AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2012 - 80

Stalls break straight ahead with the flaps up or down, and the wing (without vortex generators) gives plenty of aerodynamic stall warning. Ryan Aviation uses two lakes for the vast majority of its flight training. Gore Lake lies on airport property, and it looks small enough from the air to be a golf course water hazard. It’s actually 3,000 feet long and is located just short of the approach end to Runway 6. Air traffic controllers in the Flagler tower allow the Husky to operate below the usual traffic pattern for land-based airplanes. Crescent Lake, an expansive piece of water with a tree-lined island and miles of marshy, undeveloped waterfront, is about 12 miles west of the airport. Nichols demonstrated the first landing at Gore Lake, and the experience of touching down lightly on the water, slowing, then settling in was delightful. On a warm, dry Florida afternoon at a lake inhabited by ducks, egrets, and at least one osprey, the scene was completely entrancing. Once the Husky finished its transition from air to water mode, Nichols introduced idle, plow, and step taxiing; docking; and a “confined-area takeoff,” a circular, high-speed taxi that becomes a takeoff when the airplane encounters its own wake.

“We’re faster than just about any speed boat on the water,” Nichols said. “The Husky is such a fantastic floatplane, the biggest danger to pilots is overconfidence.” My turn Sitting in the water at one end of the tree-lined lake, I can say with authority that I’m not overconfident. In fact, the towering pines on the opposite shore seem terribly close. But even on a warm afternoon, our calculations tell us the airplane will need just 1,750 feet to clear 50-foot obstacles. The airplane accelerates quickly, leaps out of the water, and easily vaults over the trees. The next morning we fly to Crescent Lake for glassy water takeoffs and landings. Glassy water landings, in which pilots must land with little or no depth perception, are the most hazardous for floatplanes, and realistic conditions make the practice especially challenging. Heading southeast toward the shimmering glare of the rising sun, we set up a constant airspeed (65 mph) and shallow descent rate (150 fpm), and hold it all the way to touchdown. Glassy water takeoffs require lifting the right float off the water before the left to reduce surface friction and get the airplane airborne as quickly

as possible. Once the airplane is “on the step” at 45 mph, the ailerons have enough authority to raise the right float. With the drag reduced, the airplane quickly accelerates to 55 mph and is ready to fly. We also practice simulated engine-out landings that require steep descents to preserve enough speed to flare just above the water (“You want the lake to fill your windscreen during the descent,” Nichols said. “Anything else is too shallow.”) Each scenario is novel and fast-paced, and flying over the big lake and its natural areas hints at the possibilities for future floatplane adventures. As we pass a few feet over a vacant shoreline, schools of fish jump out of the water. An osprey hunts nearby, a late-season flock of geese makes its way south, and several bald eagle nests fill the tops of leafless trees. “You’d never know any of these things even exist when you go over in the flight levels,” Wacker said. “This kind of flying puts you right there in it.” What it costs A private or commercial seaplane rating costs $1,500 at Ryan Aviation if everything goes perfectly. That covers four hours of dual instruction in the amphibious Husky, ground training, and a one-hour checkride.

AOPA PILOT •

80 • FEBRUARY

2012

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2012

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