AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 48

Speed is simply not valued in the seaplane
world, nor is altitude.

irst, a disclosure. Prior to takeoff
from Avon Park, Florida, on our
photo formation flight for this
article, I told lead pilot Phil Jimenez of P.J.
Aircraft that the best formation speed for
the Searey LSA Sport ($125,000) equipped
with the 100-horsepower Rotax 912 ULS
engine was 70 knots. He preferred not to
fly that slowly in his Cessna 172, and since
CEO Adam Yang of Progressive Aerodyne
had arrived with four Seareys, I opted for a
kitbuilt Searey equipped with the 115-horsepower turbocharged Rotax 914 UL; it has a
seven-mph speed advantage over the Sport.
It is identical to the Searey LSA Elite model
($144,000) with the Rotax 914 UL and a carbon fiber hull. (The Sport comes standard
with a fiberglas hull, but carbon fiber is an
option.) The Elite model was still pending
LSA approval as this was written, so you’re
getting an advance look at the more powerful LSA model. Photographer Chris Rose
rode in the Searey LSA Sport for photos of
water operations.
Despite the Elite’s larger engine, neither model is very fast, but both make up
for it in fun. Even with a turbocharged
engine, our cruise speed was 85 to 90
mph (the company promises 100 mph).
Because of time constraints, I didn’t test
the aircraft in slow flight or perform
stalls, but Helen Woods of Chesapeake
48 | AOPA PILOT April 2013

Sport Pilot, a light sport flight school and
Searey dealer on the Chesapeake Bay in
Stevensville, Maryland, said I didn’t miss
much. “It’s always in slow flight and it
won’t stall,” she joked. She is putting the
finishing touches on an FAA-approved
Searey transition training program.
It wasn’t always true that the Searey
would not stall. A check of accidents in
the AOPA Air Safety Institute accident
database over the past decade shows
seven fatal Searey accidents, and some of
them involved a stall followed by a spin—
but that was an older design. The wings
and tail were redesigned three years ago
for the Searey LSX, an Experimentalcategory kit model. That design is now
used on all models. A test pilot used all of
his tricks to force the LSX model to spin,
but got only one turn before it resumed
flying. Woods got only half a turn before
the aircraft recovered from the “spin” and
began flying again in a spiral. Stalls, she
said, are barely noticeable. Another dealer,
Jim Ratte at Valkaria Airport in Malabar,
Florida, said the wing will not drop during
a stall. It mushes straight ahead, dropping
at 1,000 feet per minute, Searey designer
Kerry Richter said.
“We’ve never had an accident because
of a structural failure in the last 20 years,”
Progressive Aerodyne CEO Yang noted.

Transition training, as is the case
for all Light Sport aircraft, is especially
important in the Searey since it has low
mass and high drag, Woods said. There
are important differences from what
pilots have experienced in other aircraft. Add lots of power and the nose
drops slightly. Retard power and the
nose comes back up. Those differences
are quite subtle, since I barely noticed
them while in formation.
Be ready for the aircraft to float a
little in ground effect—call it water
effect—before it settles. While it is a tailwheel aircraft, and requires a tailwheel
endorsement for pilots familiar only with
nosewheel aircraft, it is a particularly
gentle taildragger, Woods said. The tailwheel is steerable. “You barely notice it
is a taildragger,” she said.
Speed is simply not valued in the
seaplane world, nor is altitude. It was surprising how quickly after takeoff I could
adapt to stopping the climb before 1,000
feet, traveling slightly faster than the
traffic below, and flying with the canopy
pulled open a few inches. (Up to 90 mph
you can have the canopy halfway open.)
Waves on Lake Jackson at Sebring a day
before the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo were
less than the one-foot limit suggested in
the pilot operating handbook. It can land



AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013
Contents
President’s Position
Visual Approach
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Foundation Focus
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
History
Debonair Sweepstakes
Pilot Products
Fly-Outs
Milestones
Test Pilot
Letters
41 Ways to Save
Fun On the Water
Training the Best for the Worst
Finding Flamingos
This Bird Really Flies
Technique
Avionics
Proficiency
Efficiency
Never Again
Membership
State & Local Action
Member Products
AOPA Foundation
Pilot Resources
Fly by Wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Visual Approach
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Foundation Focus
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - History
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Debonair Sweepstakes
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Pilot Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Fly-Outs
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Milestones
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Test Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 41 Ways to Save
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Fun On the Water
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Training the Best for the Worst
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Finding Flamingos
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - This Bird Really Flies
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Technique
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Avionics
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Proficiency
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Efficiency
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Membership
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - State & Local Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Member Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - AOPA Foundation
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Pilot Resources
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Fly by Wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - Cover4
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