Norman Vine writes:
> >  > A seaplane base is a couple 55 gallon drums of fuel stacked on the
> >  > shore, right? :-)  I've seen planes refueled by hand carrying it down
> >  > a river bank in buckets.
> > 
> > I'd hope for a dock, a ramp, and a windsock as well.
> 
> Docks are *dangerous* remember you are in a boat and do not have 
> as much control as when you have wheels on the ground !
> 
> Floats are *much* better but a sandy beach on a 'lee shore'
> is about as good as it gets
> 
> As for a WindSock you can see the wind on the water

I've been along for the ride when the pilot had to reach a dock on a
pretty swift moving river.  The pilot was *really* experienced at
operating float planes on nasty rivers so we had no problems, but if
you aren't sure what you are doing and make a small mistake, that can
quickly degenerate into severe consequences.  The only time I've had
to jump out of a float plane in the middle of the river was when we
ran up on a hidden sandy shallow spot under the water.  I was the
youngest so they made me strip and jump in and push.  Unfortunately
there was an audience on the river bank, but what are you going to do?
Fortunately they let me back in after I pushed them free, other wise
that could have been a bit embarrasing, being stuck in the middle of
the river quite scantily clad. :-)

Curt.
-- 
Curtis Olson   IVLab / HumanFIRST Program       FlightGear Project
Twin Cities    [EMAIL PROTECTED]                  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Minnesota      http://www.menet.umn.edu/~curt   http://www.flightgear.org

_______________________________________________
Flightgear-users mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-users

Reply via email to