They say that the instrument rating is hardest, but the seaplane is the most fun. In early may of 2011 I had the opportunity to travel up to Lino Lakes Minnesota where I spent a few days with the wonderful folks at the surf-side seaplane base (8y4). This unique piece of land and water sits just north of the twin cities, but with out much imagination you can picture these planes carrying suppliers and adventurers deep into the wilderness.
As an avid outdoorsman, and someone who has vacationed in the "North Woods" for most of my life I have often dreamed about flying a beaver in to a remote lake where I would set camp and enjoy the wilderness. After years of dreaming I was given the opportunity to pursue my seaplane rating. My very generous wife gave me the gift of allowed me to take a long weekend and dedicate it to flying airplanes that land on water.
With permission in hand I did a lot of research trying to decide where I should go for this unique training. You might be surprised to know that even though there are a lot of instructor pilots who teach these skills there are only a handful of truly reliable reputable schools to choose from. A students options generally come down to traveling to Florida, the Pacific North West, or Alaska. Looking for more options I turned to the seaplane pilots association, and the seaplane forum. These groups of active flyers turned me on to Brian and his company adventure seaplanes. After exchanging some e-mails, a few phone calls, and more than one change in plans (my fault) we set up dates and times for my training.
When the week finally arrived I was excited. I had spent the previous several weeks committing to memory the pre-course study material which included POH supplements and the FAA reference material for seaplane operations. I had intended on taking a lot of pictures, and creating a podcast of my flights, but my time at surf-side was so full and exhausting that I could not capture everything that I set out to do. I ended up capturing a few of my thoughts and feelings which are here to share with you, but they are not the full audio that I had wanted to capture.
Arriving late in the evening on thursday I met Brian and got a brief introduction to the facilities, the people, and the Cessna 180 that I would drive as I worked towards my rating. After that shore experience we put the plane in the water and got to work. In most of my flying experiences a 400 foot ceiling would leave me squarely in the hangar with nothing to do but sit around and study. fortunately for me seaplane training is refreshingly different. During this first afternoon on the water we launched, we docked, taxied, and found the step. I was shocked at how quick and fluid you need to be with a seaplane. Once you push off from the dock the plane never stops moving. You must alway be planning and working ahead because there are no breaks, and there is no stopping on the water.
The first full day of flying began bright and early the next morning. With a preflight routine that includes all the usual checks its not hard for a land pilot to have a common foundation to start with. Having spent time around aluminum canoes, and fishing boats I found the large pontoon style floats very interesting. The retractible water rudders, and associated cables all had to be understood before we could take flight.
Once on the water, and in the air I found the flying to be comfortable, but the landings gave me fits. Being a land pilot who is use to the idea of manicured lawns followed by clearly marked pavement landing points I had difficulty with the idea of coming in low and slow on a final approach that drug my heels over trees, or rocky shores. I tended to cary altitude and speed on final which floated me half way across the lake before I touched down. Brian forcefully corrected each of these errors pointing out how my land approach can get a pilot in trouble when operating in remote locations. I did my best to improve, but it came with difficulty.
Brian spent the next day pushing me through the skills needed to be a safe seaplane pilot. His teaching techniques are affective and blunt. If you make a mistake he lets you know it. He also lets you know how that mistake will impact other aspects of your flight. I was happy to receive the criticisms because I knew that they were valid corrections, and that addressing these improvements would make me a better pilot. I can only imagine how a pilot with an attitude would fare in this environment. If you go to minnesota to fly with Brian be ready to learn, and to be bushed in all aspects of your flying.
After a hard day of flying I was exhausted. I retired to the hotel and crashed. Up early the next day we set to work, and before I knew it the Examiner had arrived and it was time for my check ride. By the end of this day of flying I had demonstrated my proficiency and I had a new temporary ticket in my hands. With weather deteriorating we were not going to fly any more that day so I made the drive home to Iowa.
If you ever get the chance you should defiantly take on the challenges associated with learning to fly planes off of the water. If you have questions or comments please feel free to share.
