Weight shift on floats?

[FAWGie]

Hope can make overberg

Oh man, you can't miss that one....I'm taking the RV4 down to Bredasdorp....should be loads of fun.....went two years ago....

[krusty]

Krusty, Dark Helmet...you guys coming down for the show?

I WISH!!! Sadly, no open seats from this part of the world.

[FAWGie]

the art of digression (aka kakpraat) :D
you guys kill me
the original topic was discussed a long time ago, microwave has lots of info to add when he wakes up
but basically water affairs wont allow float planes on inland waters

Cool, so if we stay at beach or sea water, we're okay...?

So why aren't these toys more poular in SA?

[FAWGie]

So why aren't these toys more poular in SA?

I guess cos we are so far from the poular regions

It would make a good tourist/local pop attraction.....what about beach patrol for swimmer rescue and shark spotting, etc???
Our AP here, Clinton refurbedtwo for a customer, but nobody rated here to fly them...would have loved to see them fly before they were shipped off !!!

[RV4ker (RIP)]

This da waves are a bot of a problem. They work well in tropics where a wave is what the tourists do, but 5m tube at jefferies gonna keep you on your toes.....

[Junkie]

This da waves are a bot of a problem. They work well in tropics where a wave is what the tourists do, but 5m tube at jefferies gonna keep you on your toes.....

What an ink-red-able op-or-tune-ity tu de-sign an all-new-singing-dancing vliende mashien and fit it with...

a) a waveboard to hang-ten on
b) a waterprufe plastic bubble to keep the chick's hairdo's from getting fragged
c) a de-icing kit for those "poular" regions
d) furry seats for the 'bot' & 'nether' regions, and
e) a cloaking device for the outer galactic regions, so it'l disappear too

Ok .. think I better go fly this avo - im obviously bored stiff and spewing forth my share of the smelly stuff 2 day

happy flying to all & sundry

[FAWGie]

I still would like to fly one....

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Ditto....

[DarkHelmet]

Tritto!

[RV4ker (RIP)]

the original topic was discussed a long time ago, microwave has lots of info to add when he wakes up
but basically water affairs wont allow float planes on inland waters

Microwave.
What is the gen on this thing. I may find myself living in near proximity to a large body on inland water (in broadest def of the word water ) and have seen a couple of these thingies advertised on Web at what appears to be reasonable toy price. Please advise if there someone I can talk to at CAA or water affairs to see what the probem is.

PS
I don't think anything can live in the water where we are looking anyway....

[Microwave]

HI RV4,

One of the many issues is apparantly one of the distribution of aquatic weeds from one inland water body to the next. Water hyacinth is a major isue in SA inland waters and there are others that are potentially just as bad. The Dept of Water Affairs have historically pumped large budgets into the control of aquatic weeds on SA dams. It takes one small piece of the weed (from one dam) to cause a serious problem on another dam.

DWAF used to or still have ? a permit for boats that operate between different dams to control this exact problem. Whether or not this is enforced correctly anymore is uncertain. I am not sure how the control was effected in the past, but somewhere I can recall that one's boat needed to be sprayed with herbicides to rid the hull and engines of small pieces of aquatic weed, but I am not sure of this ( I am not a boater). If you used this permit you would need to spray the plane before landing at each dam. This would mean that you would have to do a landing on ground first for the spray. This means that now you would have to have one of these amphibious planes with wheels as well to do the ground landing. There are some seriously nice amphibious trikes available if you have the Tom. I am not sure what one would need to do if you intend to operate off one water body only.

The next issue is that of obtaining a type rating and having the aircraft proven for licensing purposes. As far as I know, nobody has such a rating in SA and nobody is able to give you training on the these aircraft. You would also need to completely pioneer the route to obtain approval on these aircraft. To get this all right will require patience and perhaps a trip or two to the states to obtain a type rating. If you are an instructor you would probably need to do a course on the instruction of float craft. Whether this would be recognised in SA, I am uncertain.

These are some of the issue, but it would be great if you can get it right in SA. I also live next to a nice water body and have some grand plans for this type of venture. Maybe we can do this thing together, I would be very interested.







An aircraft on floats has the potential to cause havoc with the distribution of aquatic weeds. I am not certain

[Smiley]

Yip RV4ker

Fred Blokland use to have a set. He did fly with it very succesfully. At some point he would have gone up to the Vic Falls to train aspirant pilots there. The 2 trike that would have been used there are waterbased.

I know he sold the floats that he use to have...

[Microwave]

Yes there a many cases of floats being used for short periods in SA. Many have been for the sake of rigging them for use in neighbouring countries. I visited Fred and had a look at his floats some time ago and was very tempted to buy them. I was later at Vic falls and actually visited the operation. I have also heard of Solo Wings setting up floats for Mauritius/Madagascar. Trevor Davies was also testing floats for such purposes. There are several SA pilots with good hours on float trikes from such ventures. However, nobody has gone further with it in SA due to the limitations described previously. The neighbouring countries clearly do not have the same restrictions.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Thanks for the info. Will follow up when I have some time. NTCA doc at moment is a problem, so no point until that resolved...

[ZU-ANE]

There used to be some flying duck's(2) at Vilankulus in Moz. I think the guy that owned them is Luis Rocha from the Aeroclub of mozambique, not sure if they are still operating them.