Seaplane Rating Add-On and Seaplane Rental

[Peter Bauer]

Hi Group,

i have a question concerning a seaplane rating add-on to a Private
Certificate ASEL.
I'm interested in the ASES-Add-On to my Certificate, but what if i'd
like to rent a seaplane after the Rating Add-On, is this possible
directly after doing it or do i've to get experience with a CFI after
it ?
Are there any restrictions from the insurance companies concerning
PIC-experience on a seaplane, e.g. 20 hours or so to rent a seaplane
as a single ?

My interest would be to rent a seaplane and fly to the beautiful isles
of the Bahamas. Would this be possible or are there any restrictions
concerning the Seaplane or the Insurance Companies ?

Does somebody have any suggestions or recommendations about the rating
add-on itself, especially in Florida ?

thanx for now

Peter

[kontiki]

basically, it's going to be a lot more difficult to find a sea plane
to rent than a SEL. When you did they would probably require X number
of hours checkout before the rental.

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, (Peter Bauer) said:
>I'm interested in the ASES-Add-On to my Certificate, but what if i'd

Once you get the ASES, there is no difference between "add on" or if it
were your first and only certificate. It still says "ASES" on your
license.

>like to rent a seaplane after the Rating Add-On, is this possible
>directly after doing it or do i've to get experience with a CFI after
>it ?

My experience is that there are damn few places that will rent you a
seaplane for solo flight, and fewer every day. The insurance companies
hate seaplanes, and they hate renters in "unusual" aircraft, and a rental
seaplane has both strikes against it.


--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Meeting, n.:
An assembly of people coming together to decide what person or
department not represented in the room must solve a problem.

[William W. Plummer]

Paul Tomblin wrote:
> In a previous article, (Peter Bauer) said:
>
>>I'm interested in the ASES-Add-On to my Certificate, but what if i'd
>
>
> Once you get the ASES, there is no difference between "add on" or if it
> were your first and only certificate. It still says "ASES" on your
> license.
>
>
>>like to rent a seaplane after the Rating Add-On, is this possible
>>directly after doing it or do i've to get experience with a CFI after
>>it ?
>
>
> My experience is that there are damn few places that will rent you a
> seaplane for solo flight, and fewer every day. The insurance companies
> hate seaplanes, and they hate renters in "unusual" aircraft, and a rental
> seaplane has both strikes against it.
>
>
That is my experience, also. And, even it if you put up an enormous
bond to make yourself more acceptable to the owner and insurance
company, finding a place that will let you operate their plane in salt
water is yet another problem. 'Taint easy, McGee.

[Peter Bauer]

OK, thanx to all of you for the statements.

Peter

[Robert M. Gary]

No one will rent a sea plane solo in the U.S. that I am aware of.
Insurance killed this about 5 years ago.

[Robert M. Gary]

I'm told the reason for this is because of the number of items a sea
plane can hit on take off and landing vs. a clean runway env.

-Robert CFI land and sea

[Peter Duniho]

"Robert M. Gary" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> No one will rent a sea plane solo in the U.S. that I am aware of.
> Insurance killed this about 5 years ago.

Never say "never".

SPA lists at least a few seaplane operators that will rent some of their
fleet solo (typically something like a Cub or C172 on floats).

I doubt one could find anyone willing to rent a seaplane on a flight to the
Bahamas, and it's definitely true that seaplane rentals are extremely
limited (even where you can rent them, you are often restricted to flights
of 25 miles or a similarly short distance, for example).

But never say "never". :)

Pete

[Montblack]

"Robert M. Gary"
> I'm told the reason for this is because of the number of items a sea
> plane can hit on take off and landing vs. a clean runway env.


Like the shoreline. Thud.

Granted this accident (1997) isn't a rental. Pilot/owner hired a CFI because
the plane had just been purchased - insurance requirement.

"The seaplane base operator reported that the CFI elected to use a shortened
portion of the lake for the takeoff run, and could have extended the takeoff
run by a half a mile by changing the takeoff heading by ten degrees."

We live near this seaplane base.

<http://www8.landings.com/cgi-bin/nph-nntsb_connect?pass=12345&file=nntsb_199706.dat&pos=198061>

http://makeashorterlink.com/?L22B1292B
(Same link as above ...wait for it)


Montblack

[Robert M. Gary]

Well, I did say "that I'm aware of". I know at least one of the FBOs
the SPA lists has actually not rented their sea plane in many years
(I've flown their sea planes before).

-Robert, CFI land and sea :)

[Peter Bauer]

Well,....it seems to me that it doesn't make a sense doing a ASES
Rating, besides the fun of flying a seaplane for a few hours.
The main reason for me is to be able to fly a seaplane alone and not
under supervision.
It would be much more cheaper to fly 1 or 2 hours as a pax in a
seaplane from the right seat than train for a rating which can't be
used after it to rent a plane for my own.
It would be the same to me getting a driver licence, but not being
able to drive by my own, always having a supervisor on the right seat.

Your statements help me much to decide not to do a seaplane rating
(ASES)

Thank you all

Peter