Lake Winnepausaukee

Does anyone know why planes are landing on this lake? There are alot of
boaters and kayakers around, and it seems like a risky thing to do.

When the planes land on the lake, do Coast Guard regulations or the FAR's
apply?

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Does anyone know why planes are landing on this lake? There are alot of
boaters and kayakers around, and it seems like a risky thing to do.

When the planes land on the lake, do Coast Guard regulations or the FAR's
apply?


Floatplanes pretty much have the same right to operate on public waterways
as the white-trash powerboaters.

Mike
MU-2

Do you think the pilot would be upset if I took my formula 27 pc, which
weighs in at about 10,500 pounds and has twin 350s and created some nice
wake action for him to make the touchdowns more exciting?

I think I have right of way on the lake, but the FARs provide me no
guidance.

The FARS are irrelevant when a float plane is on the surface...the marine
rules of the road apply. They virtually mirror the FAR ROW rules, however.

According to the maritime rules of the road, a 10,000 ton tanker doing 16
knots is supposed to cede the right-of-way to a sailboat crossing from its
right...but common sense tells the sailboat operator that the tanker can't
possibly maneuver or stop quickly enough. Same thing is true of floatplanes
on the water...if they are accelerating for takeoff, they have the REAL
right-of-way, no matter where the crossing traffic is. Landing is much the
same thing...the pilot of the plane doesn't have many options once he is on
short final. It's only when a floatplane is taxiing on the water that the
maritime rules make sense.

We have a ton of seaplane operations on relatively small Lake Union in
Seattle (and on larger Lake Washington) and everyone seems to make the
necessary accomodations.

Bob Gardner
USCG (Ret)

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Do you think the pilot would be upset if I took my formula 27 pc, which
weighs in at about 10,500 pounds and has twin 350s and created some nice
wake action for him to make the touchdowns more exciting?

I think I have right of way on the lake, but the FARs provide me no
guidance.

It hasn't become a major issue yet (despite the seaplane that flipped over
on the lake a few weeks back -- i think the NTSB blamed it on a wake), but
I have witnessed some seaplanes coming uncomfortably close to powerboaters
and even kayakers. How on earth can a pilot see if there is a kayaker
where he/she intends to land??

Its hard enough to see these kayakers when you on the water (although my
trusty Furuno usually picks them up), so i don't see how a landing plane
can possibly see them.

If you have a few minutes, Google seaplanes + right of way. Lots of good
stuff,

Bob Gardner

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
It hasn't become a major issue yet (despite the seaplane that flipped over
on the lake a few weeks back -- i think the NTSB blamed it on a wake), but
I have witnessed some seaplanes coming uncomfortably close to powerboaters
and even kayakers. How on earth can a pilot see if there is a kayaker
where he/she intends to land??

Its hard enough to see these kayakers when you on the water (although my
trusty Furuno usually picks them up), so i don't see how a landing plane
can possibly see them.

Skylune wrote:

Its hard enough to see these kayakers when you on the water (although my
trusty Furuno usually picks them up), so i don't see how a landing plane
can possibly see them.

I suggest you go up in a light plane and check the situation out. You'd be
surprised how excellent the visibility is from the pointy end.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

Actually, kayakers are quite easy to spot when landing. Being above
the lake gives one an excellent perspective and allows you to see very
small boats that may be tough to see from another boat (as a kayaker
myself, I'm far more worried about drunk powerboaters who aren't
looking out or can't see me because of the structure of their boats
than I am about seaplanes - I also know that the pilots really, really
don't want to hit anybody or anything because the aircraft structure is
light enough that it's going to come out the definite loser). Keep in
mind that there is no voodoo to being "above" something, you don't
suddenly become blind, you actually have a better perspective. It's
like the lifeguard at the beach on the elevated platform, she or he can
see the swimming area far more effectively than at or close to water
level. On landing I can also see the kids in the inner tubes or
floats, right on the surface of the water, or swimmers who have decided
to swim across the lake, that I would have a heck of a time seeing from
a boat sitting on the surface. (That's why ships used to have a crow's
nest, so the lookout could things that couldn't be seen from the deck.)

"Close" is an opinion. For example, I will land a seaplane at a right
angle fairly "close" behind a powerboat that is going away from me to
my left or right, because his distance from me is increasing and even
if he stops, we still have adequate separation. If the boat is
converging with my course, I'm going to stay a long ways away, because
the boat may very well be faster than my airplane. As to a kayak or
canoe, "close" is looked at in two ways - 1) I do not want to land
close enough to the kayak or canoe that my wake (even though it is
pretty small) will cause a problem or that I will scare the boater, so
I'm going to establish a path that lets the boater predict where I'm
going and that I'm not a threat to him and 2) far enough away that even
if the boater starts paddling for all he or she is worth, the boat
can't possibly get close enough to me that there is any risk of
collision. An onlooker, hampered by the foreshortening of distance
from the surface, may come to the conclusion that the airplane and the
boat are far closer than they actually are. It's like watching the
horse teams or drill teams from the perspective of the viewing stand,
the people or horses pass each other with plenty of distance for
safety, but the angle of the viewer makes it look much closer than it
is.

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...

It hasn't become a major issue yet (despite the seaplane that flipped over
on the lake a few weeks back -- i think the NTSB blamed it on a wake), but
I have witnessed some seaplanes coming uncomfortably close to powerboaters
and even kayakers. How on earth can a pilot see if there is a kayaker
where he/she intends to land??

Its hard enough to see these kayakers when you on the water (although my
trusty Furuno usually picks them up), so i don't see how a landing plane
can possibly see them.


Well, if that's the case, then it's in the best interest of the kayaker to
move out of the way of the seaplane, right-of-way be damned.

By the way, it's Winnipesaukee, not Winnepausaukee.

you sure it was not your wake?

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
It hasn't become a major issue yet (despite the seaplane that flipped over
on the lake a few weeks back -- i think the NTSB blamed it on a wake),