Good morning, Pilot DAR. Nice to hear from you.
I've never seen the point of a lifejacket stowed in an aircraft. Either you are wearing it, or it might as well not be with you at all. It hadn't occurred to me that it could get ripped on the way out. Though in march the water was quite cold enough to make survival unlikely, by the time anyone saw we were swimming.
The one flight I did at Biscarrosse the briefing included pretty much all of what you have posted, and in particular the undercarriage checks and evacuation procedures. And how to work the manual gear pump, available only from the front seat. The land airfield is only a couple of km from the lake, so first takeoff was from the runway, as was last landing. There is a ramp to get onto land from the lake, but it doesn't connect with the airfield where the hangar is. I flew a Super cub on amphibious floats. Gear lights (four blue, four green, and red in transit) and a mechanical indicator. Also a voice reminder of the gear position which was male for wheels down, female for wheels up.
And yes, I got to say the gear position twice per circuit.
The rate of climb wasn't too bad, two up and half tanks. Cruising speed I don't know, we didn't do any significant straight and level.
You haven't put me off, you know....I still want to do this.