Top 5 Best Seaplanes In The World

Amphibian airplanes can be a relatively new concept even to pilots. That’s because most of us train in tricycle, land airplanes. But the fact is 70% of planet is covered by water so it only makes sense that we have airplanes that can land or float on water. Well we do, and today we are checking out 5 of the best light modern sea planes available in the industry.

Being that these aircraft are light, and many of them in the LSA category, you get limited amount space/useful load and you’re traveling no more than 120 miles per hour for the most part. Here are the airplanes listed:

1. Icon A5 - Arguably one of the most technologically advanced light plane built in the last 20 years. The Icon A5 stuck a chord with many old and new pilots, particularly those who want to fly just for fun or sport. The airplane is known for its good handling capabilities and anti-stall safety feature. But honestly there is no such thing as anti-stall for an airplane. Due to troubles and some failed promises over the years, the ICON initial goal to take over the sport aviation market has somewhat stalled. There are very few production airplanes flying today, and pilot/owners seem to be very happy with the product. Below are specs for the A5.

USEFUL LOAD: 430-550 lbs
RANGE: Up to 491 miles
SPEED: Up to 109 mph
PRICE: $269,000

2. Super Petrel LS - If you’re in the US, You probably haven’t heard about this amphibious plane. Me either, not until researching for this video. The Petrel is a French/Brazilian design and although popular around the world, its a bit quiet here in the United States. With all the cool features in the airplane though, which includes double wings, and a turbo charged engine upgrade, all for $175,000. Not bad, hopefully the company gets more love and coverage. Below are specs for the Super Petrel.

USEFUL LOAD: 537 lbs
RANGE: Up to 590 miles
SPEED: Up to 115 mph
PRICE: $175,000

3. Vickers Waves - An Icon A5 lookalike but much sleeker. This airplane is designed by founder and owner Paul Vicker from new Zealand. Lots of cool features including those folding wings also seen the Icon A5. But the Vicker is still in design phase. There is no flying prototype yet to confirm any performance numbers. Below are specs for the Vicker Waves.

USEFUL LOAD: 500 lbs
RANGE: Up to 828 miles
SPEED: Up to 138 mph
PRICE: $180,000

4. MVP - The name alone draws special attention. MVP is another light seaplane that flames to be the most practical of all. With this plane you can fly on land, water and snow. You can also take it fishing, camping and much more. Perfect airplane for the all the adventurous daredevils out there. Below are specs for the MVP.

USEFUL LOAD: 450 lbs
RANGE: N/A
SPEED: Up to 120 mph
PRICE: $189,000

5. Searey - Available in both light sport and experimental with your choice of engine, ranging from the Rotax 912, 914 or 915. The Searey airplane is hands down the best bank for the money. No it’s not the best looking plane when compared to the other sleeker ones like the A5 or the Vicker, but you get all the same feature and then some with the Searey. And a complete light aircraft will only cost you $125,000. Below are specs for the Searey.

USEFUL LOAD: 450 lbs
RANGE: Up to 416 miles
SPEED: Up to 120 mph
PRICE: $125,000

Music:

[bubuluke]

The biplane offers STOL, higher maneuverability at slow speeds, lower stall speed, greater lift, more ridged construction and shorter overall wing span. It is less efficient at higher speeds.

[terrancenelson]

The SeaMax should be on here, they are starting to be imported from Brazil. Very nice plane, has retractable gear, longer range than A5 and larger payload. Looking at the weight the Icon should not be an LSA. It’s too heavy.

[doolittlegeorge]

Icon ramping up production in a big way now. The importance of "trailerable" and "garage kept" cannot be overstated. also i think there is a parachute system in the icon. still no booms on the wing tho remarkably. great presentation.

[Kev]

Just letting you know mojo, the LSA aircraft almost always have alot more useful load than they can put on paper, the FAA actually limit's the maximum gross weight, so the LSA developers will just put on paper the max allowed gross weight even though the plane can usually handle much more.

[keegansponholz]

Much better audio this time Mike! Great content as always. I got to play around with both the Petrel and Searey guys last year at airventure and they’re both incredible airplanes.

[LiveLNXgaming]

The searey looks like a tiny PBY Catalina and I love it.

[tweebs]

The Seawind was the plane that inspired me to take flying lessons. I'm sure there are tons of Seaplanes that have never made it past the drawing board or the experimental stages and even more that I will never afford. The best plane is the one you can fly.

[hamdymuhammad]

Very cool .
I like to fly one for a few days as I can land wherever there is enough water.
You always enjoyed and delighted us with these wonderful scenes.
Congratulations on the video.

[allywilkeforsenate]

Only 80, 000 thousand will never come out of my mouth.

[abrarjahinnafi]

Lol no. The bi-plane feature isn't for cosmetics lol. It's for increasing wing area for more lift at the same speed without needing to increase the span of the wing occupying a large space.

[Billy-eovk]

Im stuck on the super petrel. Simplicity in flying and a beautiful design.

[firecapt]

ALSO, a used Lake 4-200 amphibian has 4 seats, will cruise at 120 kt.. Priced from $60K to $120K

[Nrgregge]

I grew up in the icon shop my dad is the last original employee that's still works there

[PagyBio]

Congrats for the video. You forgot mentioning the Brazilian SeaMax M22!

[TheHenry]

Love you vid’s my friend... I’d love to learn to fly some day!

[moredayof]

The last one shown here was the most interesting one to me because it is amphibious and because it looks really great!

[raytaylor]

Mike, thank you. I really enjoyed this video.

[swimkill]

I really like the SIAI-Marchetti FN 333 Riviera...but no font think its a light sport. Hut it outperforms all the light sports. The biplane is dope

[imiswear]

if you were basing your list on price you forgot the entire aero adventure line. They are WAY less than 100k and offer everything that the Searey does

[teamdawson]

Notice Lake is not on the list!
My dad was a Seaplane CFI and lived to be carried away with a broken back from the wreckage after fuel pump failure at 500’.
Thanks to my dad they landed in a roadside ravine.
The other owner pilot got out and ran away from the plane. Left my dad in the cockpit. That’s why my dad had to be carried away by two heroes, right before it exploded.
Thank you Lake.
Thank you owner pilot.