On 25 Feb 2009, at 21:26, Ken Norton wrote:
>>
>> I don't know, Bill. I've never been a seaplane person, although I
>> should like to. The idea of being able to pick a landing spot so
>> easily has always appealed to me :-)
>>
>
>
> Picking landing spots is always easy in every type of airplane.
> Picking
> landing spots you can survive the landing in isn't.
>
Good point, Ken :-)
> Where I was learning to fly and where my dad flew was mostly over a
> very
> very dense hardwood forest. The other alternative was over Lake
> Michigan.
> Otherwise, you had to restrict yourself to flying circles over the
> random
> farmfield or city. One time we flew kinda diagonally across the
> state and
> with the exception of a very few not-so-pretty options, there isn't
> much to
> choose from for landing a C172 with busting your chops. As a
> general rule,
> minimum altitude to carry you to a suitable landing spot (roads were
> usually
> not the best option due to the close proximity of the trees as well as
> omni-present utility lines crossing the road) was usually 5000 AGL.
I can imagine. We have some (a few) areas like that in the UK, but
I'm luck where I fly from; we're mostly over the Fens of East Anglia
where it's as flat as a flat place feeling particularly flat... but
for all the drainage ditches.
>
>
> But having flown (as a right-seat passenger) in a float plane, I
> have to
> admit that once you get past the initial fears, it's a tremendous
> rush to
> have the freedom of landing on the water, but unfortunately, most
> water
> isn't landable due to wind and waves. Float planes make LOUSY
> boats. And
> speaking of boats--Michigan lakes on a summer day are always chock
> full of
> boats--it's sometimes very difficult to "clear" a landing or takeoff
> spot.
>
> Runways are easier...
I hadn't thought of the waves.
Chris
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