Aviation Entertainment: What not to do with your Floatplane on a Windy Day

This is a video filmed at Lake Hood in Anchorage Alaska. When flying Float planes on windy days a lot of considerations come into play and the displacement of the flight control surfaces matters a whole lot while just floating on the water. Taxing a Seaplane in the water with windy conditions properly is often called "Sailing the airplane" and there are conditions where you better not turn out of the wind. In very strong winds with a floatplane you may have to keep the nose into the wind no matter what. Turning downwind on the water can be a problem and sometimes one has to let the plane drift backward, downwind, with the nose pointed into the wind instead of trying to turn and taxi downwind under power etc etc.
Anyhow, I bet there will be a lot of comments.

[azzir]

When he tried to take off and the floats refused to plane I suspected either gear or flooding. Gear was confirmed when he tipped up.

[michaelrice]

Just because you can afford anphibs, doesn't mean you can read a checklist.

[justinjwolf]

Multiple problems... gear down is obvious, but the flight controls for the wind condition were basically nonexistent. Like they say, life is hard, but it's even harder when you're dumb.

[Charon]

1) Don’t just read a checklist. Confirm each item on the checklist
2) When a plane doesn’t behave as it should: Go back and confirm each item on the checklist

[leifvejby]

Gear down, can be seen under starboard float at 0:40.

[pwpjzys]

Glad to see the 185 isn't wrecked, hopefully they learned a lesson or sold it to someone smarter.

[neelonghunglow]

Pilot after the prop hits water: "clear prop, we are going around again"

[NorthofYou]

I worked in the North with a fair amount of rich but inexperienced float drivers coming up. Just because you can afford it, doesn’t mean you can fly it. Floats are a different breed than wheels.

[Mash]

It’s hard to transition from submarine to airplane pilot.

[MISTERLeSkid]

Wow. This is like hearing a car driving down the street with screeching tires because the ditzy driver hasn't removed the parking brake but keeps driving anyway.

[lesbouma]

My guess is no float rating and no float experience. Probably another lawyer that is unteachable and sued the last place that worked on his plane and his last cfi.

[jpdunamislodge]

Looks like gear down take offs are just a bit better on the airframe than gear down landings.

[aviator_josh]

If you look closely you can see his landing gear is down. When he noses over you can see a back wheel sticking out.

[cardinalRG]

The control inputs were wrong for a right-quartering tailwind--the elevator was up instead of down, and the ailerons were for a roll right instead of a roll left or neutral.

[TXGRunner]

I never thought those ~7 hours "courses" available in Florida seemed like a good idea. Some outfits in Texas only have a water filled trench the width of a runway. If I could ever afford it, I planned to go to Canada where some schools have 22 hour courses including landings on rivers and remote lakes. I always thought there was a lot more to flying a seaplane than can adequately be learned in less than 10 hours behind a yoke or stick. Maybe I am just a slow learner.

[owenmerrick]

A 'Murphy's War' moment...Murphy did put his gear up after getting craned into the water

[OregonCummins]

bet ya that prop strike never got logged :)

[radarksu]

You mention "sailing the airplane." Its also true that you can't make a down wind turn like that in a sailboat either.

[daviddoss]

Im no hydraulics water, genius, but I am a private pilot. But it seems if you try to takeoff into a very strong head wind, 30 to 40 knots on the water. It’s not like wheels on a runway. Airplane is never going to get up and plane because you don’t have enough speed over the water because of the friction. .

[PostcardsfromAlaska]

Plane was doing fine until the pilot started pulling and pushing levers.