And there was. Luce got his pilot’s license, then a seaplane rating, and then he bought a Lake Buccaneer to commute to New York’s Charles Evers’ seaplane base in the Bronx from Westhampton Airport near his home.

Total commute now? About 35, pleasure-filled minutes each way.

Long considered a rustic get-about airplane for pilots living in remote corners of the globe, sea planes also find every day usage in urban and suburban areas where flying from water is just more convenient than launching from a local airport.

When Queens, New York native Joe Oppedisano, whose house sits on the water between the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges, learned to fly in 1990, the closest GA airport was an hour away, too far for easy access to the sky.

“I got my seaplane rating, then bought [this] property on the water, then built a hangar on the water,” Oppedisano, a restaurant owner, says. Now he flies a Lake Renegade Seafury, which is hangared beneath his house.

Oppedisano’s home sits within the floor limit of the New York Class B, so to depart VFR, he simply taxis the airplane on the water until he’s east of the Throgs Neck bridge, and departs.

“You got two airplanes; you’ve got the best of both worlds,” he said.

A Seaplane In Your Future?
“You get addicted to seaplanes,” says Paul Furnèe, a Lake amphibious aircraft dealer in Winter Haven, Florida. “It gives you a tremendously greater sense of freedom and mobility than a land plane.”

“[A seaplane] takes people places where they wouldn’t normally go, where the average pilot won’t be able to go,” says Dianne Dempster, of Seattle, Washington, who frequently heads to the boonies with husband Bob in their Piper Super Cub on floats.

It’s hard to argue: compare the amount of water covering the earth’s surface with the area covered by runways and landing strips, and the world of land aircraft begins to look confining.

“The water landing spots do tend to have a lot more resorts to go to,” notes Joe Birkemeyer, of Richmond, Wisconsin, GM of Baumann Floats. “With a land airplane, there’s not many places you can go without calling a cab and all that rigmarole. With a float plane you just pull up to the dock and, ‘We’re here, let’s have some fun!’”

So forget everything you’ve heard about seaplanes being just for wilderness adventure and consider the utility. Given where you fly and where you want to fly, could a seaplane be in your future? Let’s give it some careful consideration.

The Most Basic Decision
A new generation of general aviation pilot – and of aircraft and equipment – is putting a modern twist on the seaplane story. Today’s aquatic aviator could be commuting to work in a seaplane, or carting the family to the weekend home

in a garden variety Cessna transformed by the installation of recently certified amphibious floats.

The seaplane industry has been developing amphibious floats for a growing list of aircraft makes and models.

In addition to C-172s, in recent years amphib floats have been certified for Maules, Aviat Huskys and Piper Super Cubs. The C-180, C-182, C-185 and C-206 also have certified amphibious floats.

One company, Aerocet, now makes composite amphib floats that minimize corrosion, particularly important if you frequent salt water destinations. Manufacturers say more new floats are on the way.
One drawback everyone hopes to address is the extra weight of amphib floats, which reduces useful loads.

In addition to floats, new seagoing air-crafts have also sparked renewed interest in water. Kit aircraft like the Sea Ray, GlaStar, Bush Hawk XP and Kit Fox are all offering airplanes on floats, often providing superior performance thanks to new powerplants and materials.

“With the advent of composites, now we’re able to do things with shapes and improve performance, because we can make any kind of a compound into an aerodynamic shape,” says Richard Silva, developer of the Seawind, a flying boat design that cruises at about 200 miles per hour and is made of composite carbon material impervious to the corrosive effects of salt water.

The Seawind began life as a Kit airplane, and is now expected to receive certification next year and begin deliveries in 2006.

“There’s quite a lot of new planes coming onto the market, and it’s an indication of the way things are going,” says Margaret Jackson, owner of the Lake Ida Beach Resort in Winter Haven, Florida, and a seaplane booster who organizes monthly “splash ins.”

“I think there will be more and more people getting into seaplane flying,” she notes.

Water Obstacles
Given the benefits, why aren’t more pilots taking to the water? The biggest problem is that seaplanes are off the radar screen of most pilots.

“Seaplanes generally aren’t something that enters the mindset of the average pilot,” observes Furnèe. That’s not surprising given the small numbers of seagoing planes and pilots. The SPA estimates there are about 5,000 seaplanes and about an equal number of active seaplane pilots. And they’re not prone to proselytize.

“Seaplane pilots aren’t out there talking about themselves because they don’t spend a lot of time in civilization,” Dempster says. “They like to get away.”

In fact, many of the old school float flyers never come near an airport, traveling from homes on lakes to equally isolated destinations. The airport, which typically brings pilots together, is not a home base for the typical sea pilot, putting him or her out of view for much of the land-based pilot community.

The rating itself, however, is pretty easy to obtain. Some 35-40 facilities around the country offer seaplane training. The SPA has a directory that lists training facilities and a wealth of other information on seaplane bases and operations.

The rating typically requires five to ten hours of instruction and about an equal number of hours of study.

Students learn how to taxi on water, takeoff and landing techniques, and most challenging of all, shore ops, the docking, ramping and mooring skills by which seaplane pilots judge each other. With no brakes and the constant push of winds and current, getting the craft where the pilot wants it can be a real accomplishment.

			Fly a seaplane? Share your flying tips with other pilots. Visit our Stuck Mic.

“In general it’s the easiest FAA rating, and the most fun by far,” says Furnèe. “There’s no written test.”

But becoming a serious seaplane pilot is more daunting. The opportunities to rent seaplanes once a pilot is rated are almost non-existent, due to restrictive insurance policies.

That almost mandates that active seaplane pilots have their own planes, a proposition that’s decidedly more expensive than owning an equivalent land aircraft.

Straight floats can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and amphibious floats can cost many thousands more. And operating and maintenance costs can be higher for seaplanes, as well.

But balance the added costs with the value of an aircraft that allows you to operate on almost any surface, and you’ve got what many consider a bargain. “When you open pilots’ eyes to what they can do with these things, they generally buy one,” says Furnèe.