Water Flying

Jack Jacobson and Amy Fenwick from the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association join Steve McCaughey on this episode to provide a recap of the 2023 Tanglefoot Seaplane Splash-In on Priest Lake, Idaho. Perfectly calm, cool and clear weather welcomed over 30 seaplanes and their pilots. This amazing event which was hosted by the WSPA and Fenwick family at their amazing seaplane base nestled within the backcountry of Northern Idaho, just 40 miles from the Canadian border.

Whether we want to discuss it or not, having seaplane owners and operators being the best possible stewards of the environment is not an optional topic. The spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) is not limited to the waters of the United States, aquatic ecosystems arounds the world are being infected by non-native aquatic invaders. Sid Pinney from Turbo Float Pump has been working with the Seaplane Pilots Association for over two years on the topic of this episode, the "Turbo Float Pump." This cordless drill powered float pump actually includes a field replaceable filter that allows seaplane pilots to pump their floats without risking the discharge of any aquatic invasive species. The Turbo Float Pump is a great development that will help SPA and seaplane pilots continue to prove that: 1) We care about the environment 2) We are committed to proactively addressing the threat of AIS to our waterways 3) We are working to ensure that we are matching and/or exceeding the efforts that are being asked of other users groups like the boating community Aquatic Invasive Species are second only to Safety issues at SPA, as they have become our largest threat to water access, so we highly encourage all seaplane pilots to stay informed on this topic and listen to this episode. TurboFloatPump.com

SPA Board Member Harry Shannon joins Steve McCaughey to review our recent SPA advocacy tour through Alaska. During the trip SPA conducted numerous safety workshops, visited Alaska Seaplanes' amazing operation in Juneau and attended the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering. The crew traveled over 2,500 miles during the three week trip that included stops in Anchorage, Palmer, Talkeetna, Fairbanks and Juneau.

Toby Ortega from Alaska Seaplanes joins us to discuss what it is like to fly for this industry leading seaplane company. They operate primarily throughout the Southeast Alaska region. Alaska Seaplanes recently hosted SPA and provided us with a tour and introspection into their growing and amazingly well organized seaplane business while celebrating their 25 year anniversary. Operating over 15 aircraft, half of which are seaplanes, Alaska Seaplanes flies 90,000 passengers and over 2.7 million pounds of cargo annually. flyalaskaseaplanes.com

Melissa Grabiec has had quite a journey since joining the Seaplane Pilots Association. As a traveling volunteer doing events across the country in her early 20's, to earning her ATP, and flying for a major airline, she is now starting her own seaplane service. Melissa started her seaplane journey, like many others, at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in 2012. Eleven years later, she is flying for a major airline and launching Bel-Air Seaplane Service, which is operating off of Messalonskee Lake, in Maine. This a fun interview with a passionate Lifetime SPA member which is inspirational; especially, to young pilots looking for chase a career in aviation. https://belairseaplaneservice.com

Paul Richards CEO of Clamar Floats joins Steve McCaughey for an exploration of the largest float manufacturer of experimental floats. Clamar has long been associated as a leader in composite float manufacturing for aircraft such as the Aircam, GlasAir Sportsman and many others. Innovative design, constant improvement and high quality are all traits of this company's quest to produce these great performing seaplane floats. Born in Canada Clamar now produces their floats at a unique manufacturing facility in Brunswick, Maine in a retired military base that has had its vast facilities converted into a manufacturing and incubator that is proving to be a model worth replicating for other states looking beyond residential redevelopment of former military bases. https://clamarfloats.com

Dan Dufault sits down with Steve McCaughey for this episode of the Water Flying podcast. As a former Maine Game Warden, Alaska lodge pilot and floatplane adventurer, Dan has a wealth of experience and and engineering background that has lead him to design innovative products such as the T3 Tailwheel, Paddle Pump and numerous other products used by passionate bush pilots. From stocking fisheries via float plane airdrops to monitoring wildlife populations Dan's experiences and flying skills provide a wealth of fascinating subject matter for us to explore in a way that we are sure you will enjoy.

Gregg Munro Chairman of Kenmore Air Harbor was, quite literally, born into the Kenmore Air family. He grew up on the banks of Lake Washington, surrounded by mechanics, and seaplanes. In this episode, of the Water Flying podcast Gregg sits down with Steve McCaughey to discuss the amazing history, flights and services Kenmore has provided over the years. For more than 75 years Kenmore has been an indispensable part of the seaplane community providing seaplane parts & maintenance, floatplane sales, seaplane flight training, manufactured EDO floats and operated one of the largest seaplane services in the world. This is a must listen podcast of any fan of seaplanes. kenmoreair.com

Robert Grant joins us on this episode of the Water Flying podcast. Robert is a regular feature writer with WaterFlying magazine, he has logged over 20,000 of flight time, 6,000 hours of seaplane time - 3,000+ of which he did in the Turbo Beaver flying for the Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Natural Resources. Join us as Robert shares his experiences flying these amazing seaplanes in the Canadian bush supporting research, medical evacuations, and fire fighting missions among many others. This is a great episode to learn more about the De Havilland Turbo Beaver floatplane, and the real world missions that built their legendary status with aviation enthusiasts and pilots.

Turbine Grumman Gooses are ultra rare, and Doug DeVries not only spent 10 years restoring one but also has taken this G21G on a series of incredible adventures. In this episode of SPA's WaterFlying podcast, I sit down with Doug to discuss restoring the Goose, learning to fly it, and embarking on a flying boat adventure to the outer most Aleutian islands. Doug has an amazing passion and commitment to restoring vintage aircraft, including his breathtaking G-21G Grumman Goose flying boat. Just as impressive is the journeys that most of of would dream of taking and that he actually embarks on with these aircraft. Doug is a fascinating pilot who has lived a life putting his passion into action. Join the Seaplane Pilots Association @ seaplanes.org

David L. Johnston joins Steve McCaughey in this WaterFlying podcast to discuss his experiences as a dock boy for Avalon Air Transport (Catalina Air Lines), which at the time operated a fleet of Grumman Gooses as well as the incredible Sikorsky VS-44 four-engine flying boat. In addition to working the seaplane dock between 1962 and 1968, David has become a passionate aviation historian of the long and colorful history of the island off the coast of Southern California. Only three VS-44s were produced by Sikorsky, and the one that David worked with survives today. You can visit it, the last Sikorsky flying boat design, at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. To learn more about this magical time in seaplane and flying boat history you can purchase David's book "The Knights of Avalon" by clicking here.

Having conducted over 19,000 seaplane checkrides; more than anyone else in history - Jon Brown is a true seaplane legend. In this episode of Water Flying, Jon joins Steve McCaughey for a reflection on his 48 years as a seaplane examiner. Jon's father opened Jack Brown's Seaplane Base, the world's most active seaplane school in 1963. Now, 60 years later business is stronger than ever. This a must-hear and fascinating discussion with one of the highest time seaplane pilots in the world. Visit Brown's website at: https://brownsseaplane.com

Photos of seaplanes have a magical allure that attracts people to them like a magnet, and this is a well known secret among marketing agencies, movie & tv producers and aviation magazines like AOPA Pilot, EAA Sport Pilot and Flying among others. Mark Twombly, editor of "WaterFlying" magazine joins Steve McCaughey for an exploration of how to capture great seaplane photos. Whether you are shooting with an iPhone or professional camera there are some tips and tricks to capturing the allure of seaplanes in their environment, and we explore them in this episode of the Water Flying podcast. Support this podcast by donating at: https://seaplanefoundation.org/donate/

Charlie Hammonds joins Steve to discuss the little known history of the massive floatplane community that used to exist in Louisiana. Over 300 seaplanes worked the oil fields with extremely demanding conditions including weather, night operations, and risky dockings. Charlie was one of the pioneers of the floatplane community starting a commercial seaplane operation, base and flight school when he was only 21 years old. In addition to seaplanes, Charlie founded an airline at 26 years old , trained movie stunt pilots, broke the speed of sound in a F-15, and his son flew in the original "Top Gun."

Kaylab Verdin from Fire and Medical Training Centre in Houma, Louisiana joins Steve McCaughey to talk about the AUET (Aircraft Underwater Escape Training) for seaplanes that they provide in their Triton training system. Leading by example SPA's Board member's recently joined SPA staff members Steve McCaughey and Carter Clay for this invaluable training for seaplane pilots. This discussion explores the course, its value in a life threatening scenario like a gear down water landing and the challenges of doing so - even in a controlled environment. For more information on this course please reach out to the Seaplane Safety Institute at http://www.southernseaplane.com/seaplane-safety-institute Seaplane Pilots Association members get a discount on our group programs.

SPA Lifetime Member Dave Wellman returns for a fascinating account of his attempt to fly a straight float Cessna 172 across the United States. In part 1 of Dave's journey, we discussed the inception of the idea, the planning and preparation and the training that took place before he started this epic journey east bound from Washington state to Maine to attend the Greenville International Seaplane Fly-In. Will he make it? Tune in to find out, as he shares his incredible journey across the top of the United States in his Cessna seaplane.

SPA Lifetime Member Dave Wellman joins us on this episode of Water Flying to explore whether or not it is possible to fly a straight float seaplane across the United States. This is the first of a two part episode exploring Dave's attempt to fly a straight float Cessna 172 from Washington state to Maine. This is the kind of adventure many seaplane pilots dream of getting the chance to embark on. We discuss the planning, the training, the research and the execution of this ambitious cross country flight.

SPA's event and volunteer coordinator Carter Clay, joins Steve to discuss the opportunities, and many of the needs the Seaplane Pilots Association has for volunteers in 2023. Volunteers are the real horsepower of non-profits like the Seaplane Pilots Association, and we have numerous ways you can put your passion into action helping the Water Flying community. Whether you volunteer for a single event or become one of our regular team members, volunteers are the force multipliers that will continue to make the Seaplane Pilots Association more effective in our mission of protecting and promoting water flying. To inquire about volunteering contact: Carter Clay at Carter@seaplanes.org or call us at 863-701-7979.

Seaplane Pilots Association Chairman Steve Williams joins Steve McCaughey for a 2022 "Year in Review." As the last episode of the year we always like to take time to provide a very condensed and shortened version of our activities during the year. As always, 2022 was a busy year dividing our time, energy and resources between in person events, safety & education, communications activities such as this podcast and Water Flying magazine and advocacy at a local, state and national level for our members. This podcast provides a informative review of our agenda and accomplishments across 2022. seaplanes.org

Steve McCaughey is joined by Peter Christie, Slade Rosamond, and Carter Clay to discuss their lessons and experiences learned flying with Steve on a 5,000 mile seaplane cross country. The Super Cub's first stretch was flown by Slade from home base in Winter Haven, FL to 19-Mile Bay, NH in support of keeping the Lake Winnipesaukee bay open. After the public hearing in New Hampshire the plane was flown to Brunswick, Maine where the Super Cub sat for two months during Oshkosh. Carter flew the second leg from Maine to Minnesota in support of the Greenville International Seaplane Fly-in and the MSPA Safety Seminar at Maddens Resort in Brainerd, MN. The Super Cub sat again for two months this time at Wipaire's Factory in Minnesota. The last leg was flown with Peter to return the Super Cub back to home base in Winter Haven. Once all was said and done, the Super Cub logged 80 hours and crossed 25 states in this seaplane cross-country adventure.