Part 5 of: What is the Difference Between a Floatplane and a Seaplane? One of the more questionable quotes I often hear seaplane promoters say is that 71% of the world is covered by water. Ok, but we can land in only 1% of that area 70% of the time. I confess I made...
Part Four of: What is the Difference Between a Floatplane and a Seaplane? In part three, I covered sea states and the importance of operators having seaworthy aircraft and sea-ready pilots. Here, I will look deeper into seaworthiness and how flying boats and amphibians can make a difference. The Pan Am Clippers are the...
Part Three of: What is the Difference Between a Floatplane and a Seaplane? You cannot find the definition of sea readiness in a dictionary. The Navy has an equivalent process called Ship Readiness, which involves assessing whether ships and crew are ready to operate in the waters of the world’s oceans. I do the...
Seaplanes and Seastates In part one, I defined the terms needed to understand the fundamental technical aspects of seaplanes. Now, I will discuss the definitions required to understand the essential technical aspects of operating in the sea. This means understanding sea states and how they relate to seaplane flight operations. After reading this chapter,...
Part One: Floatplanes, Flying Boats, and Seaplanes Richard Quest, a CNN business commentator and aviation analyst, asked me, “What is the difference between a floatplane and a seaplane?” Richard explained that on a newscast, he called an airplane on floats a seaplane, and the know-it-alls bombarded him with comments saying he got it wrong....
