Who knows a DAR or Fed

[purinton]

I am considering selling my Searey and building a 7SS because I have a grand daughter that is interested in learning to fly. Because of medical issues she be looking at light sport. I would want to be able to switch back and forth between amphibious floats and wheels so I could get back on the water every now and then. This leads to the big question that I can't seem to get an answer to. I would want to limit it to 1320 on wheels for her the fly it light sport but go to 1550 on floats to have a better useful load. From what I can determine, once certified outside the light sport weight limits it can't be flown light sport but it looks like this may be a useable loophole that would enable her to fly it light sport. Otherwise at 1430 I'm in the same position as I am with the Searey. More often than not I'm over the legal gross weight limit.

[Danzer1]

No that will not work. In a nutshell: If LSA on the AWC, it must always meet the LSA requirements listed on the AWC.

[Esser]

How often are you going to get ramped on the side of a lake.....

[purinton]

Never....however ya have to go back to the airport at the end of the day.

On another note I have had to deal with the parks & wildlife ( they can't resist the temptation to stop me ) They usually think you have to have all the safety equip required by boat owners, but were exempt via the FAR's. I now carry a copy of the Reg with me.

[Danzer1]

We all know there are some that "skirt the rules", but what happens if something goes wrong?

Out here, float planes attract attention. Private property owners, curiosity seekers, our "Coast Guard", etc. Fish and game flies over looking for hunting violations calling in ground to check on licenses and poachers. DEA looking for smugglers. All it takes is one photograph showing your floats and your N number sent to the FAA to verify ownership and "Houston, we have a problem". I know (out here) DEA and fish and game (at least) take air to ground photo's to document their "suspects". In the back country we see them flying around all the time!

Not something I would entertain, but to each his own!

Greg

[Geowitz]

What a bunch of sheep we have become...:(

[HighWing]

How often are you going to get ramped on the side of a lake.....

I appreciated all the other comments and offer one of my own.

I was at the seaplane base at Sun N Fun last year when two Seareys went down within minutes of each other. The first suffered minor structural damage and was towed in. The second went down almost vertical shortly after takeoff and sank on site. Both passenger and pilot survived, but the pilot was taken away by ambulance.

My comment: You can bet the FAA will become involved with the latter incident. When I planted my airplane in an emergency landing, the FAA accident investigator was at my bedside with some questions. We were hospitalized for less than a week and confined to bed while recouperating at home when he came. He gave me a list of things he needed to see - My License, Medical Certificate, Pilot Log Book, and both aircraft log books. Also included in his list was a printed W/B for that flight. We were on our way to the Factory Fly-in with two souls, full fuel, luggage and snacks. Keep in mind that the FAA contacted our insurance company and they took immediate control of the airplane on site as we were then in the emergency room.

Also keep in mind that everything in the airplane was there for independent inspection and evaluation. Further, the insurance company - in my case AIG - is the grand inforcer. It is my understanding that if any FAR is violated, the insurance company is well within its rights to say, thanks for the premiums guys, See Ya! Our experience with AIG far exceeded our expectations. The insurance proceeds paid for the airplane I am in today.

[Esser]

All in the name of progress eh? Reminds me of 1984.

Up here you would get slapped with a $250 fine and maybe a 15 day license suspension if you were rude. Show me a float operator that says he operates within gross weight all the time and I will show you a liar. But I think the attitudes about float planes up here are very different because they are seen as a work horse and with out them we couldn't access half the country.

However, Highwing brings up a good point about insurance.

[PapuaPilot]

Let's look this in another way. It might be good to crunch the numbers on the weight of a SS7 on amphibious floats. If you build the SS7 light you can get an EW around 750# on wheels. On amphib floats you could probably get an EW around 900# (remove at least 50# of landing gear and install about 200# floats). This gives you over 500 lbs of useful load @ 1430 GW.

Maybe you can have your cake and eat it too.

[purinton]

Phil. I've looked at it that way also and will go with the 1430 GW if it's my only choice. I'm comming up with higher numbers however. Amphibian floats are running about 230 plus rigging, so I'm thinking about 250 total. Even with a 750 EW, fuel, floats, and pilot (185) leaves my choice of pax limited. That's what makes the 1550 so attractive. However, this new legislation going through congress may make this a moot point as we be able to fly most G/A aircraft without a medical which will solve the problem with my granddaughter.

[jdmcbean]

Don't forget to subtract the wheel and gear weight. 80 lbs would be a safe number. Probably closer to 100 depending on tail wheel and tires used.

[N981MS]

If you want to carry insurance on the the airplane during your granddaughter's training you might want to check on that first. Insurance on student pilots in experimentals can be tricky to find. Add in "light sport" and the insurance company eyebrows may raise even more.