Truth or legend?

[Fline@9]

Can anyone verify this?

A friend of mine said he went to get his float rating up north from some local that apparently charges next to nothing. He emails me and tells me that his first flight over water wasn't in the beaver but rather in a supercub. "Why?" I asked. His instructor said it was to accustom him with height over water during the landing. Not all that odd I thought until he told me the way they did it.

He claims the cub had no floats, just wheels and that they would set up a landing attitude and nudge the plane lower till the wheels skimmed the water. After a few succesful attempts the instructor approved and they went onto the beaver.

You bush guys should have no problem with this one. Before I email him back, is this fact or is my chain getting pulled?

[Lommer]

I can't speak to the wisdom of training hydroplaning when teaching a float rating, or for doing a float rating on a beaver for that matter, but I do know that it is possible to hydroplane a supercub on tundra tires. Theres a few videos floating around AvCanada and the web, and there's even a an aerobatic team from South Africa that performs the manouvre in Harvards with normal tires...

[Cannonballer]

I have never heard that technique used... and i dont know how smart it is to try something like that. But I have only been flying on floats for 6 years. So there could be some training technique out there i dont know about. In my opinion however just because something can be done does not always mean that it should be done. Especially in training. There are alot of bridges out there that i could fly under as well as alot of married women i could sleep with. It all boils down to a saftey issue.

My 2 cents

[adhc2]

Strange things happen in the land of the midnight sun, ask your friend if he has ever had an ice worm cocktail. Sounds like a tale, never the less anyone who teaches floats that way has no business teaching. Its doable but what is the point of teaching dangerous tricks, what is the lesson to be learned by the student. Why would some one learn in a beaver when it makes way more sense to train in a simple aircraft. Not sure what your friend is trying to do sounds like a gag to me

[Four1oh]

either someone's effin retarded, or pulling your leg... or both

[Blakey]

Can anyone verify this?

A friend of mine said he went to get his float rating up north from some local that apparently charges next to nothing. He emails me and tells me that his first flight over water wasn't in the beaver but rather in a supercub. "Why?" I asked. His instructor said it was to accustom him with height over water during the landing. Not all that odd I thought until he told me the way they did it.

He claims the cub had no floats, just wheels and that they would set up a landing attitude and nudge the plane lower till the wheels skimmed the water. After a few succesful attempts the instructor approved and they went onto the beaver.

You bush guys should have no problem with this one. Before I email him back, is this fact or is my chain getting pulled?

He's setting you up. He found a picture of this on the internet and when you call "Bullshit" he'll bet you dinner and beers that it is true and he has a picture to prove it. Take the bet and run the registration; the owner, if it's still on the registry, will quickly bust him for you. Ta da! Free pizza!

[Hedley]

People have been "waterskiiing" airplanes (with no floats) before all of you were born, in Canada, the USA and Africa.

Kirby Chambliss used to do this in his Pitts - I've got a photo around somewhere. Another airshow pilot I know does it in his C140 - he showed me the video. And of course, there are the South African T-6's, who do it in formation ... click on:

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/writing/2 ... g_aer.html

If you've ever seen a guy barefoot waterski, you get the idea.

P.S. You don't need tundra tires.

[YYC the place to be]

It is not hard i guess. This is what I have heard from a spray pilot. Cessna ag truck, trim it just a little nose forward. Slowly get down to the water. Then once the plane is on the water you can pretty much let go of the controls and it will just sit there skimming across the water.

[phillyfan]

I'm scared enough checking guys out on floats that they are going to dig a float and send me swimming for the surface. I can't imagine how scared shitless I would be using that method.

[Siddley Hawker]

Ask the guy if the instructor, in the interest of a well-rounded education, swaps the wheels for floats and then lands the Cub on the grass as an encore.

[Hoov]

sweet, im gonna give that a try!

[overrun]

Actually, I have seen a float pilot from green airways land a float plane on snow packed gravel in Selkirk to have the floats changed over to wheels for the winter. Not done all the time but I also have an old book on how to fly floats which mentions wet grass can be used for take-off and landing.

[Fline@9]

Lommer.... You were right. I guess my buddy was telling the truth after all. Not a whole lot of room for error though. I guess there are still some "really" old school guys out there practising this. See video link below...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLWNU9iqCMs

[invertedattitude]

Thats the aerobatic team that was already mentioned. The margin of error is next to nothing there, a few more inches into the water and PLOOF

[Fline@9]

Yep, thats evident. But you know something? I'll bet performances like that had to have come from grass roots flyers from days gone by. I dropped my buddy a line with a link to the video. As for margin of error I think thats a moot point because to me much of what we do as pilots rides a similar line.

[Hedley]

You will never, ever see a performance like that at an airshow in Canada. Tower C must ... have ... control!

I think I can safely mention that my now-dead uncle (old age) used to water-ski his J-3 cub. There is no statute of limitations on federal aviation regulations, but I think it is unlikely that Transport will pursue action against his now-settled estate.

You pay me $$$ (like a teenaged girl, you have to learn to not give it away) and I will gladly waterski at your airshow. But it's a moot point - see Tower C above.

I'm not sure anybody cares, but ... a good airshow routine should look exciting, but be boring to fly. For example, a simple knife-edge pass
down the runway is always a crowd-pleaser, but is really easy to do. You spend most of your time watching the oil pressure.

P.S. On the other subject ... in many parts of the country, it is quite routine to land on wet/snowy grass in the fall with floats. The takeoffs in the spring are a hoot! There is a video around somewhere of a Beaver on floats taking off from a trailer behind a truck roaring down a runway. Not sure what Tower C thinks of that, but I'll bet it ain't good.

[Siddley Hawker]

Wheeler used to land various types on the grass after they moved the bush base from St. Jovite to St. Jean. They'd land right at the airport, on the infield, when the grass was wet in the morning. Only one accident that I remember, they put a Doink on it's back one time.

[Raybanman]

As far as teaching this goes, I don't see the value of such a lesson outwieghing the risks. The calm water required amounts to a glassy water situation (pretty much) and a low time pilot trying to land with an aircraft that will be even less forgiving if rate of descent is too high... sounds like something for more experienced people to be doing if its neccesary. Just go out and teach the guy glassy water landings on floats! Safer and more relevant.

Cheers,
PP