Testing the Water
Under the maxim that all ratings make pilots better and safer, I arrived at Icon’s Vacaville, California, training facility to complete a seaplane rating. Before the trip I had spent a day of seaplane introduction with Kevin Bowe in Noosa. We flew in his Lake Buccaneer, and I was scheduled to be his last student before he retired after 45 years of teaching. I also had a day with the late Judy Hodge flying her C182 on floats at Port Macquarie Seaplanes.
There was also a test flight of the Icon A5 from Hawthorne with former navy carrier pilot Noah Collins. We flew to Catalina Island and enjoyed multiple touch and goes off the western shores.
Whereas every seaplane is different many of the principles herein are common to all.
Getting to line-up
The Icon course for already licensed pilots takes a minimum of eight hours flying time.
Pre-study involves several Icon books, the most important being Sport Flying Operations about the amphibian. Chapters include: an overview, airport operations, cruise and manoeuvring, water ops, cross country ops, operational hazards and a useful set of appendices with abbreviations, aviation terminology, weather, aeronautical chart symbols and Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). Also useful is the pilots operating handbook (POH) and the pre-solo written examination.
After an extensive and fascinating ground briefing, which takes the first morning, instructor Tony Pollizzi, a former USAF C130 pilot from nearby Niels Air Force base, placed a sticker in
