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Airplane People
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Anyone who goes to the EAA fly-in at Oshkosh should make it a point to get out to the seaplane base on Lake Winnebago. Usually lots of float planes, good array of seaplanes (flying boats), and just a wonderful, wonderful setting.
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Very nice Be-200. I’ve got a lot of King Air time and it’s one of my all time favorites. I still fly one on occasion. As a working airplane, it’s a very good “old man’s airplane”. Doesn’t go too fast, too high, too far or stay gone too long.
I like the cars too. I’m also into classic cars. I’m right now considering a ’37 Rolls to restore. I’m trying to figure out whether I can reasonably expect to live long enough to get it done. I’ll see if I can upload a couple of old car photos here.
I’m not going to make Oshkosh this year. Too many conflicts. I play Bluegrass and Blues music as a hobby also and am planning to make a few music festivals. Oh yeah, I’m gonna try to get in a little bass fishing too. What I really need is another hobby or two.
I’m wondering now, how many QB brothers we have amongst us? This “airplane people” thing could really go somewhere. Who knows, we might have a “Wing Ding” at a rally somewhere down the road.
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Burro John from 23154 FMN Governor 1988
WingDing sounds fun.
Fred
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Dick,
Back in 1989 I attended a fly in in Florida and a seaplane base was nearby. They had it set up so that you could get your floatplane rating. They had a PA-12 on floats, FAA exaniners…the works. Seens that I spent nore hours punping leaking floats than I did in the air. One day we were able to practice cross wind docking I can say without a doubt that I really stink at that but got ny rating anyway
FFF
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Burro Fred,
Your QB buddy was no doubt an old Connie driver. Another Connie quip is that “flying the Connie is like flying your house through the keyhole”. (Her cockpit windows were pretty small).
PDX
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Brian I
never thought of that three tailed Connie. In my humble opinion the
Connie is a lot like the Beech Duke and looks super sexy just sitting on the ramp
much less in the air.Keyboard
goofy was placing a ‘n’ where the double hump letter ’m’ is supposed to go.
Wow didn’t realize that letter was used so much. Quitting while I am
ahead. Thank goodness for cut and
paste. Corrected in word, cut and pasted
here.FFF
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I got my seaplane rating in an 85hp J-3 Cub on floats; solo with partial fuel load it JUMPED right out of the water. It had been modified to have the clam shell doors on both sides so you could easily dock the plane from either side. During part of my instruction it was really, really hot so the instructor had me leave the upper doors on both sides open. It was like flying in the open air, a little intimidating for a 20 year old kid. Got my seaplane rating in that Cub and went on to get lots of time in a 135hp Super Cub on I think Edo 2000’s (another little hot rod with a light load), about ten hours of time in a Twin Beech 18 on floats, a hour or two in the right seat of Beaver on Edo 6470 floats, and few hours in the right seat of a twin-engine Dornier DO-28A on Edo 6470’s … all before I was 24 years old. With the exception of my initial rating time the other flight time was on someone else’s nickel.
Traveling with a float plane is a little like traveling with a Prevost. I docked at a number of public beaches (like in downtown Madison, WI on Lake Mendota) and always drew a crowd with a ton of questions and willingness to “help with the airplane”. I recall taxiing away from a beach one time and I could see a police boat headed my way. Not knowing if they were coming to see if everything was OK or if they were coming to enforce some obscure and unknown local ordinance about no seaplanes on the lake which hadn’t made it to the sectional charts yet, I didn’t stick around to find out what they wanted. As soon as I had some temp in the oil it was stick back, full power and off we went. Of course my flight path outta there took me right of the police boat.
I might have posted this already … my Twin Beech time came working for the Isle Royale Seaplane Service out of Houghton, Mich which flew to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. When the wind was from the east the pilot would dock the plane with door away from the dock, he’d jump out the pilot’s access hatch on the roof onto the wing and onto the dock and then we’d “spin” the airplane around (with the nine passengers still inside of course) to get the pax door on the dock side. We had the procedure down pretty pat. Passengers in plane and on the land waiting to get in for the next flight were always impressed. Until one morning a gust of wind caught the plane and pulled it out of my hands. I hollared to pilot at the other end but he was too far to grab anything. We tried to catch float ballards with ropes on the dock but nothing worked. The wind was blowing the plane down the canal and toward some rocks on shoreline. The pilot looked at me and said, “I can’t go in the water, I have to fly the rest of the day until sundown.” I knew what that meant. Off came my jacket (it was cold that morning), shirt off, fortunately I was wearing shorts, shoes and socks, watch and wallet into a shoe and I ran down to end of the dock and into the canal. Lake Superior water is still very cold in late June. Fortunately I was a pretty good swimmer and with the pilot running along the shoreline and encouraging me I caught up to the airplane. Being powered by a radial engine the floats were covered in a thin sheen of aviation oil and water. Getting up on them was a real challenge. I kept sliding off and tearing chest up on the rivet heads and chine along the edge of the float. Then the pax door came open and a pax thought he would help me and I had to get him back in the plane; didn’t need two in the water. Finally I got myself up on the float, then carefully (wet barefeet) onto the wing, through the pilot’s hatch and into the left seat … getting water all over the pax in the right seat. I had never fired up the Beech by myself, to that point always under the guidance of the pilot. But I got both engines fired up well before drifting up on the rocks and taxi’d back to the dock where the pilot and got the plane successfully turned around and secured to the dock. Surprisingly no tips from any of the passengers. Later in the summer we got pictures some of the passengers took of the event, but they have been lost to time.
I will say that when you’re 22 or 23 years old that a Super Cub on floats is the ultimate chick magnet!
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For the Tundra Tire people. 4th year in a row…WINNER STOL
new world record for combined take-off/landing!
20 foot landing, 24 foot takeoff
I think he put the tail wheel right on the line for that landing.
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Wonder how much head wind he had.
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y’all might enjoy the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma. Might be a great spot for a mini-rally. Lots of other great adventures around Middle Tennessee too.
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Sorry to resurrect this thread but count me in as one more pilot in the group. Been flying 40 years (22 for American before I retired early) now count a Citation Mustang along with my new H3 Liberty Lady. Love to have a flyin/drivin get together sometime!
Mark
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Mark, we’re not plane people, but Parliament Coach is having an Air & Coach Concours Nov 12-15 and Feb 25-28 in Lakeland,Fl. Geo.
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Anyone for Ashkosh this year? We will be at the Asvegas rv park accros on I- 41 from EAA campground where we don’t have to be towed out from the field if things get rainy. You never know about the WI weather.
If interested contact the campground. 50 amp water and dump station. Or email me for any additional information.
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We live about an hour or so away. I’ll probably drive up there for a day or two. I like going to the seaplane base.
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Dick stop in. We are in an H3
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