Newsletter- Water Wings Seaplane School, Lake Martin, Alabama

On The Step by Charles Welden, CFI

Why buy a seaplane?
My interest in seaplanes started back in the early 80's when I earned my private license. I always had a fascination with the idea of combining boats and airplanes. My favorite plane at the time was the Lake Buccaneer, which was what I originally started looking for 5 or 6 years ago.

I was unable to find one that met my criteria, and when I came across a friend selling a Cessna 150 floatplane, I was originally skeptical of its capabilities. 5555F turned out to be a great performer. I also learned that insurance on a straight float airplane is a third of what an amphibian runs, and the maintenance is a lot simpler.

If I had it on wheels it would probably live in a hangar, or at least at an airport, and thus I would have those fees to contend with. The airplane costs less to buy than a new ski boat, and runs about twice what a standard 150 would cost on insurance. It burns much less gas than the average boat while cruising smoothly above the water or land at around 100mph.

There are few more satisfying feelings than walking out to your dock, getting into your own plane and taking a sunset cruise around the lake; watching a $100,000 cigarette boat losing ground beneath you comes in a close second. Owning a seaplane has been a really good experience for me and a fairly reasonable financial hit considering that it involves both aviation and boating.

Chuck's Quick Tip

Judging Wind Direction and Velocity
I was flying the Twin Comanche into ALX (Alex City, AL) the other day. The AWOS was on the fritz, and there are no other nearby airports with weather reporting. I flew over a nearby lake which gave me the exact wind direction and a decent estimation of the velocity.

Basically, the water on the windward side of the lake is glassy while the other side of the lake has increasing waves going up to the shore. Judging velocity takes a little more experience and depends on the fetch, which is the length of the lake from the windward shore to the leeward shore.

The waves increase from the windward side to the leeward side. Glassy water indicates winds less than 3 mph. Small ripples indicate 3-7mph. Medium waves without white caps indicate 7-10 mph. Some white caps indicate wind less than 15mph. Lots of white caps indicate more. All of this is for a fetch of about a mile in length.

Using bodies of water for your wind indication can be done at altitude and does not require a low pass over the airport to see a tiny windsock. In addition, the water is not likely to be affected by hangars and other airport structures as many windsocks are.

"Good Time Golf" is a tickle-your-funnybone travel show, featuring great golf destinations plus interesting and unusual attractions nearby (that would be us). This episode focused on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail here in Alabama, and includes an interview with one of the original Tuskegee Airmen.

It was an action-packed day, what with chasing down the 150 in the boat, with the camera man standing in the middle, while shooting a moving, climbing target.

Show hosts and crew included: Mike (AKA Swani) Swanigan (host GTG), George Bozlinski (host GTG), John Lovelace (director GTG and host/producer of "Wings Over Canada"), Brian Arabsky (Director of Photography), Kent Bozlinski (Production Manager).

Check out their websites from the links provided here: http://www.goodtimegolf.com/ and http://www.wingsovercanada.ca/ . "Wings Over Canada" is John's show from the perspective of a Canadian bush pilot, "about real people and real events that shape the widest expanse of Wilderness in the world," as described on the website.

Springtime Splash-in
Lake Guntersville, May 24 informal get-together and BBQ. Look for a C180, two C185s, two PA18s, two SeaBees, Husky, J-3, the WaterWings C150. Info at www.avee8tr.com www.seaplanes.org and www.republicseabee.com.

Coming next month to the website--our training guide in an easy-to-follow Powerpoint presentation. Until then, here's this month's installment: Part Three: Pre-Flight