LawPilot Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 Hi all: Interested in purchasing a LSA with floats. I live in South Carolina on a large lake and want to build up time. Which is better and why? CTSW? Legend 600? Any others? Any advice is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 7 hours ago, LawPilot said: Hi all: Interested in purchasing a LSA with floats. I live in South Carolina on a large lake and want to build up time. Which is better and why? CTSW? Legend 600? Any others? Any advice is appreciated. With floats? Legend. The CT is not really designed for water ops. It can be done, but it's not ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 9 hours ago, LawPilot said: Hi all: Interested in purchasing a LSA with floats. I live in South Carolina on a large lake and want to build up time. Which is better and why? CTSW? Legend 600? Any others? Any advice is appreciated. Aeroprakt A22 Foxbaxt ( or A32 Vixxen ) GREAT visibility, easy access, LOW landing speed http://www.aeropraktusa.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 Not a CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 If water is really what you want, how about a Searay? A hull to land on is better than floats, and you get retractable gear for landing on pavement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmi Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 This one looks good. https://www.barnstormers.com/Light-Sport, Aeroprakt Classifieds.htm a22 is an awesome plane in its own right and they are selling one floats right now . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 17 minutes ago, Warmi said: This one looks good. https://www.barnstormers.com/Light-Sport, Aeroprakt Classifieds.htm a22 is an awesome plane in its own right and they are selling one floats right now . I have heard they have had a hard time selling it because when the prospective buyer get an insurance quote it scares them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmi Posted March 15, 2019 Report Share Posted March 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Tom Baker said: I have heard they have had a hard time selling it because when the prospective buyer get an insurance quote it scares them. Wonder if this is due to the plane being on floats, ELSA or both .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 3 hours ago, Warmi said: Wonder if this is due to the plane being on floats, ELSA or both .... Actually I'm not sure if this is the same airplane or not. A customer who has a Aeroprakt mentioned about one on Clamar floats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmi Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 This one is on Clamar floats - in fact that’s why it gone ELSA to get them installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 10 hours ago, Warmi said: This one is on Clamar floats - in fact that’s why it gone ELSA to get them installed. The Gutmann's in Tulsa went through the complete process to get Clamar floats approved for the CTLS. They had to make the airplane ELSA, do flight testing with one of Flight Designs test pilots, and make sure it met all of the ASTM requirements. After the testing was completed the airplane was returned to SLSA status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ODowneyEng Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 In the interest of safety You may want to consider a seaplane rather than some ugly after thought mounted on floats. i have been looking at the Seamax from Brazil. From a safety standpoint, should one forget to raise the gear when landing on water, it is not a killer and safe to do. You are sure going to slow down surprisingly fast. Its a simple matter of designing this safety feature in the first place. Do that in any other plane and it will bite you. Think Safety First and Good Luck with your search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 7 hours ago, Odowneyeng said: In the interest of safety You may want to consider a seaplane rather than some ugly after thought mounted on floats. Depends on your mission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 38 minutes ago, sandpiper said: Depends on your mission. Bingo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawPilot Posted March 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 Thanks for the advice! So are the sea planes safer than float planes? Sea Rey or SeaMax -- which is better? I noticed Sea Rey is a tail dragger. Is one safer than the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 As a general rule I think sea plane/float plane operations carry more risk than land plane operations. As for water operations there have been plenty of accidents with both styles of planes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlingPilot Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 I toyed with getting a Searey, went so far as to spend a weekend At Chesapeake Sport Pilot. Helen runs a very nice, professional operation. I enjoyed my time in the plane and felt it was a good fit, even with the negativity of the instructor I had (should have changed after the first flight). In the end, I decided to stick with an S-LSA. What turned me off, was the additional training beyond either an add on SES or SP seaplane signoff the insurance company’s wanted. Searey has a 13 hour course, about $5k. Even then, insurance was higher. Some say it’s due to the retractable gear, but I’ve got 500 hrs complex retract time. It just didn’t add up, so S-LSA on three wheels for me into retirement. I looked at all the amphibians and the Searey is the leader IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 I agree with Tom. I owned a Lake amphibian for three years and have a reasonable amount of experience flying floats in Beavers, C-185, C-206 etc. I come from Alaska where float planes are a fairly common sight and every summer I flew float planes. Not for a living but for CAP which had a variety of interesting aircraft. Most of the working, and pleasure, water planes in Alaska are float planes although there are still some of the Grumman Goose and Widgeon variety around. Many put their float planes on skis in the winter. Can't do that with a hull airplane. Although you can land a hull plane on snow it was rare to hear of anyone doing so. High wing float planes, in my experience, are easier to dock and easier to get on/off of at a rocky or brushy shoreline. On the other hand, when I had my Lake I had favorite places where I could put the gear down and taxi onto the beach. So, again, depends on your mission. I don't know that one is any safer than the other. Both types have their quirks. Most of the accidents I was aware of probably would have happened with either type of plane. Most seemed to have to do with weather, being overloaded or trying to operate where they should never have been. Water flying is just plane fun! And, yes, my use of "plane" vs "plain" is intentional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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