His letter reminded me of my own experiences with seaplanes in Alaska. A few years ago I had an opportunity to spend a few days photographing a story for our sister magazine, AOPA Pilot, on Iliamna Air Taxi--a family-owned air taxi service based in Iliamna, Alaska, about 190 miles west-southwest of Anchorage. The company was a study in contrasts, operating a new Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop between Iliamna and Anchorage, and a fleet of piston-engine aircraft to nearby destinations.
Several of those piston-powered aircraft were big, radial-engined de Havilland DHC-2 Beavers--and during the summer months, a number of them were mounted on floats instead of their conventional (meaning tailwheel, not tricycle) landing gear. And I had the tough duty of flying around in these incredible machines, picking up fishermen, distributing the mail, and delivering provisions to isolated camps. (Don't get too envious; I wasn't able to do any of the flying because it was a commercial operation.)
Alaska's beauty is almost indescribable. Wide panoramas, towering mountains, sparkling water, subtle colors. It's something to look down on a river, red with salmon swimming upstream to spawn, and be able to watch bears as they fished near the bank. Even though the de Havilland Beaver is much larger than our training airplanes, when you fly onto a lake in the Alaskan wilderness--miles from any signs of civilization, save a fishing camp and perhaps a cabin or two--and water-taxi to a dock, the expanse can make you feel very small.
Although the Forty-Ninth State is a wonderful place to experience the magic of flying on floats, you don't have to travel that far to have fun on the water--there are many schools in the lower 48 that can provide you with that education.
You may wonder why seaplane flying seems so popular, especially when so few pilots actually live on the water. For many pilots, it's the romance of flying on floats, the challenge, or the desire to do something that few people can do--often the same influences that got them into flying (see "All in the Family," p. 32). Regardless of motivations, any additional ratings that you pursue increase your aeronautical knowledge and keep you engaged in and enthusiastic about flying.
Winter is beginning to descend on much of the country, so it's a great time to think about flying seaplanes. Some excellent resources are the informative and nicely produced So You Want to Fly Seaplanes DVD from Sporty's Pilot Shop and Notes of a Seaplane Instructor, a book published by Aviation Supplies and Academics. These inexpensive resources will answer your questions. More information on learning to fly seaplanes can be found on AOPA Online or at the Seaplane Pilots Association Web site.
Your research may lead you to pursue a seaplane rating. You may want to go to Alaska and sample float flying, like Jim VanKirk did. Or you may simply learn more about an interesting type of flying as you while away a brisk winter day. None is a bad alternative.
E-mail Mike Collins, editor of AOPA Flight Training.
Related Articles
