WEBVTT

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PHILIP GREENSPUN: Hi.

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We're going to talk
about seaplanes.

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And there's two
different designs.

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You can have a
boat hull seaplane,

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or you can have a conventional
airplane on floats.

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So there at the bottom left
is part of the Grumman series.

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They made a huge number of
these around World War II,

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and many of them
are still flying.

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You can see always probably
15 or 20 of these at Oshkosh

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every year in different sizes.

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The Widgeon is the smallest.

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The Albatross is the biggest.

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I forget if that's a Martin
Mars up there on the top left.

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There are some truly
huge seaplanes.

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Boeing, Sikorsky,
and Martin, I think,

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all made huge seaplanes during
World War II and just before.

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The bush pilots don't like
the small boat hull seaplanes,

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like the Lake Amphibian.

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And I guess the
Icon they probably

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wouldn't like if it ever did
ship out there to Alaska.

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I think one issue with
the boat hull planes is

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they are very hard to dock.

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You have to design some
special dock for them.

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They're really designed
more for beaching,

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whereas the float
planes very naturally

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come up to a dock like a boat.

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That's one issue.

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So yeah, you might think those
float planes look so unstable,

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but the bush pilots love them.

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It's hard to get on and
off the water, which

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is why a practical seaplane
really should have,

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in most cases, a
turbo prop engine

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to get enough power to
really get off the water.

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So we do have, in
Alaska, locally--

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it's called Maine.

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There's a fair amount of
seaplane flying up there.

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These are a couple of
US government planes.

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If you want to know
why your taxes are

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going in the direction
that they're going,

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look on the bottom right.

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That was the government's.

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I saw these two plane
side by side on the ramp.

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Portland, Maine
has a wonderful FBO

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called MAC Jets, which
is very hospitable.

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They have crew cars,
reasonably priced 100 low lead.

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They're really just operating it
as a gift to the piston crowd,

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of course.

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They're really there
for the turbine--

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as a business, they're
there for the Jets.

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But it's a great place
that you can use, and jump

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in the crew car, go into town.

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But anyway, on the
ramp, I happened

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to see there's a little Piston
Cessna on floats that they

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bought 15 or 20 years ago
for Fish and Wildlife patrol

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or something.

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I think this is a federal
government airplane.

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And now, they have
this monster thing

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that they're replacing
it with, that has

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a fire-breathing turboprop
engine that probably costs five

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times as much per hour to run.

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OK.

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Every year in September, there
is the Moosehead Lake Seaplane

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Fly-in.

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And you might ask, can you fly
in the air in the East Coast

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Aero Club plane
that you've rented?

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The answer is yes,
although you probably

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can't fly back out if you
choose the lake as your landing

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destination.

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But there is a wheeled
airport there as well

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that's pretty reasonable.

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I think it's about
a 4,000-foot runway.

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So if the weather's nice,
that's a great place

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to go, up in Moosehead Lake.

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It's a long drive.

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It's about probably a
five-hour drive from here.

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The hard thing
about seaplanes is

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if the float is all
the way in the water,

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it will never take off.

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There's so much drag.

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You have to get up
on the step, which

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if you're a boater corresponds
to getting up on the plane,

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I guess, of a planing haul.

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So basically, you can't have
the entire float in the water

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if you ever want to take off.

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Let's just show a short
YouTube video here.

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We have no sound.

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Oh well, that's fine.

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So you can see this
Caravan on floats.

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I think it's a Caravan.

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It's beginning to
get up on the step.

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And finally, it can break loose.

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Anyway, that's how it's done.

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Crosswind landing--
this is how it's

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done, according to the FAA.

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So the FAA's mission--

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[LAUGHTER]

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The FAA's mission
is, in addition

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to regulating aviation,
they're explicitly

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supposed to promote aviation.

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It's a rare agency.

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So part of their mission is
to encourage people to fly.

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And this is the best that
they can do for seaplanes.

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So it does tell you--

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Like I was telling you,
the problem with seaplanes

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is if you make an error on
Hanscom on Runway 29, first

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of all, it's 150 feet wide.

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And the gear on your airplane
might only be 10 feet wide.

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So you can slide quite a bit,
left or right, before you even

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leave the pavement.

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If you do leave the
pavement, you're

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skidding along the
grass, and the owner

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is going to have some harsh
words for you, perhaps.

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But otherwise, nothing too
dramatic is going to happen.

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Glassy-- this is the
FAA's glassy water landing

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demonstration.

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So if there is no wind at all,
you might think, that's great.

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That's perfect for
seaplane flying.

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It's hard to judge
where the water is.

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A little bit of wind that
causes some ripples on the water

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makes it much easier
to judge your distance.

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So here's your alternatives.

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You can not flare at all, and
crash into the water that way.

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Or you can flare too high,
and then crash into the water.

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What's that?

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AUDIENCE: Those are
the only possibilities.

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PHILIP GREENSPUN: Those
are the only possibilities.

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What's the question,
radar altimeter?

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AUDIENCE: No.

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So hello.

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For seaplanes, do you wait until
you have seen VR before while

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taking off, or do you have
the floats clear the water

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and [? take ?] [? off? ?]

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PHILIP GREENSPUN:
The question is,

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do you wait until
VR to take off,

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or do you just wait till the
floats have cleared the water

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and take off?

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That's a good question.

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It's so inefficient to be
dragged into the water.

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I think you lift out of the
water just as soon as you can.

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And then you'll
probably float-- you'll

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fly along the ground
effect for a little bit,

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and then finally take off.

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But yeah, just like on a soft
field, like slightly muddy

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grass or something, the
best thing you can do

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is to get away from the
surface that's dragging on you.

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Great question.

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All right.

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Here's the docking and beaching.

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So one challenge
with a seaplane,

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if you're all by yourself, is
you have to be tremendously

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agile and nimble to get out
of the plane, kill the engine,

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scramble around usually
the front of the airplane

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and the propeller-- because
you're sitting on the left,

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and the passengers are going
to get off on the right--

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and tie up the
airplane to the dock.

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It's very hard to do.

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That's one of the
hardest things,

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I think, about seaplanes.

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And also, if the magnetos
aren't perfectly grounded,

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airplane engines can
start by themselves.

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After saying we shouldn't
tell you stuff that's scary--

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if it's not perfectly
grounded by that switch,

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and you don't starve
the engine of the fuel

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by killing it with
the mixture, it

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may be able to start all
by itself, at least run

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for a half a rotation or full
rotation, and hurt somebody.

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So you always want to be
cautious around propellers

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and not spin them.

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But of course, if you're
trying to get around

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the front of your
seaplane, the propeller

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is the most obvious
thing to grab onto.

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Anyway, I don't
think I would ever

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want to fly a seaplane unless
there were dock handlers who

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were going to deal with
that part of welcoming

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the airplane to the dock
and tying it all up.

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But of course, the folks in
Alaska do this all the time.

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So have respect when
you see a seaplane.

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So there are a lot of bad
things that you can do.

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Believe it or not, landing
in the sea is something

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that's almost-- in practice,
it's almost impossible

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on a seaplane because there's
too much in the way of waves,

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that really-- for
harbors, rivers, lakes,

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if you have more
than a foot of--

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if the waves are more
than about a foot,

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it just bangs up the seaplane
so much that it will be damaged.

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Landing the amphibious
plane with the wheels

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down is one of the
most common mistakes.

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You might think
software would fix

00:08:36.750 --> 00:08:41.130
this, that if you have
a database of where

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all the runways are in the US,
you have a database of where

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the lakes are, and
other bodies of water--

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but you don't even
really need that.

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So you could have a lot.

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You could have a
camera out in the front

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that can tell the difference
between water and not water.

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So you would think that
the airplane would provide

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significant assistance in
configuring an amphibious plane

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with having their wheels down
for a hard surface or just

00:09:10.530 --> 00:09:12.390
the bare floats for water.

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And there's very little
of that, unfortunately.

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There's certainly nothing
like the intelligence

00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:18.330
that I'm describing.

00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:20.250
You might be able
to press a button

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and have the plane tell you,
with the synthesized voices

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and aftermarket thing, "the
wheels are down for runway

00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.780
landing" or something.

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So one common thing
that people forget--

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not that common, but this is
an illustration of why you

00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:36.397
might want a two-pilot crew.

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But there's a video
that's linked here

00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.033
from the slide about a father--

00:09:40.033 --> 00:09:42.200
so he sounds like a good
pilot, and a careful pilot.

00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:44.720
He was with his son, and
he left the wheels down,

00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.820
landed in the water, flipped it
over, and the son was killed.

00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:49.650
Really tragic.

00:09:49.650 --> 00:09:54.117
So watch that if
you want to cry.

00:09:54.117 --> 00:09:55.950
But anyway, I think
it's a good illustration

00:09:55.950 --> 00:09:59.070
of a seaplane-- an amphibious
seaplane operation is

00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:02.360
a great example of where a
two-pilot crew with a checklist

00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:05.910
would be very unlikely to
have that kind of accident.

00:10:05.910 --> 00:10:09.900
So it also illustrates
how it's too bad

00:10:09.900 --> 00:10:11.580
that these manned
airplanes don't

00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:17.877
have one one-hundreth of the
intelligence of a DGI drone.

00:10:17.877 --> 00:10:18.960
There are rare exceptions.

00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:22.440
Like I said, at Burning Man,
the terrain warning system had

00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.650
to be silenced because it was
freaking out that we were not

00:10:25.650 --> 00:10:27.900
going to make it, even
though there was a 5,000-foot

00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:30.660
temporary runway that
had been rolled out there

00:10:30.660 --> 00:10:31.780
by the Burners--

00:10:31.780 --> 00:10:34.060
the uber Burners.

00:10:34.060 --> 00:10:34.640
OK.

00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:37.770
Salt waters-- people
do this commercially,

00:10:37.770 --> 00:10:41.160
but the airplane
has to be hosed off

00:10:41.160 --> 00:10:44.450
every day because the saltwater
is corrosive, even to aluminum.

00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:44.950
Question.

00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:45.988
AUDIENCE: Lakes and
harbors tend to have

00:10:45.988 --> 00:10:47.143
a lot of people on them.

00:10:47.143 --> 00:10:50.113
How do you avoid hitting
a swimmer or a boater?

00:10:50.113 --> 00:10:51.530
PHILIP GREENSPUN:
Yeah, how do you

00:10:51.530 --> 00:10:56.790
avoid hitting swimmers and
boaters in lakes and harbors?

00:10:56.790 --> 00:10:58.890
Yeah, that's one of the
challenges of seaplanes.

00:10:58.890 --> 00:11:00.557
If you're cleared to
land in an airport,

00:11:00.557 --> 00:11:02.925
the air traffic controller
has looked out on the runway

00:11:02.925 --> 00:11:05.520
and made sure that there's
no other aircraft, pretty

00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:09.210
sure that there is no
deer on the runway.

00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:12.408
The seaplane you
have to orbit around.

00:11:12.408 --> 00:11:14.700
It's a little bit like landing
a helicopter off airport

00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:18.000
to really make sure that
there's nobody in a canoe.

00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.760
I will tell you that for my
seaplane training up in Maine,

00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:24.330
I have a seaplane rating
that I got up in Maine.

00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:28.210
And there's a great school
up there called Twitchell's.

00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:31.620
But anyway, yeah,
kayakers can paddle

00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:35.140
pretty fast when they see a
seaplane in their vicinity.

00:11:35.140 --> 00:11:36.197
Head towards the shore.

00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:41.700
But yeah, there could
be a log in the water.

00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:44.910
So there's just-- there
are hazards that you

00:11:44.910 --> 00:11:46.170
can't control and get rid of.

00:11:46.170 --> 00:11:48.217
So the accident rate
does tend to be higher.

00:11:48.217 --> 00:11:50.550
In the military-- I think
there's a slide later where we

00:11:50.550 --> 00:11:51.480
talk about that--

00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.690
they've gotten away from
seaplanes and into helicopters

00:11:54.690 --> 00:11:55.600
for that reason.

00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.017
Just so you know,
the helicopter--

00:11:57.017 --> 00:12:00.720
you can be down to within two
feet of the ground and say,

00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:01.720
I don't like what I see.

00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:04.930
I'm going to go somewhere else.

00:12:04.930 --> 00:12:06.570
The propeller tends
to get beaten up.

00:12:06.570 --> 00:12:08.670
You'll see some
seaplane designs where

00:12:08.670 --> 00:12:11.370
the propeller is up
high and in the back,

00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:13.730
and that's to keep the water--

00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:16.960
the propeller's going near
supersonic speeds at the tips.

00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.550
So if it gets water on
it, it'll be eroded.

00:12:20.550 --> 00:12:23.140
Same deal with flying your
airplane in heavy rain.

00:12:23.140 --> 00:12:26.370
You can get erosion on the
leading edges of the wing

00:12:26.370 --> 00:12:28.800
and on the prop.

00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:29.710
All right.

00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:33.400
So yeah, the
seaplane pilot skills

00:12:33.400 --> 00:12:36.575
include a lot more judgment.

00:12:36.575 --> 00:12:39.760
To some extent, they'll be
the dimensions of these lakes.

00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:43.360
And in Alaska, there's even
a lighted water runway.

00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.330
But generally speaking, you
don't have a lot of information

00:12:46.330 --> 00:12:46.930
to go by.

00:12:46.930 --> 00:12:51.393
So you've got to evaluate
all this stuff by yourself.

00:12:51.393 --> 00:12:52.310
One thing you can do--

00:12:52.310 --> 00:12:54.520
I'll use this coffee
cup as an example.

00:12:54.520 --> 00:12:57.170
You can usually see where
the wind's coming from.

00:12:57.170 --> 00:13:00.640
If there's trees
all around the lake,

00:13:00.640 --> 00:13:03.130
the lake will be calm right
next to-- let's assume

00:13:03.130 --> 00:13:04.950
this coffee cup is a tree.

00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:09.580
The lake will be calm and
glassy right next to the tree.

00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:12.190
And that tells you the wind
is coming from this direction,

00:13:12.190 --> 00:13:15.373
because that part of the lake is
being sheltered from the wind.

00:13:15.373 --> 00:13:17.290
So you can actually read
the wind off the lake

00:13:17.290 --> 00:13:20.080
by looking at which
parts are rippled

00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.360
and which parts are glassy.

00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:24.766
But you still have
to decide, right,

00:13:24.766 --> 00:13:27.190
are there floating
logs in the water?

00:13:27.190 --> 00:13:28.630
Are there swimmers?

00:13:28.630 --> 00:13:30.820
Are there boats?

00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:34.142
Here are some unusual skills
that you have to have--

00:13:34.142 --> 00:13:35.350
well, you might have to have.

00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:39.160
After maintenance-- or to
get the airplane maintained.

00:13:52.492 --> 00:13:52.992
Ah!

00:13:57.450 --> 00:13:58.230
All right.

00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:00.000
So that was straight
floats in the grass.

00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.470
So at the end of
the season, if you

00:14:01.470 --> 00:14:02.970
want to get the
airplane maintained,

00:14:02.970 --> 00:14:04.928
there's not a lot of
airplane mechanics hanging

00:14:04.928 --> 00:14:05.975
around the typical lake.

00:14:05.975 --> 00:14:07.350
So you just land
it on the floats

00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:08.618
in the grass at an airport.

00:14:08.618 --> 00:14:10.410
And what about when
you want to get it out?

00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:30.860
Yeah.

00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:32.402
To get the sound,
watch that at home.

00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:52.710
So as I said earlier, the
problem with seaplanes

00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:55.830
is that it's just a lot less
forgiving than a hard surface

00:14:55.830 --> 00:14:59.550
runway, which is the most
forgiving environment.

00:14:59.550 --> 00:15:01.830
You can enhance that safety
with a two-pilot crew,

00:15:01.830 --> 00:15:05.682
especially an experienced
seaplane pilot, or--

00:15:05.682 --> 00:15:07.540
fair stuff, it'll
be on the test--

00:15:07.540 --> 00:15:09.840
you can learn about
accident reporting.

00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.660
So this is a different part
of the federal regulations.

00:15:12.660 --> 00:15:20.400
This is the part that
regulates what the NTSB does--

00:15:20.400 --> 00:15:22.940
National Transportation
Safety Board.

00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:25.310
So first, they define
what an accident is.

00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:31.280
So there has to be
a serious injury.

00:15:31.280 --> 00:15:33.650
And if you go in
there, they define

00:15:33.650 --> 00:15:36.200
what a serious injury is.

00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.460
And I think substantial
damage to the aircraft--

00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:41.040
if it's just the landing
gear that's a bit trashed,

00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:44.060
I don't think that qualifies.

00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:46.190
If somebody dies within
30 days of the accident,

00:15:46.190 --> 00:15:48.890
it becomes fatal.

00:15:48.890 --> 00:15:54.320
Here's your definition
of serious injury--

00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:55.070
not too much fun.

00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:05.430
You have to immediately notify
the NTSB if the flight controls

00:16:05.430 --> 00:16:06.060
malfunction.

00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:08.820
They don't really care if the
Lycoming or continental piston

00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.293
engine fails in some way.

00:16:11.293 --> 00:16:12.960
But if the flight
controls fail, and you

00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.467
can't bank your Cessna
or Piper or Cirrus,

00:16:16.467 --> 00:16:18.300
that's something they'll
want to hear about.

00:16:21.420 --> 00:16:26.942
If more than half of your
glass cockpit goes dark,

00:16:26.942 --> 00:16:28.150
they want to hear about that.

00:16:33.010 --> 00:16:37.310
I think 830.15 is in
the test something.

00:16:37.310 --> 00:16:39.563
There's time
periods, like report

00:16:39.563 --> 00:16:40.855
within 10 days of the accident.

00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:48.640
Oh yeah, and required
info when notifying.

00:16:48.640 --> 00:16:50.530
OK.

00:16:50.530 --> 00:16:52.570
So the bottom line
on seaplanes is

00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:56.583
that it does combine the
hazards of a boat and a plane.

00:16:56.583 --> 00:16:58.000
And therefore, you
need the skills

00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:02.980
of both a sailor and a pilot
to manage those hazards.

00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.560
On the other hand, I
think it's a lot of fun.

00:17:05.560 --> 00:17:08.992
When the Icon first came
out at $100,000 and change,

00:17:08.992 --> 00:17:10.450
I thought, oh, this
would be great.

00:17:10.450 --> 00:17:11.920
We'll just get one of these.

00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:13.089
We'll split it four ways.

00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:15.490
We'll keep it at
Hanscom, and we'll

00:17:15.490 --> 00:17:17.680
go up for a 15-minute
flight to New Hampshire--

00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.859
splash and dash, come back,
and it'll be really cool.

00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:26.226
Now that it's a $400,000
airplane, it's not enough--

00:17:26.226 --> 00:17:29.035
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
seven days.

00:17:29.035 --> 00:17:31.740
[? But ?] [? that ?] said,
what does overdue mean?

00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:33.040
PHILIP GREENSPUN: Overdue.

00:17:33.040 --> 00:17:36.900
The question is-- go
back to that slide.

00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:39.640
Yeah-- file a report
within seven days

00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:41.090
if an aircraft is overdue.

00:17:41.090 --> 00:17:43.420
So that means you expect
an airplane to come back

00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:48.222
from the fishing camp in
Alaska and it hasn't returned.

00:17:48.222 --> 00:17:49.930
So you don't know if
it's crashed or not.

00:17:55.810 --> 00:17:56.890
That was like me.

00:17:56.890 --> 00:18:01.390
Remember I told you that story
about landing a PBK in Atlanta?

00:18:01.390 --> 00:18:04.090
And I forgot to
close my flight plan.

00:18:04.090 --> 00:18:09.070
And so my Diamond Star
was considered overdue.

00:18:09.070 --> 00:18:13.180
And I kept rejecting calls from
an unfamiliar phone number--

00:18:16.302 --> 00:18:18.190
not my proudest moment.

00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:19.030
All right.

00:18:19.030 --> 00:18:21.590
So insurance is kind of
expensive, as I noted,

00:18:21.590 --> 00:18:23.580
especially for the amphibs.

00:18:23.580 --> 00:18:26.440
An airplane on straight floats
isn't that much more expensive

00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:28.783
to insure than a
regular airplane.

00:18:28.783 --> 00:18:30.700
Actually, that's a great
way to evaluate risk.

00:18:30.700 --> 00:18:32.492
If an insurance company
is willing to write

00:18:32.492 --> 00:18:38.410
a policy for a Cessna on floats,
it can't be all that dangerous.

00:18:38.410 --> 00:18:40.750
But like I said, the
military has decided,

00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:43.540
let's do most of the things
we used to do with seaplanes

00:18:43.540 --> 00:18:44.600
with helicopters.

00:18:44.600 --> 00:18:45.896
Question?

00:18:45.896 --> 00:18:49.862
AUDIENCE: Insurance [INAUDIBLE]
delayed [INAUDIBLE]..

00:18:49.862 --> 00:18:52.150
What about-- so
our insurance-- we

00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:54.280
[? haven't ?] had
personal insurance.

00:18:54.280 --> 00:18:56.820
So if we fly, but
we hurt ourselves,

00:18:56.820 --> 00:19:00.180
is our medical coverage
going to cover that?

00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:01.528
So you're saying [INAUDIBLE].

00:19:01.528 --> 00:19:02.570
PHILIP GREENSPUN: Oh, no.

00:19:02.570 --> 00:19:04.150
I think-- so the
question is, does

00:19:04.150 --> 00:19:06.770
your regular medical insurance
cover an injury from flying?

00:19:06.770 --> 00:19:07.270
Sure.

00:19:07.270 --> 00:19:09.098
Yeah, there's no
exclusion for that.

00:19:09.098 --> 00:19:11.140
I think somebody if you
get an umbrella liability

00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:13.540
policy they say,
well, that's great

00:19:13.540 --> 00:19:15.520
but we're not going to
like to add $5 million

00:19:15.520 --> 00:19:20.353
if you injure somebody
with your Cessna.

00:19:20.353 --> 00:19:21.520
So they can have exclusions.

00:19:21.520 --> 00:19:23.740
AOPA has a big insurance
business, actually,

00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:26.920
selling life insurance at pretty
reasonable rates to pilots.

00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.650
So there, again,
that tells you--

00:19:29.650 --> 00:19:33.460
when your friend
says, you're stupid,

00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:37.630
why would you fly a
Piper or a Cessna?

00:19:37.630 --> 00:19:38.390
That thing's old.

00:19:38.390 --> 00:19:41.110
It doesn't look safe.

00:19:41.110 --> 00:19:43.990
You can say, well, insurance
companies aren't stupid,

00:19:43.990 --> 00:19:46.420
and they have a huge business
marketing life insurance

00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:48.220
to the members of AOPA,
who are all flying

00:19:48.220 --> 00:19:49.960
little airplanes like this.

00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:54.160
And it's only a 10% higher
rate than what you can

00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.510
get in the market elsewhere.

00:19:57.510 --> 00:19:59.890
Of course, pilots are
healthier than the--

00:19:59.890 --> 00:20:01.360
that's one issue, right?

00:20:01.360 --> 00:20:04.713
Since pilots by definition
have passed a medical exam,

00:20:04.713 --> 00:20:06.880
they tend to be a little
bit healthier than average.

00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:09.730
Same reason, like the
military-- the death rate

00:20:09.730 --> 00:20:11.657
of people who serve
in the military

00:20:11.657 --> 00:20:13.990
is quite a bit lower than the
death rate of the same age

00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:16.030
people who are in the
civilian workforce,

00:20:16.030 --> 00:20:19.810
partly because not that many
of them are actually in combat,

00:20:19.810 --> 00:20:21.880
and partly because
the military rejects

00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:23.780
people who are unhealthy.

00:20:23.780 --> 00:20:26.230
So you're not going to
die of cancer at age 23

00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:28.930
if you're in the military,
because they would have not let

00:20:28.930 --> 00:20:31.630
you enlist,
probably, if they saw

00:20:31.630 --> 00:20:36.020
that you were suffering from
the beginning stages of cancer.

00:20:36.020 --> 00:20:36.520
All right.

00:20:36.520 --> 00:20:38.380
Light sport flying boats--

00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:39.830
Searey is fun.

00:20:39.830 --> 00:20:41.260
This is a real one.

00:20:41.260 --> 00:20:43.390
There are 700 of
these out there,

00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:44.950
and they sell it as a kit.

00:20:44.950 --> 00:20:47.980
And they also sell it
as a built airplane.

00:20:47.980 --> 00:20:50.270
So here it is--

00:20:50.270 --> 00:20:51.710
look how much fun.

00:20:51.710 --> 00:20:54.980
Somebody put one
of these on a yacht

00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:59.180
and flew it in all different
parts of the world.

00:20:59.180 --> 00:21:00.350
They would take off--

00:21:00.350 --> 00:21:02.610
I guess they would winch
it down into the water,

00:21:02.610 --> 00:21:05.400
take off, fly around, and
then winch it back up.

00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:08.610
And I think they were in some
fairly open oceans at the time.

00:21:08.610 --> 00:21:11.360
And the thing survived,
so that's pretty cool.

00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:15.180
They stuff a Garmin G3X
glass cockpit in there.

00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:18.060
And that's the same thing
as the Gamebird has.

00:21:18.060 --> 00:21:22.380
The white sport folks
have a lot of flexibility.

00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:25.550
It has a road tax engine,
which is conventional.

00:21:25.550 --> 00:21:31.640
The Icon A5 is the airplane--
see, look at Oshkosh.

00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:32.900
Their booth is always packed.

00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:34.430
People love it.

00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:35.950
People want it.

00:21:35.950 --> 00:21:37.520
And it's one of
the few airplanes

00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:40.040
that's marketed to people
that don't have any flying

00:21:40.040 --> 00:21:40.790
experience.

00:21:40.790 --> 00:21:43.520
I wrote a review of it
in 2010, saying that it

00:21:43.520 --> 00:21:46.580
would be available in 2014.

00:21:46.580 --> 00:21:49.760
I think it had been
originally promised for 2012.

00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:51.600
So it's just coming out.

00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:53.600
These composite planes
are hard to manufacturer.

00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:55.700
I talked to the Gamebird guys.

00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.980
They said they spend 500 hours--

00:21:57.980 --> 00:22:01.430
500 person hours--
prepping the airplane

00:22:01.430 --> 00:22:03.950
to be painted, just like
sanding, and smoothing

00:22:03.950 --> 00:22:05.630
everything to be painted.

00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:08.240
So I think it's just very
hard to make these things

00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:10.970
at an economical price.

00:22:10.970 --> 00:22:14.440
We still don't have sound,
I don't think, do we?

00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:17.180
Here's my review of the plane.

00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.835
I made this little
video that was fun.

00:22:19.835 --> 00:22:20.960
Well, I thought it was fun.

00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.720
I'm sure Icon doesn't
think it's fun.

00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:24.220
All right.

00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:25.740
Questions about seaplanes?

00:22:28.810 --> 00:22:29.500
Who wants one?

00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:33.690
Who would buy an Icon if
it were reasonably priced?

00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:35.153
A lot of people's questions.

00:22:35.153 --> 00:22:37.695
AUDIENCE: You were talking about
[INAUDIBLE] sides of a lake,

00:22:37.695 --> 00:22:39.130
and don't land out at sea.

00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:42.600
But what would be your
opinion about the Great Lakes?

00:22:42.600 --> 00:22:45.280
I know sometimes the waves
can be higher than a foot.

00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:47.111
But when you just look
at it, [INAUDIBLE]

00:22:47.111 --> 00:22:49.538
judge what the
waves [INAUDIBLE]..

00:22:49.538 --> 00:22:52.080
PHILIP GREENSPUN: The question
is, what would, by my opinion,

00:22:52.080 --> 00:22:53.413
be a landing in the Great Lakes?

00:22:53.413 --> 00:22:57.120
I think people do a lot
of flying of seaplanes

00:22:57.120 --> 00:22:58.620
up in the Great Lakes.

00:22:58.620 --> 00:23:00.900
But there again, the Great
Lakes-- there are harbors.

00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:01.920
There are calmer areas.

00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.485
So I think they're
not really landing

00:23:03.485 --> 00:23:04.860
in the middle of
the Great Lakes.

00:23:04.860 --> 00:23:06.750
And then, they don't
say, I just want

00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:09.300
to go to the middle of
Lake Superior and fish

00:23:09.300 --> 00:23:10.470
off the float for a while.

00:23:10.470 --> 00:23:12.060
They're going to
some destination,

00:23:12.060 --> 00:23:14.400
and by definition,
the destination

00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:20.340
will have a calmer area
for boats to hang out in.

00:23:20.340 --> 00:23:23.190
I think there's actually
a commercial seaplane

00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:28.820
service that's starting up
between Manhattan and Boston.

00:23:28.820 --> 00:23:30.900
So you'll go to the--

00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:32.782
there's a seaplane--

00:23:32.782 --> 00:23:33.990
I should have mentioned this.

00:23:33.990 --> 00:23:36.707
For helicopters, there are
helipads all around Manhattan.

00:23:36.707 --> 00:23:38.790
So you can actually go to
the downtown Wall Street

00:23:38.790 --> 00:23:40.725
heliport, land--

00:23:40.725 --> 00:23:41.850
it used to be really cheap.

00:23:41.850 --> 00:23:45.870
It was $75 an hour for
parking, I think, or maybe $25.

00:23:45.870 --> 00:23:49.630
I don't know, it wasn't that
much more than parking a car.

00:23:49.630 --> 00:23:51.060
Go in and have lunch.

00:23:51.060 --> 00:23:53.700
Now, they've leased
those helipads

00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:56.260
to some government crony
monopoly that owns all three

00:23:56.260 --> 00:23:56.760
of them.

00:23:56.760 --> 00:24:01.890
And they cranked the rates up
by a factor of four immediately.

00:24:01.890 --> 00:24:04.180
But anyway, I don't know
if it's the same company,

00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:11.310
but they have a public seaplane
port there on the East River.

00:24:11.310 --> 00:24:14.190
And I think it's a Cape
Air affiliate, maybe,

00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:16.785
that's going to start
operating downtown to downtown

00:24:16.785 --> 00:24:19.700
in a Cessna Caravan on floats.