Skylune (or family relation) takes to the water...

MORRIS -- A local boater who repeatedly swerved in front of a floatplane on
Bantam Lake to prevent it from taking off was arrested on a warrant Sunday,
authorities said."
Remainder of story can be found he
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc...923730.story?c
oll=hc-headlines-local
Could this be a relative of this group's "skylune"? ;-)

No medical, no license required.
Anyone can drive a boat.

john smith wrote:
MORRIS -- A local boater who repeatedly swerved in front of a floatplane on
Bantam Lake to prevent it from taking off was arrested on a warrant Sunday,
authorities said."
Remainder of story can be found he
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc...923730.story?c
oll=hc-headlines-local
Could this be a relative of this group's "skylune"? ;-)

No medical, no license required.
Anyone can drive a boat.

But there are maritime right-of-way rules. Airplanes on the water must
obey these as well as boats. Seaplane bases are just like real airports
and are regulated by Federal law.

I used to fly on a river at 10AM on Saturday mornings. My only
conclusion is there are many drunks on their SkiDoos at that time. They
even try to become propellor-bait by trying to out run the plane or in
some cases, playing "chicken" with it. I haven't read about any
accidents involving these fools so we can't rely on Darwin to cull out
the weak ones.

Stubby wrote:

But there are maritime right-of-way rules. Airplanes on the water must
obey these as well as boats.

Doesn't an aircraft taking off have the right of way over a power boat?

Jules wrote:


Stubby wrote:

But there are maritime right-of-way rules. Airplanes on the water
must obey these as well as boats.

Doesn't an aircraft taking off have the right of way over a power boat?



Believe it or not, no, which is contrary to what you'd think. Check FAR
91.115. Airplanes are pretty low on the pecking order when on water.

However, the guy in CT, purposely and repeatedly messed with the aircraft.

B A R R Y wrote:
Jules wrote:



Stubby wrote:

But there are maritime right-of-way rules. Airplanes on the water
must obey these as well as boats.


Doesn't an aircraft taking off have the right of way over a power boat?



Believe it or not, no, which is contrary to what you'd think. Check FAR
91.115. Airplanes are pretty low on the pecking order when on water.

However, the guy in CT, purposely and repeatedly messed with the aircraft.


He could have killed someone in the plane.


Hmm, I am in Canada, it may be different here. A landing aircraft has
the right of way over anything but a sailboat, I think. It's been 15
years and things change.....???

B A R R Y wrote:
Jules wrote:


Stubby wrote:

But there are maritime right-of-way rules. Airplanes on the water
must obey these as well as boats.

Doesn't an aircraft taking off have the right of way over a power boat?



Believe it or not, no, which is contrary to what you'd think. Check FAR
91.115. Airplanes are pretty low on the pecking order when on water.

However, the guy in CT, purposely and repeatedly messed with the aircraft.

I've never flown a seaplane, but isn't it fairly unmaneuverable during
takeoff? I know I don't want to be swerving on the runway in a plane
with wheels...

"Emily" wrote in message
...
I've never flown a seaplane, but isn't it fairly unmaneuverable during
takeoff? I know I don't want to be swerving on the runway in a plane with
wheels...

Takeoff in a seaplane certainly is a difficult time to be making evasive
maneuvers. However, a) the FARs don't apply to boats, and b) the FARs
aren't very specific anyway. One could read 91.115(e) to mean that
airplanes taking off or landing (ie in a particular vulnerable position)
should have the right of way. But those regulations don't apply to the
boats.

Now, all that said, none of the above applies in the situation in this
thread. Right-of-way rules are for situations in which each vehicle is
traveling normally. The boater in this case was intentionally placing
himself in the way of the seaplane. Even if he had consistently approached
the airplane's path from the right, and even if the maritime right-of-way
rules (the ones that apply to the boater) dictated that he had the right of
way, he would still have been in violation of other laws (the ones he was
actually charged with).

I've never had to deal with the situation described in the article, but I
certainly have aborted a number of takeoffs due to boaters. I've never had
a boater intentionally cross in front of me, but they certainly do tend to
get too close. A common "stupid boater trick" is to try to race the
seaplane during takeoff. If they keep their distance, I don't have a
problem with that, but too often the boater (or even more commonly,
jetskier) approaches the airplane too closely, making a collision impossible
to ensure against, and eliminating maneuvering room I might need to avoid a
collision with another boater who doesn't see me.

I have had less issues with landings. Few boaters notice an airplane until
it's actually on the water, and even on a relatively small lake, it's
usually possible to select a landing site far enough away from the boaters
that they cannot reach the airplane until it's slowed enough to be
reasonably maneuverable (though, an airplane on the water is never really
all that maneuverable).

Pete

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:54:48 -0700, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

"Emily" wrote in message
...
I've never flown a seaplane, but isn't it fairly unmaneuverable during
takeoff? I know I don't want to be swerving on the runway in a plane with
wheels...

snip

I've never had to deal with the situation described in the article, but I
certainly have aborted a number of takeoffs due to boaters. I've never had
a boater intentionally cross in front of me, but they certainly do tend to
get too close. A common "stupid boater trick" is to try to race the
seaplane during takeoff. If they keep their distance, I don't have a

You should see the ore and grain carriers coming up the Saginaw river.
People riding those little "personal water craft" will cross over very
close and actually ride the bow wave of those huge .

problem with that, but too often the boater (or even more commonly,
jetskier) approaches the airplane too closely, making a collision impossible
to ensure against, and eliminating maneuvering room I might need to avoid a
collision with another boater who doesn't see me.

OTOH I was landing on 05 at Bay city where you come in across some
flooded flats and then the river. There is about a 6 or 8 foot dike
(think I got the right spelling) at the end of the runway. I was
getting close to the river when I realized something didn't look
right. As I got close to the river I realized one of the big boats was
passing the end of the runway with the bow well to the north and the
stern well to the south of the runway. I went full power and into a
climb. Had I stayed on a normal path I would have passed about 30 feet
above the deck and between the bow and stern. There's usually "stuff"
hanging between the two.

when landing on 05 or 36 the thresholds are quite close to the water.



I have had less issues with landings. Few boaters notice an airplane until
it's actually on the water, and even on a relatively small lake, it's
usually possible to select a landing site far enough away from the boaters
that they cannot reach the airplane until it's slowed enough to be
reasonably maneuverable (though, an airplane on the water is never really
all that maneuverable).

Pete

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

("B A R R Y" wrote)
Believe it or not, no, which is contrary to what you'd think. Check FAR
91.115. Airplanes are pretty low on the pecking order when on water.

However, the guy in CT, purposely and repeatedly messed with the aircraft.


We got you covered in Minnesota :-)

2006 - Minnesota Boating Guide
GENERAL PROHIBITIONS ......Page 33/34

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/boa****er/boatingguide.pdf
It's against the law:

To operate a watercraft in a careless or
reckless manner.

To operate a watercraft so that its wash or
wake endangers, harasses, or interferes with
any person or property.

To operate a watercraft so it obstructs or tends
to obstruct ordinary navigation.

To operate a watercraft so that it obstructs or
interferes with the take off, landing, or taxiing
of a seaplane.


Montblack
landof10klakes (at) "Y" h-oo

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 10:44:41 -0400, Jules
wrote:
Doesn't an aircraft taking off have the right of way over a power boat?

Let's make it a bit more interesting... What about a sailboat?