Fun canyon flying

After 2 years without touching the controls of a seaplane I had the
pleasure of grabbbing a CFI and going out and getting my phase 1 sea
wings. Boy, what a blast. We went up to the foothills and did some
canyon flying. Its amazing that flying 10 feet over the water at 60 mph
in close proximity to other stuff was not nearly as upseting as I
thought it would be. Its actually really cool and gives you a great
flying sensation. Its something I could never do in my Mooney. We also
did some confined canyon turns (pucker up!).
We went flying through some canyons and probably picked up 15 landings
just splashing down and taking off. We even got to fly under a bridge.
The FSDO guys often come out there just for the fun of flying under the
bridge, which is legal when taking off or landing. Although the bridge
was probably more than 1000' above me the sensation was awesome.
For anyone who has not done any sea plane flying, especially in the
mountains, its an amazing experience.

-Robert, CFI

Robert,

Where are you flying the seaplane?

I did my seaplane training at Brown's Seaplane Base,
Winter Haven, FL.

During my last FAA Wings program (#5), I got to land on
canals between the lakes. FUN! Unfortunately, the bridges
were too low to even taxi beneath.


In rec.aviation.student Robert M. Gary wrote:
After 2 years without touching the controls of a seaplane I had the
pleasure of grabbbing a CFI and going out and getting my phase 1 sea
wings. Boy, what a blast. We went up to the foothills and did some
canyon flying. Its amazing that flying 10 feet over the water at 60 mph
in close proximity to other stuff was not nearly as upseting as I
thought it would be. Its actually really cool and gives you a great
flying sensation. Its something I could never do in my Mooney. We also
did some confined canyon turns (pucker up!).
We went flying through some canyons and probably picked up 15 landings
just splashing down and taking off. We even got to fly under a bridge.
The FSDO guys often come out there just for the fun of flying under the
bridge, which is legal when taking off or landing. Although the bridge
was probably more than 1000' above me the sensation was awesome.
For anyone who has not done any sea plane flying, especially in the
mountains, its an amazing experience.

-Robert, CFI


Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 240 Young Eagles!

wrote:
Robert,

Where are you flying the seaplane?

Norcal Aviation in Northern California.
I see you're out of Ft. Collins. My company tried to get me to move out
there about a year ago. At the time everyone said you had to learn to
drive a tractor if you moved there. I've since heard its quite a nice
town. I think it made a recent top 10 list for best places to live.

-robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in
oups.com:

Norcal Aviation in Northern California.
I see you're out of Ft. Collins. My company tried to get me to
move out there about a year ago. At the time everyone said you had
to learn to drive a tractor if you moved there. I've since heard
its quite a nice town. I think it made a recent top 10 list for
best places to live.

Colorado is a very restrictive seaplane state. Good thing you didn't
move :-)

--

In rec.aviation.student Robert M. Gary wrote:

I see you're out of Ft. Collins. My company tried to get me to move out
there about a year ago. At the time everyone said you had to learn to
drive a tractor if you moved there. I've since heard its quite a nice
town. I think it made a recent top 10 list for best places to live.

Obviously someone had a hidden agenda to keep you where you are.
Fort Collins is a wonderful place (often places in the top ten).
Yet, there is no ocean here. However, the mountian flying is GREAT.
Please contact me if you happen to be around Denver (or Cheyenne).
(This goes for ALL the rec.aviatiors!).

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 240 Young Eagles!

I see you're out of Ft. Collins. My company tried to get me to move out
there about a year ago. At the time everyone said you had to learn to
drive a tractor if you moved there.

That's funny, Fort Collins is about as far from rural as you're gonna
get. It's just a 'burb of Denver.

"Newps" wrote in message
...
That's funny, Fort Collins is about as far from rural as you're gonna
get. It's just a 'burb of Denver.

Only someone from Montana would call a city over an hour's drive from
another city, and with plenty of open space between, a "suburb" of that
other city.

That said, certainly there's nothing about Fort Collins that supports the
"you have to learn to drive a tractor" comment. I find it hard to believe
that anyone who actually knew anything about Fort Collins would say that,
never mind everyone. My impression of Fort Collins, from my several visits
there, is that it's part college town, part tech industry town, with a bit
of left-over frontier West mentality. Mostly, it's pretty much like any
other medium-sized city I've seen, and there's definitely not a lot of
places to drive a tractor, not in the city anyway.

Pete

Robert M. Gary wrote:
wrote:
Robert,

Where are you flying the seaplane?

Norcal Aviation in Northern California.
I see you're out of Ft. Collins. My company tried to get me to move out
there about a year ago. At the time everyone said you had to learn to
drive a tractor if you moved there. I've since heard its quite a nice
town. I think it made a recent top 10 list for best places to live.

-robert

Fort Collins was nearly out of tractors when I lived there 10 years
ago. Half of it's residents probably woudn't admit that they knew what
one looked like.

Get just a few miles outside of that college town, though, and it's a
totally different story.

Not a bad area, but the whole front range there is growing.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in
oups.com:

I recall taking some dual out of San Andreas, CA and did some landings
under the highway 49 bridge south of there (New Melones Reservoir?).
As you said, it was a real kick.

--

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
[...]
We went flying through some canyons and probably picked up 15 landings
just splashing down and taking off. We even got to fly under a bridge.
The FSDO guys often come out there just for the fun of flying under the
bridge, which is legal when taking off or landing.

Note that the reason your flight under the bridge was legal was the distance
from it, not the fact that you were taking off or landing. At least one
precedent case was even posted here recently, in the context of the
"low-pass legality" thread we had a few weeks ago. The NTSB review
specifically found that taking off or landing does not legalize flight under
a bridge.

In fact, a strict reading of the precedent precludes your own operation
being legal, as the regulation in question pertains to "minimum altitudes",
not distances from objects (even though distances are referred to). Going
below a bridge, even one thousands of feet above you, would technically be
illegal by that NTSB precedent since the regulation requires a minimum
altitude *above* the bridge.

More power to you if you know for a fact that the local FSDO condones such
flights, but it would be a mistake to think that their interpretation is
universally held by the FAA, and that their interpretation is based on and
supported by the "takeoff or landing" exclusion. The NTSB has already
agreed with the FAA's previous position that it's not.

Pete