bljones
Well-Known Member
Easy there, Stephen Hawking.
Silly question about small seaplanes
- Thread starter Greenheart
- Start date
pagoda
Well-Known Member
The one at Loch Earn is I think owned by the owners of the castle on the south side of the loch.
I watched it taxi from the grass -across the gravelly beach and take to the water last year. It all looked very informal.
They simply motored down wind a bit, turned head to wind and took off - all inside maybe 200 yards. They just waited briefly for the water ski boats to get out the way!
There are plenty in Victoria Harbour - Vancouver Island as well. They appear to come and go without clashing with normal boat movements -or any great formality. Nice to watch.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=vic...ional+District,+British+Columbia,+Canada&z=17
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
'tis the former.Mr Wright, as an abso-bloomin'-lutely obsessive, pedantic proofreader, I'm nervously insecure about whether it was MY spelling of 'separate' that you applaud, or an instance of my error, corrected by Seajet. Could you clarify? I can't eat till then...
Why with auto spell checking we still suffer howlers I know not.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Perhaps I should be glad if Spellcheck isn't much used or isn't effective - proofreading is the only thing I do better than most!
SHUG
Well-Known Member
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Good little film, cheers! 
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Eye quiet agree.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Not quiet enough, though! 
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Not quiet enough, though!
Aye no watt ewe mean.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Gud greef, vatz orefool!
(Regular, bog-standard misuse of English will resume sune. Soon?)
(Regular, bog-standard misuse of English will resume sune. Soon?)
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Sorry Graham, you've lost me, there. It's very easily done!
Here's footage of the eckranoplan hovercraft. It looks fantastic to me, not too expensively out of reach and lots of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwC8MP6uOiQ
The only question is, what is it, in the eyes of the funstoppers? Not an aircraft, surely? Does anybody know?
Here's footage of the eckranoplan hovercraft. It looks fantastic to me, not too expensively out of reach and lots of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwC8MP6uOiQ
The only question is, what is it, in the eyes of the funstoppers? Not an aircraft, surely? Does anybody know?
PaulJS
Well-Known Member
I always fancied flying an "Edra Super Petrel" onto our local estuary... But as I'm not rich, can't fly, and live in the UK, I don't think that it's going to happen!
You'll need to paste this into the address bar as I don't know how to insert it as a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwGUPQ6x4vA
Edit...Ahh! That was easy!!!
You'll need to paste this into the address bar as I don't know how to insert it as a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwGUPQ6x4vA
Edit...Ahh! That was easy!!!
Seajet
...
PaulJS,
thanks for that; smashing little aeroplane, I've always fancied one too !
A bit like a modern Walrus, another aircraft I've always thought deserved more recognition; well it's an amphibeous biplane with a pusher prop anyway...
Dancrane,
just got in to see your query about the pic' I posted; that was a Sea Harrier FRS1, of the type which did so well in the Falklands; John Farley did that for me 4 times, 300+ knots at 30' all smooth with no drama ( we measured altitude by the shadow afterwards, as the negative is square ) - as he knew I only had 1 shot per pass - got 2...
thanks for that; smashing little aeroplane, I've always fancied one too !
A bit like a modern Walrus, another aircraft I've always thought deserved more recognition; well it's an amphibeous biplane with a pusher prop anyway...
Dancrane,
just got in to see your query about the pic' I posted; that was a Sea Harrier FRS1, of the type which did so well in the Falklands; John Farley did that for me 4 times, 300+ knots at 30' all smooth with no drama ( we measured altitude by the shadow afterwards, as the negative is square ) - as he knew I only had 1 shot per pass - got 2...
Last edited:
ffiill
Well-Known Member
Its far worse than that -they book their superyacht onto the sail on ferry which then delivers it to the Med. West Indies or wherever.
Seriously the boat sails into a dock which is then pumped out and the boat is then taken to wherever the owner needs it.
If its a smaller yacht then you just put it on the drive on ferry at Southampton on a low loader and its whisked away to wherever in the world.
Not only does the owner fly over to join it he also flies ashore to the pub as was witnessed in Arisaig a couple of years ago.
William_H
Well-Known Member
Salt water and aircraft
Aluminium is still mostly regarded as the best ie lightest and strongest material for making aircraft. But it does not like salt water especially in thin metal and multiple joins.
We so often see the helicopter rescue on TV with the victim and rescuer winched to safety in the chopper. No one thinks of the poor engineer cleaning out all the salt water from the cabin and under floor after a rescue. Our locals were trying to devise a great fibreglass tray for the cabin but it was probably too heavy.
I can't imagine dunking a chinook into the water just to recover RIBs. It would be cheaper to abandon the RIBs.(winch the crew) Anyway most bigger helicopters are designed to float in the case of a ditching but not good for regular amphibious operation.
Re. Flying boats. yes I forgot that name as I regard it as an old fashioned name. Ah the language barriers not just between continents but also age groups.
The lovely picture of the float plane is one of a Cessna 208 (the same I referred to earlier in north of West Oz.) This plane type is an evolution of the high winged Cessna that first emerged in 1945. The C208 has a very powerful Pratt and Whitney PT6 turbo shaft engine and a huge cabin. The plane is a good money maker work horse and has proved ideal for floats or skis. Sometimes the simple is best. olewill
Aluminium is still mostly regarded as the best ie lightest and strongest material for making aircraft. But it does not like salt water especially in thin metal and multiple joins.
We so often see the helicopter rescue on TV with the victim and rescuer winched to safety in the chopper. No one thinks of the poor engineer cleaning out all the salt water from the cabin and under floor after a rescue. Our locals were trying to devise a great fibreglass tray for the cabin but it was probably too heavy.
I can't imagine dunking a chinook into the water just to recover RIBs. It would be cheaper to abandon the RIBs.(winch the crew) Anyway most bigger helicopters are designed to float in the case of a ditching but not good for regular amphibious operation.
Re. Flying boats. yes I forgot that name as I regard it as an old fashioned name. Ah the language barriers not just between continents but also age groups.
The lovely picture of the float plane is one of a Cessna 208 (the same I referred to earlier in north of West Oz.) This plane type is an evolution of the high winged Cessna that first emerged in 1945. The C208 has a very powerful Pratt and Whitney PT6 turbo shaft engine and a huge cabin. The plane is a good money maker work horse and has proved ideal for floats or skis. Sometimes the simple is best. olewill
JayBee
Well-Known Member
prv
Well-Known Member
I think the assumption is that the locals are tearing after them behind a volley of lead. Hence the really rather James Bond option of a helicopter swooping in from nowhere, RIBs into the back of it, and away again in seconds. That's really going to piss on the chips of the guys chasing, especially if they were catching up
. No time to mess about picking the boys up two by two on the end of a wire though.I assume this would have been the Special Forces Flight, who were (are?) based at Odiham and provide the air transport for the folks in black balaclavas.
Pete
sailorbaz
Well-Known Member
Amphibian
I worked in Toronto in the late 1960's with a guy who had an amphibian which he kept at a small airfield. It was a Lake Colonial Skimmer with a pusher engine mounted above the high wing. He was always looking for a passenger as the wheels had to be hydraulically pumped up by hand and he couldn't fly the plane and pump at the same time. We flew north into the 'wilderness' and landed on lakes. The technique was to do a low pass over the water to check for floating logs/ beavers etc. - then pull up in a big oval circuit point the nose at the lake at a 3° angle and just descend until it hit the water, then keep it flying gradually bringing the throttle back when it suddenly became a boat it was like hitting a brick wall!
You could also pump the wheels down in the water and taxi up a beach, which we did and camped for the night.
The company later made a 4-seat version and by chance I saw one flying over Jervis Bay in NSW where I now live a few weeks ago - but it didn't land.
Sailorbaz
I worked in Toronto in the late 1960's with a guy who had an amphibian which he kept at a small airfield. It was a Lake Colonial Skimmer with a pusher engine mounted above the high wing. He was always looking for a passenger as the wheels had to be hydraulically pumped up by hand and he couldn't fly the plane and pump at the same time. We flew north into the 'wilderness' and landed on lakes. The technique was to do a low pass over the water to check for floating logs/ beavers etc. - then pull up in a big oval circuit point the nose at the lake at a 3° angle and just descend until it hit the water, then keep it flying gradually bringing the throttle back when it suddenly became a boat it was like hitting a brick wall!
You could also pump the wheels down in the water and taxi up a beach, which we did and camped for the night.
The company later made a 4-seat version and by chance I saw one flying over Jervis Bay in NSW where I now live a few weeks ago - but it didn't land.
Sailorbaz
Seajet
...
I'm sure many here will be aware of the Supermarine Walrus, used for a lot of things in WWII but best known for rescuing ditched fighter & bomber crews.
There are several tales of these aircraft ( and Catalina's too I think ) rescuing so many people they couldn't take off, so had to motor back to port on the surface !
Universally known as the 'Shagbat', there was one for SAR on my Dad's Escort Carriers, he mentions when walking behind it would throw globules of hot grease at one...
There are several tales of these aircraft ( and Catalina's too I think ) rescuing so many people they couldn't take off, so had to motor back to port on the surface !
Universally known as the 'Shagbat', there was one for SAR on my Dad's Escort Carriers, he mentions when walking behind it would throw globules of hot grease at one...