Originally Posted by
Flying Ted
Hi guys,
thanks for the replies. this is a genuine inquiry.
BR: the open vs closed water is helpful. What of sort of time would be talking about to gain sufficient experience? (FYi, I hold an open water skippers ticket) Are there any canadian or Alaskan operators that you could suggest I approach. To be clear, I’m looking for private ops and not a job.
tyanks also for the suggestions about Williamstown. This is close to home.
cheers eric
While an open water skippers licence will help a bit with some experience reading the water, flying floats adds a new dynamic (How often have you been going 60-100kt on the water?). Having said that, there are a number of pilots, myself included, that have started their career flying floats in open water. It does require some solid mentoring and supervision to begin with. Flying floats is definitely the most fun you can have with your pants on, but it requires discipline and things can go from good to bad very, very quickly.
Rod Gunther at Melbourne Seaplanes is a very good instructor and does a very good float rating.