Proposed Seaplane Operation Areas on Medway - madness!

Listening Watch

Though I cannot find a primary source to confirm it, I believe there is a "bye law" requirement to maintain a listening watch on VHF CH74 on the Medway. Usual caveats apply, supposes you have a VHF and so on.
 
Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

Small seaplanes have been using the Medway for ages for training practice.
The fact that no one seems to have been aware of it demonstrates just how unaffected the river has been by their previous presence.Anybody who has kept their eyes open will have been aware of their activities.The most recent aircraft is about the size of a Cessna and its coming and going has obviously escaped most river users and probably would have continued to do so.
The one which previously was to be seen flying upstream past Upnor village was slightly bigger but again did its business without any comment from locals or boaters alike.
Good on them,something interesting to watch :)Think there were already two designated landing areas for seaplanes in the Medway denoted on aeronautical charts, probably there before the Dutch invaded.
What next,a ban on the Stampe out of Headcorn doing low flying over Stangate Creek in case it hits the top of yacht masts,

a seaplane departs
025.jpg
 
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Re: Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

Well what was the point of the consultation? Peel Ports have issued a code of Practice for Seaplane Operations http://peelports.com/wp-content/uplo...ctice-2016.pdf and have changed the landing area from Long Reach to Stangate Creek. This could become very interesting on a busy summer weekend.
 
Re: Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

Fred, nice photo - where was it taken ?
It should put some minds at rest to clarify that there are no circumstances when boats will have to give way to the plane or need to listen for the VTS announcements. The plane will always have to keep clear of vessels on the water when taking off and landing. On the water the seaplane is a powered vessel for the purpose of the colregs. There is only one plane (a Husky G-WATR from Rochester Airport) and no commercial seaplanes will be permitted in the Medway/Swale area. You can access the Code of Practice from the MSBA website www.msba.org.uk)
 
Re: Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

I hate to say this but there was another seaplane operating in the Swale last Sunday. It was near Fowley Island. Didn't take a lot of notice as I was preoccupied with finding the gutway at the time!
 
Re: Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

I'm struggling to get that excited over this, it is after all just a plane and it can't be that hard for us to miss each other....

I'm surprised that appear to have allocated two "runways" for them that both appear to be almost North/South orientation. I would have though they would want one East/West so they can land whatever the wind direction happens to be.

Presumably once they are on the water they are just another boat so they have to taxi to wherever they want to land or anchor?

We'll have to try and persuade them to join our next raft up in Stangate, would make a good photo.... :)
 
Re: Death and Destruction from the skies ...actual picture :)

I have been sailing the Medway since the early eighties and never had an issue with the seaplanes, including the Sunderland that used to be based there. Never saw take off though!

A raft up in with a seaplane in Queenborough sound a great idea! perhaps we could blag a ride.
 
It looks like Gillingham in the distance but I don't recognise the flat-topped pyramid or the triangle-topped post, presumably the start line for a club.
 
Tony, the picture looks as if it's been taken pretty much from the base of the Queenborough ATL. The triangle topped post marks the end of the spit on the starboard side as you follow the Swale up beyond Queenborough. The concrete barge would be just out of shot to the right. If you go on the Queenborough Webcam you can see the earth mound in the distance on the end of the Rushenden spit.

http://queenborough-harbour.co.uk/webcam/
 
I see the thread title has changed to something a little less alarmist. I'm a yachtsman of 40 years and a pilot with a seaplane rating. The first thing to say is that pilots are independently examined, unlike the vast majority of yachtsman in the UK. I'm brushing up my French to get my permis cotier in France as I write!

Aircraft are amazingly frail. A simple 'kiss' is enough to cause damage which will ground an aircraft, a chip in the gelcoat, crack in the grp, in an aircraft represents a near fatal damage.

Not surprisingly this makes pilots somewhat paranoid about any form of contact. During the training for a floatplane rating t is stressed just how vulnerable the aircraft is. Marinas are out, wakes are out, anything with vertical obstructions, weed, shallow water, waves. You name it, virtually everything can hurt a floatplane.

So needless to say the aircraft will do everything to avoid these circumstances, and importantly the pilot will actually have been trained to do that.
My own experiences are that the worst thing on the world is a bunch of youths on jet skis - the definition of moronic stupidity, Powerboats, not usually quick enough to respond to cause a problem - but their wakes often mean patience is required to takeoff.

Yachts? well if you sail they are predictable enough, so long as they have some basic competence. But the shallow water between shore and a couple of metres depth is a really good buffer zone.

So a floatplane needs a couple of hundred metres of clamish water with no traffic. Even in the busiest waterways this is actually pretty easy, the issue is usually keeping the traffic far enough away that even that 'brushing contact' does not damage the aircraft.
 
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