Scheduling Seaplane (ASES, not ski!) weekend

[flyingcheesehead]

All right folks... Time for some more flyin' fun.

When should we do a seaplane weekend at KCAD?

There'll be a Super Cub and a Husky on straight floats, and if there's enough interest (read: demand for all the planes) there'll be a C180 on floats as well.

(Moderators: Help! I wrote "skiplanes" in the poll question and I can't fix it!)

 

[gprellwitz]

Will we have enough time to get a checkride out of it? I'd love to have ASES!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

BTW, two things:

1) Weekend before OSH is probably out, as that's when the other group will be there. However, if demand isn't super-high we might be able to have everyone there simultaneously, with all three planes. I'm not counting on that being an option, however.

2) I didn't ask Ed about the Labor Day idea at all, so if the two events can't be worked out together, the seaplane event won't happen that weekend. I was just thinking it'd be a nice incentive for some of the faraway folks to come up for the weekend. It's only 192nm from CAD to 6Y9.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Will we have enough time to get a checkride out of it? I'd love to have ASES!

Grant: Doubtful, unless not very many people show up. However, Northwoods does do an all-inclusive ASES course for $950, and you're not that far away.

BTW, the $950 does not include the Super Cub on floats that you will want when you're done. Just ask the guy in my club who went up there for ASES - He came back, found himself a partner, and bought one!

 

[gprellwitz]

Grant: Doubtful, unless not very many people show up. However, Northwoods does do an all-inclusive ASES course for $950, and you're not that far away.

BTW, the $950 does not include the Super Cub on floats that you will want when you're done. Just ask the guy in my club who went up there for ASES - He came back, found himself a partner, and bought one!

There's a place on the Mississippi around Quincy(?) that has a nice ASES course that a few of us at 1C5 have been eyeing. I don't know the price, though.

 

[ScottM]

There's a place on the Mississippi around Quincy(?) that has a nice ASES course that a few of us at 1C5 have been eyeing. I don't know the price, though.

http://www.flyfloats.com/ $925. I wanted to do this last year but with my mom getting so sick it fell out as an option. I would like to do it. It is just very schedule dependent.

 

[infotango]

Will they let you solo?
I've been wanting to fly SES solo for a very long time....have only seen two places, and both want time in a 172 on floats, which I don't have, I do have some Super Cub time however.....

 

[One Short]

There's a place on the Mississippi around Quincy(?) that has a nice ASES course that a few of us at 1C5 have been eyeing. I don't know the price, though.

Go to Cadillac, Grant. Derek is a really good instructor and they have a great variety of lakes to fly out of. He had me fly in and out of a real small one where you had to follow the contour of the area to get in and out. Great experience. And the loon families are cute to see.

Barb

 

[redcloud]

I would love to participate but would prefer the opportunity for a checkride as part of the fun. Will the planes support those of use who are of larger stature? Any weekend with advance notice would be acceptable.

Scott

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Will they let you solo?
I've been wanting to fly SES solo for a very long time....have only seen two places, and both want time in a 172 on floats, which I don't have, I do have some Super Cub time however.....

Rob,

No solo on floats. You can solo on skis, though.

It's rather unfortunate that hardly anyone will let you solo seaplanes any more.

 

[TMetzinger]

You've convinced me, so I've made a deal with my wife - we'll go see her folks in Rochester Hills for a few days the week before OSH, and I'll sneak away for two of those days and get the SES rating.

Does anybody know how much more complicated it is to add SES rating to a commercial certificate vs. a private? I'd rather have the commercial privileges in case I run away to Alaska someday.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Go to Cadillac, Grant. Derek is a really good instructor and they have a great variety of lakes to fly out of. He had me fly in and out of a real small one where you had to follow the contour of the area to get in and out. Great experience. And the loon families are cute to see.

What Barb said. Pleasant Lake is the small one, north of Lake Mitchell. (If that's the same one you're talking about Barb.)

And Derek *KNOWS* Cubs. Owns 'em, flies 'em, instructs in 'em, maintains 'em, and rebuilds 'em too. He's been doing it his whole life, his dad started Northwoods over 40 years ago.

 

[infotango]

Rob,

No solo on floats. You can solo on skis, though.

It's rather unfortunate that hardly anyone will let you solo seaplanes any more.

It is unfortunate, Kent.
I'm surprised that you can solo the skiplanes....that might be something to look into, when I'm not spending all my flying bucks on the IR.

I guess the only solution is to buy one.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I would love to participate but would prefer the opportunity for a checkride as part of the fun.

Scott,

I'm taking a cue from Rick here. They used to do checkrides too, but it turned into a big pain in the butt for the instructors, and started not being fun any more. I'm also hoping we'll have lots of people there and I'd prefer to use the Super Cub for the intro folks and those who don't have piles of spare cash.

I guess if you wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for the Husky or the 180, that would work out. There's nothing saying we CAN'T do checkrides, after all!

I'd think that if we have 10 or fewer pilots there, the Super Cub should be able to handle enough rides (1-3 maybe) for everyone, 20 or fewer the Husky should pick up the slack, so... If there's 20 or fewer and you want to do the training in the 180, I say go for it! In fact, now you've got me thinking that I may do it myself.

Will the planes support those of use who are of larger stature?

I'm 6'4" and pushing 300, and the Super Cub managed to lift me and Rick Durden (also 6'4" though in better shape than I! ) out of the water. Getting in is the hard part, but once you know how it's just a matter of doing it. I'm not sure the Cub is easy to get in and out of for anyone!

Can't say what the Husky will be like. Never seen it. I'd guess the 180 will be very easy to get into (like a 182, only higher and with better steps).

 

[flyingcheesehead]

You've convinced me, so I've made a deal with my wife - we'll go see her folks in Rochester Hills for a few days the week before OSH, and I'll sneak away for two of those days and get the SES rating.

Does anybody know how much more complicated it is to add SES rating to a commercial certificate vs. a private? I'd rather have the commercial privileges in case I run away to Alaska someday.

Tim,

FWIW, Northwoods prices the Commercial add-on the same as the Private add-on. So, presumably it's basically the same.

Also, be forewarned that the weekend before OSH is gonna be very busy, so I'd suggest you sneak away earlier in the week!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

It is unfortunate, Kent.
I'm surprised that you can solo the skiplanes....that might be something to look into, when I'm not spending all my flying bucks on the IR.

On skis, it's just like tailwheel only easier, for the most part. Besides, since nobody else rents skiplanes, the insurance companies probably haven't had to pay anything out for skiplane rentals so they haven't thought to restrict 'em yet. (Shhhh!)

I guess the only solution is to buy one.

Don't tempt me.

 

[infotango]

On skis, it's just like tailwheel only easier, for the most part. Besides, since nobody else rents skiplanes, the insurance companies probably haven't had to pay anything out for skiplane rentals so they haven't thought to restrict 'em yet. (Shhhh!)



Don't tempt me.

My float instructor puts his super cub on skies some winters, and he says that he loves to fly into lakes which have banned "floatplane" landings.
Nothing like poorly written statutes....


It's getting tough to find places which will solo you in TW too.

 

[redcloud]

Kent:

I would have no problem and would probably prefer the 180, especially if the rating can be completed.

Please keep me informed. Sounds like a great opportunity for fellowship and extending ones horizons.

Scott

 

[gismo]

If it's during Labor Day weekend, I'm usually in Bellaire then and could hop down to CAD in about 30 minutes.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

You've convinced me, so I've made a deal with my wife - we'll go see her folks in Rochester Hills for a few days the week before OSH, and I'll sneak away for two of those days and get the SES rating.

Does anybody know how much more complicated it is to add SES rating to a commercial certificate vs. a private? I'd rather have the commercial privileges in case I run away to Alaska someday.

It's no big deal, just tighter tolerances and some slightly harder maneuvers that are good to know anyway, so definately go commercial SES.

I'm planning on flying an amphibion floatplane over if it's later in the summer.

 

[gismo]

It's no big deal, just tighter tolerances and some slightly harder maneuvers that are good to know anyway, so definately go commercial SES.

I'm planning on flying an amphibion floatplane over if it's later in the summer.

I'm not even sure if the "tolerances" are tighter. Most of the maneuvers have more to do with water operation than flying and there's no marks on the water for precision landings so what exactly do you think is "tighter"? And I'm pretty sure that when taking the checkride as an add-on the PTS tasks are exactly the same for Private-ASES and Commercial-ASES except for a bigger emphasis on systems for the commercial.

I had no trouble passing my Commercial-ASES with less than 5 hrs total ASES time. Of course, being involved with boats in many different ways since I was about three helped a bit.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

I'm not even sure if the "tolerances" are tighter. Most of the maneuvers have more to do with water operation than flying and there's no marks on the water for precision landings so what exactly do you think is "tighter"? And I'm pretty sure that when taking the checkride as an add-on the PTS tasks are exactly the same for Private-ASES and Commercial-ASES except for a bigger emphasis on systems for the commercial.

I had no trouble passing my Commercial-ASES with less than 5 hrs total ASES time. Of course, being involved with boats in many different ways since I was about three helped a bit.

Oh yeah, there's plenty of marks on the water to gauge landings and such.

Examiners vary alot and my examiner was, for my commercial SES, just looking for closer tolerances in everything than in the private SES. They were the two easiest and most fun ratings for me in any event, and involved the least amount of money and time in the air, with very little ground studying.

 

[Kaye]

All right folks... Time for some more flyin' fun.

When should we do a seaplane weekend at KCAD?

There'll be a Super Cub and a Husky on straight floats, and if there's enough interest (read: demand for all the planes) there'll be a C180 on floats as well.

(Moderators: Help! I wrote "skiplanes" in the poll question and I can't fix it!)

ME ME ME ME!!!!! I wanna go!!!!!

June is out for me as I'm doing Gaston's followed by an odyssey to the west coast, but a couple weeks notice and I can probably make any other weekend as long as my plane's not already scheduled. So more notice, more probability I can make it. And I'd love to fly the Husky!

Kaye

 

[redcloud]

AS I said pick a weekend and I am in, will be attending Sun & Fun and Osh and Gaston's but am usually free any other.

Scott

 

[flyingcheesehead]

June is out for me as I'm doing Gaston's followed by an odyssey to the west coast, but a couple weeks notice and I can probably make any other weekend as long as my plane's not already scheduled. So more notice, more probability I can make it. And I'd love to fly the Husky!

Kaye,

Awesome!

I already have a message in to Derek about scheduling and other things. I'll let all y'all know well in advance when we're doing it.

 

[gismo]

It's no big deal, just tighter tolerances and some slightly harder maneuvers that are good to know anyway, so definately go commercial SES.

I'm planning on flying an amphibion floatplane over if it's later in the summer.

I'm not even sure if the "tolerances" are tighter. Most of the maneuvers have more to do with water operation than flying and there's no marks on the water for precision landings so what exactly do you think is "tighter"? And I'm pretty sure that when taking the checkride as an add-on the PTS tasks are exactly the same for Private-ASES and Commercial-ASES except for a bigger emphasis on systems for the commercial.

I had no trouble passing my Commercial-ASES with less than 5 hrs total ASES time. Of course, being involved with boats in many different ways since I was about three helped a bit.

 

[Laurie]

There's a place on the Mississippi around Quincy(?) that has a nice ASES course that a few of us at 1C5 have been eyeing. I don't know the price, though.

It's actually in Moline, just across the river from the Moline Int'l Airport. I did my ASES there, oh, 7 years ago. Back then it was one weekend and $550. Checkride and lunch included both days. He had a really nice Cessna 180 on Wiplines and he did rent it out after you had 10 hours in the aircraft. I don't know how much things have changed since then.

The checkride was done in Burlington, IA by Tommy Tompkins. Not sure if he's still doing checkrides, but I suspect he is. The day he did my ASES was his 50 YEAR anniversary of being a DPE. A week later he did my CFII ride. Helluva guy with a helluva history. He was a P-38 pilot among other things. Anyhow, that weekend learning floats was one of the most fun experiences I ever had in an airplane.

 

[tonycondon]

It's actually in Moline, just across the river from the Moline Int'l Airport. I did my ASES there, oh, 7 years ago. Back then it was one weekend and $550. Checkride and lunch included both days. He had a really nice Cessna 180 on Wiplines and he did rent it out after you had 10 hours in the aircraft. I don't know how much things have changed since then.

The checkride was done in Burlington, IA by Tommy Tompkins. Not sure if he's still doing checkrides, but I suspect he is. The day he did my ASES was his 50 YEAR anniversary of being a DPE. A week later he did my CFII ride. Helluva guy with a helluva history. He was a P-38 pilot among other things. Anyhow, that weekend learning floats was one of the most fun experiences I ever had in an airplane.

Tommy is still doing checkrides, although Im not sure for how much longer. From what I hear hes had medical issues lately and has had to scale back. Chris did his IR with Tommy and I think Ben Kreager has done some checkrides with him.

 

[bkreager]

Yea, he got pneumonia last summer that put him down for a while. As of last August, he was doing one checkride a day. I think he also renewed his DPE last fall as well, but I've heard that it will be his last.
Back on topic, I have thought about getting my ASES, but I would only really be interested in this if I could get the checkride in there too.