Floatplane in Sydney

[TangoZulu]

Hi

I am currently on holiday in Sydney and have seen the floatplanes doing the scenic flights.

I would like to do one of these, but preferably with an instructor so I have a chance to fly a bit myself (UK PPL) and possibly go for a bit longer than the regular 15 minute circuit of the harbour.

I have made some enquiries here at one of the companies and looked on the web but am struggling to find a company or school which could offer this?

Can anyone provide any pointers please?

Thanks

TZ

[rearviewmirror]

TZ, try SeaWing, he might still be doing training in the Beaver - SWB, expensive, but a very tidy beaver. Apart from that, there is a guy up at Port Stephens, about 2.5 hours north, he does training in a C-185.

[kiwiblue]

Try Nelson Bay... C206 on PeeKays @ $550ph training

[4SPOOLED]

why would a 206 be that much per hour even if it is a seaplane when a 210 is only $325 per hour?

Is it lack of competition?

I mean a floaty wouldnt have to pay landing fees or anything would it?

I would imagine if it didnt have gear un the floats though it would be an expensive op to give it its 100 hourly's

interesting...anyone shed any light on this one?

[disco_air]

Upkeep costs in general for floatplanes are significantly higher than landplane counterparts, not to mention access to terminals, fuel, maintenance etc etc

This is especially true for saltwater based seaplanes - corrosion works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Steve will take you for a run in his Beaver VH-SWB, however it may be expensive. Look here (http://www.seawing-airways.com.au)

...Disco

[Woomera]

4SPOOLED. I suspect he's asking his real cost of operation plus profit.

I have no problem with $550 per hour for a C206 on floats.

Welcome to the real world.

Woomera

[Binoculars]

I'm way out of my league here, and only repeating figures given to me, but I remember vividly being shown the effect of corrosion on a Beaver prop by the pilot, and being told that a new prop was $27,000, with a useful life of 400 (?) hrs. Those figures may be slightly out but I remember being astonished that replacement prop costs were $65 an hour before anything else was taken into consideration. That would have been at least eight years ago now.