Sailing

Notes about sailing In very high wind, you may try sailing with the engine at idle (if you don’t make backward progress like you want, shut down) Sail with water rudders up Point your tail where you want to go (in a float plane or hull airplane) If sailing into a shoreline or dock, consider… Continue reading Sailing

Beaching, Docking, and Ramping

Beaching Beaching can be easy, you are basically just coasting in and cutting power 20-50′ from the beach depending on wind and speed to simply coast into the beach.  You may want to raise the water rudders just before approaching the shore to prevent them from dragging on the bottom.  If you are at all… Continue reading Beaching, Docking, and Ramping

Anchoring and Mooring

Anchoring If you’ve ever anchored a boat, you can likely anchor a seaplane.  Some things to think about when anchoring your plane is where to tie the anchor line to, and how much “scope” to use. The scope is the ratio between the depth of the water and rope length to the anchor (the anchor… Continue reading Anchoring and Mooring

Crosswind Landing

Crosswind Landing Notes Use the shoreline for visual cue if you are drifting.  Ensure you touch down without sideways drift.  Do not rely on the water surface to guess sideways drift. One float or one sponson in the water at a time causes noticeable yawing tendency, be ready with rudder to control direction. Transitioning from… Continue reading Crosswind Landing

Confined Area Takeoff

Maximizing your space This is a great time to make a curved takeoff.  Whether you are simply making a big arc, or step taxiing with a 90 degree turn into the wind, or any other number of creative ways to reduce the takeoff run there are a few basic rules that will always apply.  They… Continue reading Confined Area Takeoff

Glassy Water Landing

The setup Choose a LVR as low as possible to the shoreline (crossing a high LVR like a tall tree means you will use much more water) Pitch, power, and airspeed Maintain the correct pitch attitude and power setting, and your airspeed and sink rate should take care of themselves It is a good idea… Continue reading Glassy Water Landing

Glassy Water Takeoff

A few tips on glassy water takeoffs and decreasing your takeoff distance: Step taxi around the lake and rough up the surface Use aileron to help “roll” a float off the water, reducing the water drag to just one float (be ready to control your direction with rudder as you introduce the yawing tendency from… Continue reading Glassy Water Takeoff