Thursday, March 08, 2018

How come guys never want a flying boat?
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. RobThursday, March 08, 2018 7:08:00 PM

    Why would anyone think we don't want an amphibian? If I could afford the gas to do a mag check before take off I'd be damned serious about it! :-)

    http://pixdaus.com/grumman-hu-16-albatross-amphibious-aircraft-twin-engine-grum/items/view/571629/

    ReplyDelete
  2. she said:Friday, March 09, 2018 11:48:00 AM

    Hey wait. That's a technical grey area. It is ~sort~ of a flying boat though. I guess I didn't realize the coast guard had water planes. I figured they just used heli's. Where would you use that though? On lakes? The water has to be smooth right?

    Nicely played though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFriday, March 09, 2018 5:24:00 PM

    Hello She Said,

    You are correct, the US Coast Guard no longer has any flying boats.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_United_States_Coast_Guard

    Different flying boats were / are designed to land in different levels of water turbulence. Some were able to land / take off in comparatively rough water. A lot of guys would love a flying boat though would have to have the money, a place to fly / land and the skill. you might like, a current popular brand is https://www.iconaircraft.com/a5

    Where would you fly?

    Jeff

    ReplyDelete
  4. Capital of Texas RefugeeFriday, March 09, 2018 10:42:00 PM

    Where would I fly ...

    Between FLL (Fort Lauderdale) and NAS (Nassau, Bahamas), definitely.

    It takes too long sometimes to get to Nassau by charter shuttle boat or by one of the ferries out of Port Everglades, and it takes even longer to deal with typical Worst Class/Herd Class commercial flight arrangements because of all of the stateside airport security.

    Once upon a time, there was a commercial seaplane service here and the route actually was between FLL and NAS: Chalk's International Airlines. They were one of the "rum runner" air fleets during Prohibition.

    There's a really cool photo or two on Wikipedia of some of the Grumman Turbo Mallard seaplanes they had back before they went out of business.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSaturday, March 10, 2018 11:51:00 AM

    Good Morning Capital of Texas Refugee,

    There is a company, from Texas, imagine that, that wants to bring back the Mallard.
    http://www.mallardaircraft.com/ .

    Maintenance costs are a factor as it is both a plane and a boat. Not sure how much more cost effective the newer turbos are over the radials. I expect Chalk did the best that could have been done and it was still not cost effective. Still, your point is good.

    To get around current security screenings a renewed Chalk could go as a scheduled charter. Not really clear on the laws on that though the operations I have seen seem to be regular airlines in all but legal name and with no TSA checks. Flying across borders changes the rules too. Might make sense to base in Bahamas to be more subject to their laws. Even if you are a regular airline with scheduled flights fully subject to TSA, if you are the only airline operating from the marina and carrying only a dozen passengers, if TSA stations a guard team, how much of a delay would there really be?

    Very roughly, looks like it would be possible to buy a Cessna Grand Caravan (or fleet) with pontoons, operating cost about $1000 and hour, twice daily service from Miami, Ft Lauderdale and or Palm Beach. one way ticket price $125 to which ever locations in Bahamas you choose for one hour transit time and be (barely) profitable. Price is comparable to flights from the airports. Not sure which marinas you should use for depart and destination.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RobSunday, March 11, 2018 8:24:00 PM

    The sea planes landed where ever it was necessary & if they could. Some of the stories the old times had back in the late 70's were great! I had a Chief who was a new guy & stationed in Miami during the Cuban revolution, good stories!

    The HH-52A & the HH-3F were the last amphibian aircraft the CG had & they were both helicopters. I did water work with the HH-52 & it was fun.

    Corrosion was a big problem with all the water work in the salt water. That was why they stopped using the HU-16 in the water. Or so I was told back then.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)