Where have you been? What have you seen?
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474560
Once upon a time there was a little club that operated Condors, a Slingsby, and 'guest' aeroplanes such as an Auster, Tiger Moth, Stampe, Jungmann, Chipmunk, and a Cherokee 180E... There was an FW190. and a Sopwith Pup to be seen, but only flown by one person :D
I'm not sure that post EU and those horrible rules and regs (which I hope die with Brexit) I could ever do what I did in the 1980s again...
It used to be that CAA surveyors would turn up to see what was in the hangar this week :D

Oh well I moved to Vancouver and took what I had inside me to a place where they did not appreciate such things. Cessna 152/172 fine. Tailwheel? Why bother.
But places change, and due to recurring DNA a few lunatics are born into our midst to create a stir.
They buy funny aeroplanes and then look for some fool to teach them how to fly.

And so it was that on March 17th I flew with Scott for the first time in the SeaRey he'd bought from another mad Englishman who had built it.
The aeroplane had patiently waited for six years in the hangar, dismantled, waiting for some bright spark to put her back together and spin the Rotax 912S into life again... She didn't expect a student pilot!

Scott had a plan. He wanted to fly the aeroplane to his cabin on a lake for his annual holiday beginning on the 30th July... He was driven by this desire.
He achieved his PPL at the beginning of July after flying with me, and with svelte Jodi who at 27 is, I hope, going to continue the DNA of aviators (aviatrices) capable of flying classic aeroplanes and teaching in them.
After sending Scott off first solo I had to go and do an onerous thing: fly an RV9A all over Thailand, staying at luxury resorts, having breakfast with a gorgeous woman... Castle Anthrax has nothing on the Anantara.
Jodi took over and kept Scott on track to his destiny.
When I returned, there was cross country, brushing up on instrument flying (5 hours required), and then flight test prep. Scott scored very high on the flight test, and well in the written exam, and so the PPL was completed.
Everything had been done in the SeaRey except the spins; we went spinning in the Citabria.

Now to the point of this article, the seaplane rating.

The SeaRey is a flying boat, and I do not have much time in flying boats except in another SeaRey another student used for a PPL(H) to PPL(A) conversion. But who else can do this training?
I did my homework, I asked people questions, I read books, and I viewed videos.
My licence permits me to teach the 'float rating' as a Seaplane Rating.

The Seaplane Rating in Canada consists of 7 hours training and the 'test' is sending the student solo for a minimum 5 takeoffs and alightings.
The insurance company wanted 10 hours dual before solo.
Insurance companies often regulate more than aviation authorities.

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Being cautious, the first time into the water was via the ramp at Pitt Meadows, this is better for short swimmers like me.
I was also aware that if I got the attitude wrong, this aeroplane could porpoise disasterously if I tried to enter the water from the air.
Better to take gentle steps, learn the corners, where she'll bite.

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She floated, and so we had fun on the step racing up and down the river scooting around in speedboat turns. It was great fun.
Then I have control and off we went on the step avoiding the flotsum in the Fraser River and into the air. Back to Langley, back to land on a runway.

19th July
We used the ramp again, floated into the river, retracted the wheels.
Ran up onto the step, and back down to displacement, getting the idea of the touch down and wash out.
Went for 8 takeoffs and alightings in the Fraser River. This was not ideal as there were logs, and many lumps of floating wood to be avoided.

20th July
Now we begin the true Trip Report.
To avoid flotsum we flew to the Pitt River in the morning to do 5 alightings there which were all good, and so it was time for a challenge.
We climbed to 3,400 feet along the ridge and entered Widgeon Lake which is a beautiful place, and we did two alightings in there.

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Lunch was soup and sandwich at Pitt Meadows Airport.
The people who operate the Cafe are from Newfoundland and so the hospitality is much much better than the norm in Vancouver.

The afternoon journey would be to Thomas Lake which is 3,000 feet AMSL.
Would the SeaRey get in and out of this lake?
Ask questions like this and I get worried... What if?
Okay I'll do the first one, alighting downwind in my normal direction might be too risky as there would be a five knot tailwind, and so I went the other way and it was easy.

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We stayed on the step as I handed control over to Scott who took us around a fast step turn out of wind and into the air without a problem.
He repeated my approach into wind, and the step turn off the water again a second time.

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From Thomas we flew down the Stave River Valley to Stave Lake where there were some white caps = 12 -15 knots wind and rough water which is not ideal for a small lightweight flying boat.
This is a difference, I wouldn't worry so much in a larger floatplane in these conditions...
A friend with a Taylor Coot related how he had alighted when there were whitecaps, and the touchdown was rough... So rough that he sailed the aeroplane back into calmer water, this took an hour and a half, and then he could comfortably fly.
So some of the seaplane exercises that are done in a floatplane such as sailing can not be done in a very light flying boat without unacceptable risk.

Nearby Alouette Lake was okay, and so I showed Scott how I descend along the curved mountainside to alight as close to the beginning of the lake as possible...
The lake is long and so we did 6 splashes before we climbed to return to Pitt Meadows.

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25th July
The primary object this morning was to go into Fire Lake which is another high elevation lake at over 3,000 feet AMSL.

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Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot of this lake as I was too busy.
The wind was 8 - 10 knots and the water was rough, but we still managed to alight, taxy around, and then takeoff again.
You have to watch for downdrafts, and turbulence as the wind spills over the trees.

Below is the turquoise water of Glacier Lake.
This colour obscures the bottom of the lake and any rocks that may be hiding just under the surface, and so you need to be careful.
We touched down and skimmed along on the step for a while before lifting off again.

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As we flew from Glacier Lake south to Harrison Lake the groundspeed was 45 knots...
In an aeroplane that does 65 knots in the cruise you will always wonder whether you'll make it to your destination.
Harrison Lake itself was too rough for the little SeaRey so we headed over to Chehalis Lake which was a lot calmer.
I wanted to do some engine failure, dead stick approaches and alightings.
In a seaplane you should approach at a higher speed power off, and then simply fly the aeroplane level just above the water to let it settle on its own while you maintain the sweet angle.
This is especially important if the water is glassy.
We did 4 alightings into Chehalis, power off, approaching at 65KIAS with twenty degrees of flap. It was easy.
We headed to Chilliwack for lunch and petrol (Avgas) with a quick splash and go in the Harrison River on the way. It's fun flying this aeroplane.

Fed and fueled it was back to Harrison Lake where Scott wanted to visit a beauty spot in an inlet on Long Island.
You could alight into wind on a reasonable surface at the entrance to this inlet, but then the sides closed in and there were high trees at the end.
This was the only really dodgy moment in this course as we touched and went and had to escape just above the trees.
I like to keep the nose down and see the tree tops I might hit. To me, pulling the nose up, losing sight of the obstacles under the nose is frightening.
Keep them in sight and have the energy to go over them.
That's not to say you should stay low and fly into the dead leeward air and not be able to go over them either... Take the middle path in Buddhist tradition, to delay entry to the next life
So with plenty of energy I turned crosswind just over the trees.
A moment or three later and we'd have to alight, and taxy back for takeoff, and this would have been in rough water...

Further up Harrison Lake the water was absolutely calm and glassy.
I warned Scott about doing low level turns in these conditions as you will not know when the wingtip might touch the water.

It's always a surprise when you touch down in these mesmerising conditions.

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If you put your hand over the bottom left corner of this picture to hide the bow wave, could you estimate your height above the surface?

We did a couple more alightings in the rougher water further south, and a cross wind alighting on the Harrison River, and headed home with a splash in Stave Lake, two in Alouette and then three in the Fraser River by Fort Langley.
I thought about sending Scott solo, but now we were tired, best to be fresh.

26th July
Scott and I went flying after work... There was a light breeze from the west, and alighting into this would be into a setting Sun... Not very safe.
We tried a couple downwind, and it was fast... If we add the touchdown speed to the (opposite direction) river current speed, the hull speed is very fast on contact with the water. Add a passing tugboats' wake and you increase your risks exponentially. So that experiment wasn't a success, but we need to learn boundaries and how we can be safe.

The solo waited another couple of days when with a high Sun a safe first water solo could be done.
I sat in for three dual water alightings and then we landed on the runway at Fort Langley.
I climbed out, and Scott went off and did nine alightings on his own.

Seaplane rating completed, he took the aeroplane to his lakeside cabin this last weekend. He achieved his dream.

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One day you'll probably meet me stacking shelves in Tescos, but for now I am doing what I do.
mick w, cockney steve, Dave W and 3 others liked this
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By JWL
#1474566
Sounds like you're having a lot of fun Michael, and I have to say that SeaRey looks like a hoot.

I've only ever been in a seaplane once (as a passenger), how do you decide that a lake is 'too rough' to land? Just wondering what the signs / measures are.

Suggest you hold off on the Tesco application for now :)
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By JWL
#1474590
Charles Hunt wrote:
Also, I reckon I'd find lakes easier to spot than strips!


I'd second that!
By john ball
#1474723
Michael, I always like reading about your exploits and hearing the latest from you. Unfortunately those days you talk about at the beginning down at Redhill will never return in this country. I never find any of the younger generation are interested in flying and if they are the access to flying anything interesting is now so limited. So it is just the usual Blancmange Pipers and Cessna's at Biggin -- no Beagle Pups, Fourniers.
I have not been to Thailand for nearly ten years and remember Bang Phra very well, but what amazes me is the vast expansion in private flying since I was last there. I wish we had the enthusiasm for flying over here like they do in USA/Canada. From what I can see NZ looks to have a large vintage flying community.
By the way, in our hangar at Biggin G-ARUG has appeared again after more than ten years with David.
He wants to sell his beautiful Vega Gull. Enjoy your freedom regards
John
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474727
I've only ever been in a seaplane once (as a passenger), how do you decide that a lake is 'too rough' to land? Just wondering what the signs / measures are.


The first consideration is wind, you can see it on the water. If there are whitecaps then the wind is in excess of 12 knots, they get bigger as the wind reaches 15 knots. Streaks of bubbles form in line with the wind too.

Depending upon the length of your floats you want to see a minimum number of waves to support your floats.
Five in a length of float is good, more is better.
When the waves are high and few they can pitch you over and in.

In fact it is difficult to judge the number of waves per length of float without a lot of observing experience.
My consideration is that if it frightens me I'm not going there, I'll find somewhere else.
I've stayed safe because weather above all things frightens me in little aeroplanes. Yes, in my youth I've flown in IMC in a Jodel over the Jura mountains, had the carb icing, and then broken out over the Lake of Neuchatel, done many such naughty things, but now I'd rather divert. You can see weather, you can see it deteriorating, and so an early descision to land is a good one.
Likewise with the water, you see the conditions, you might even test the conditions, a touch and go perhaps, but if you don't have to go into something that you are worried about, simply don't.

I've done approaches to airstrips and to bodies of water, reading the winds, considered that yes I can get in there, but getting out will be dicey. A low approach and go around in the direction available allows you to measure the effects of wind, and turbulence on your aeroplane, flying at a higher speed to have the energy to compensate for any downdrafts that would take your aeroplane into the trees at a lower departure speed.

When we alighted on Fire Lake I estimated the wind was ten knots or so, and at the downwind end of the lake the water was quite rough.
Flying back I remarked on the 45 knot groundspeed, that meant the wind would have been a good fifteen to twenty knots above the trees at Fire Lake. It was a little bumpy.
25 knots wind in the mountains and I'm not going. I want at least 2,000 feet between me and the mountains if there are winds of 25 knots.
Glacier lake is in the valley just north of Fire Lake and it was calm.

If you had to divert in a seaplane you can find a smooth sheltered body of water most times, alight and wait it out.

Like anyone else I have my boundaries, I won't loop a Chipmunk at 500 feet, but I can roll one...
I avoid bad weather, seek good weather if it looks bad, or I land and wait it out, walk to the village, have a Pain Au Chocolat and a coffee and watch the locals in the cafe... Let the rain do its thing outside.
On the journey above we inspected many places, saw water conditions that were not good, Harrison Lake for instance was too rough in its southern parts, yet absolutely glassy where we touched down.

Did you try covering the wake with your hand in the glassy water picture?
With this covered, you could be several hundred feet up, you don't see it, but in fact you're on the surface, this has caught many a pilot out, even me!
Fortunately for me in the Wilga, I'd followed a stream bed down into Thomas Lake, and was just about to apply power when bump the floats touched the water well before I expected them to, especially as I hadn't set the aeroplane up properly yet with a trickle of power to control the sink rate. Lesson learned.
JWL liked this
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By JWL
#1474729
Thanks Michaeal, very insightful
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474733
John,

Many fond memories of G ARUG. That whole experiences was fun, she demanded a lot from her TB9 driver owners when they bought her.

Bang Phra is all but dead at the moment with two Cessnas on line. Last year they had no aeroplanes on line.

The schools are doing well in Thailand as there is a desperate shortage of pilots for the airlines. I think they are actually doing better under the military government than the did when the elected government was in power. The elected government pandered to the masses while ignoring the educated minority, and corruption and poor governing made it difficult to operate.

Pattaya Eastern is the most active recreational flying location, but it is under threat as construction tends to create obstructions limiting the useable length of the short strip. Money has been paid a few times to get perpetrators to remove wires and towers they erect on the approach paths.

Here in Canada the recreational flying scene is mostly grey haired people too, and likewise younger people are not taking to it. Many would prefer the risky business of nearly being run over by cars, buses, and lorries as they wander around looking for pokemons on their phones.

My quip about working for Tescos is valid.
I face disaster if I consider ending my days in this country, living on social welfare does not appeal to me, nor living in the lonely cancerous wooden housing mess of the suburbs of Vancouver. I sit and watch Netflix these evenings, I miss the pub, and I miss social people dropping in for tea.
My days are exciting, when the weather is good, my evenings are dead lonely, I'd like to walk in the fresh air of the Devon coast for as long as my legs can still walk.
My British pension exists, while the CPP will pay me about $70 a month.
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By JWL
#1474742
Michael, why couldn't come back to the UK and teach until you drop? Derek Davidson is in his 70th year I believe and still going strong, Pete Thorn who taught me to fly was instructing pretty much almost until he died, he did lose his class 1 towards the end but I saw him 'teaching' in a chippy at Kemble after that, don't know how he got round it.

The U.K. may not be as exciting as Thailand or Canada, it maybe more regulated, but life is a compromise and given your comments about your current situation and your twilight years, surely it could be a compromise worth making?

It beats Tesco and B &Q (the current grey haired employer of choice)!
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474748
I'll try B&Q :thumleft:

The licence is the problem.
As for regulations, the England I left had a lot fewer regulations than the Canada I came to, this country is riddled with regulation.
But when EEC became EU it seems from this vantage that the UK has gained more regulation.

My desire is to continue my romance with Thailand.
I tell people here that I live in Thailand and work here in Canada.
I've always been able to make some sort of living in England, but I have never made a living here in Canada, hence the imbalance of pension entitlement.
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By JWL
#1474780
Yes definitely as a mental picture, although a photo would be good if you have one
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474834
JWL wrote:I've only ever been in a seaplane once (as a passenger), how do you decide that a lake is 'too rough' to land? Just wondering what the signs / measures are.


The pilot flying goes as white as the caps on the water. :clown:

My first and only experience flying a floatplane was lake and river hopping with Michael in the Wilga. I have no idea about the names of the lakes, but one of the ones we were hoping to land in looked a little rough and there was some turbulence. As a first timer, I said I wasn't happy landing in that, so we went and landed in the next one. Michael said he was happy with my decision. :D
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1474839
From memory that was Widgeon Lake with the wind from the south spilling in a down draft over the mountains in the right of the picture in the article.

It would be easy enough, piece of cake, to get in, but taking off into a down draft would have been dodgy.

Good decision Paul.
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By Rob L
#1475216
MichaelP wrote:Image
If you put your hand over the bottom left corner of this picture to hide the bow wave, could you estimate your height above the surface?

No! A good point well presented. I do know how low the Sea Rey sits in the water!

MichaelP wrote:...there were logs, and many lumps of floating wood to be avoided.


The Martin Mars at Oshkosh last week apparently hit a log, which entailed it not doing its last display, and much pumping out of water, so I believe.

Great TR and photos, Michael. I'd like to do similar myself one day, perhaps in something more substantial than a Sea Rey though!
Flyin'Dutch' liked this