'straight beaver' vs 'amphib beaver' which one ?

[LE8]

In terms of running the beaver commercially I have only heard great things on straight float beavers as they can carry more payload and cheaper to operate. Looking for opinions that have run both commercially.

thanks

LE8

[cdnpilot77]

The amphibs we had were about a 1000lb penalty over the straight floats if I remember correctly. This is a pretty significant cut into the payload. It all depends on your mission really.

[North Shore]

Having operated neither commercially, my inclination would be to avoid the amphib option unless you absolutely need it..more mx, more cost, and much greater f@&k-up factor for the pilots..

[iflyforpie]

None is better than the other. It depends on what your business plan/client base is.

If you've got lots of filthy rich people who want to go from a Million Air to the Middle of Nowhere... amphib is going to be the way to go. Same if docking space is prohibitively costly or a logistical nightmare at one end or the other... you build the extra cost into your cost and you make sure you don't ask too much of your aircraft or get a bigger one.

If you need the payload capacity and have fairly cheap and easy water access wherever you fly, then why truck around the extra weight, complexity, and cost of amphib gear?

[TeePeeCreeper]

The amphibs we had were about a 1000lb penalty over the straight floats if I remember correctly. This is a pretty significant cut into the payload. It all depends on your mission really.

Must have been a "typo" on your part cndpilot77. How's life at FL350 treating ya?

Only flown DHC-2's on strait floats.... With that said the C208 weight difference was 300-350 pounds between the amphibs vs. strait floats... One would assume the difference to be less with smaller floats?

All the best,
TPC

[DHC2eater]

Creeper

Checker your numbers.....

I'm going out in a 208 grand with some more letters behind it on the big Wips....It can carry 6 including pilot 1200lbs(3 hrs) fuel load and 400 lbs gear and that's it....those Amphibs just kill these aircraft...all of them...

I does do 165 kts though on floats.....

Give me a Beaver on straight floats as opposed to Amphibs no matter what it's used for....

I guess if your in YVR going to the island and only 20 min fuel required the Amphibs would work!

Eater

[1000 HP]

I've got about 400 hours on an amphib Beaver. Very nice! It can lift anything off an 11,000' runway. I once took 4500' to rotate and another 4 miles to clear the high tension lines. On water they are not nearly as good as a straight Beaver but not horrible. The holes for the wheels catch water and you better not forget to pump the wheels up all the way before attempting a water take-off. If you are running from Winnipeg to anywhere where the fishing is good, I'd get a Caravan unless your goal is time building. They are a bit slow as are all the Beavers. Best for a short hop. One thing that is really nice about the amphibs is that you can land them very, very short on the runway.

I remember the owner just about fainting once when we had to buy an electrical part for the gear system.

Basically, if you need it get it but expect a reduced payload. Take-off performance on the water is better with straight floats no doubt about it.