings on water in different conditions as well as a simulated engine failure and take-offs and landings in confined water spaces.

Reminiscent of the old west

Trucks are big out here

The barren landscape along the Colorado River where my training took place

The cockpit of the Cessna 172 amphibian I learned to fly for the first time. Note the landing gear switch (bottom right) which has lights to indicate it's status (blue - ready to land on water, wheels up; green - ready to land on land, wheels down, and red for transition) - it takes 45 secs for the landing gear to cycle up or down.

Most of the flying was low-flying - 150-300 ft above the rocky mountains and the lake

The island in the lake has 23 one fifth-size replica lighthouses built erected as memorials and to assist with navigation around the lake.

Lake Havasu is a favourite boating destination and holiday home spot similar to Ballito at home and thousands of holiday-makers, mostly with huge RV's come to migrate from the colder winter weather of North America

An amazing tourist attraction in Lake Havasu is the original 1863 London bridge. When a newer larger bridge was needed the bridge was sold for $2,5mil to the Mayor of Lake Havasu who had it dismantled and re-located from London to Arizona at a further cost of $2,5mil and the bridge now stands proudly and joins the mainland to the island in the lake.

Lake Havasu water recreation and restaurants around the London Bridge.

The RVs, motor homes and huge trailers abound as Americans do not camp like us, but bring everything with them in these mega-homes on wheels. The cost of this one was $65 000.

Most owners have trucks like this - much larger than ours, mostly double cabs and with double back wheels and they tow cars, boats and dune buggies - there are many trails in the rocky Arizona desert to go wild in.

United States next

This is the C172 Seaplane I will be flying in two weeks time on Lake Havasu, Arizona.

My United States FAA Private Pilot's licence will be obtained from the Flight Services District Office in Long Beach California next week as the validation of my South African foreign licence came through last night. As soon as my temporary FAA Airman's Certificate (Private Pilot Licence USA) has been issued we drive from Long Beach to Lake Havasu (about a 3 hour drive) where my training will take place. The lake is huge and it's Colorado River divides Arizona from Nevada.. Las Vegas is not too far away and we will likely stay there for one night after my seaplane course before returning to Long Beach near Los Angeles.

Lake Havasu, Arizona, also near to the Grand Canyon

Old and new travel

Here's a photo of a South African Airways / Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens plane at the old Louis Botha Airport - Durban's international airport of old. The photo probably dates back to the early 60s and represents our mode of travel in decades past. Note the three vertical stabilisers/tri-tail and rear entry stairs.

The second photo is my electronic travel (visa) approval for my visit to the States later this month for my seaplane rating at Lake Havasu, Arizona. No longer is a formal visa required, nor a visit to the Embassy, and was completed and approved online within minutes and on payment of an application fee of R150. The travel authorisation was granted under the USA's visa-waiver programme with various participating countries. That's convenience for you and the new way to travel smart.

California, here I come

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.

Seaplane Rating

Studying for my SeaPlane Rating which I am doing on San Diego harbour in April is proving mighty interesting. In addition to airspeed and groundspeed, one has water currents to contend with and you have a "waterspeed" as well. 

Waterspeed

Therefore if you are moving with the current at 5 knots you would have an airspeed and groundspeed of 5 kts and a waterspeed of 0 kts, as the plane is moving in the direction the body of water is flowing in. It is usually more preferable to take off downcurrent than upwind as a take-off against a 5 kts current would need an airspeed of 25 kts to counter the effect of drag on the floats with the current.

Taking off in a SeaPlane has 3 stages of taxiing at idle or displacement speed, ploughing, and on the step planing as in the illustration above.

Sailing the SeaPlane backwards

Integral to learning to handle the SeaPlane is learning to sail it, as much as learning to take-off and land, as the plane is mobile the second you cast off from the dock. The plane automatically weathervanes, so sailing usually means backwards as the wind and/or current carries the plane while you use your airrudders and waterrudders to steer backwards similar to reversing a car... left rudder and left aileron down causes the plane to move

backwards to the right for example.

Direction limited

Often one needs to take off in confined spaces, such as rivers or canals where the direction of take-off is limited, so crosswind take-offs are common. Similarly lakes or bays are often surrounded by trees and mountains where again the most suitable take-off direction is limited. Glassy water surfaces also present their own problems and other users of water space - swimmers, boats, kayaks, windsurfers, kite-surfers and waterskiers create obstacles (as well as potential floating obstacles.. logs, debris etc) as well as water disturbance to consider whereas land planes usually have controlled airspace and clear level runways to take off from.

All fascinating stuff. The SeaPlane course is on San Diego harbour and involves my obtaiing FAA acceptance of my foreign licence and an American licence being obtained with my SeaPlane rating at the end of the course and after an exam and a "checkride" /flight test by an FAA examiner.


Take-offs can also follow a curved path as seen in the illustration where one has to take account of centrifugal forces and wind direction for optimum take-off handling.

Sea Plane rating 2014

I have always wanted to fly a sea plane, so it's on the cards to get my SA Pilot's licence accredited in America and do a sea plane rating there. There are a couple of venues that do this - in Florida and Alaska over 2 days of flying from lake to lake, so I am working on putting together a flying holiday to the States next year instead of visiting some random cities. Will reveal more as the plans unfold and I do some more research.