Model 4 verse the 7 ss

[av8rps]

I know this is a different subject but how do you tie the plane down on the water? Is there a dock there? Would you trust it to leave it while you are gone? Is there a place to learn this information?
I hunted with a guide in the arctic and he would leave his 185 just moored off shore with a line around the propeller shaft . It would bob out there for weeks in some of the most extreme wind and weather I have ever been in.

I am very fortunate to be on a 7,000 acre lake that is perfect for seaplane flying, and to live on a penninsula that is very sheltered from wind to park my seaplane. Being a penninsula I have two docks to use when desired, but normally tie down the Kitfox in the shallow sand beach on the tip of the peninsula (see pic, but note I typically have ropes on wings too). To avoid concerns about bad weather I watch weather and take the Kitfox back to the hangar when it makes me feel better.

But for the record, I kept my straight float Avid Flyer at home all year round from 1987 until 1998...(see pic) tied down on the point in summer and tied down on the ice (on wheel skis) by my back dock in the winter. I flew an average of 250 hours a year by having my plane always at home, but having the option with amphibs to put the Fox in the hangar is really the best of both worlds. Concerns about storm damage, excessive UV damage to the fabric, bird and bug nests, etc are minimized.

I ran EAA's Seaplane Base for the last 14 years, which provided me with a lot of experience mooring seaplanes, as 90% of the seaplanes attending are put out on moorings. I've seen 70+ mph winds rip through that bay, and yet never saw a seaplane get damaged (but some airplanes tied down at airport did). A good mooring setup will work well to protect a seaplane in most any weather conditions. The concept is simple: Use a large concrete block with a stainless cable lead under the water in which you then attach a nylon prop bridle to so that the plane will weathervane into the wind, and when the wind kicks up waves the harder it blows the more it pulls the nose down, which spills all of the lift off the wing because the wing has negative incidence to the relative wind. So the only thing you really have to worry about is if the plane leaks you could sink. But of course there are ways to safe guard against that too. The easiest way is to park in shallow water, like Eaa's Seaplane Base mooring area has.