No need. The ad with all the details is in #01 of this thread. Even better, a picture, showing the reg., is in #02.
Oh … i didn’t realize that this the one … I always see it in the hangar next to mine, but was not aware it’s for sale!
A very nice airplane indeed! But what are the practicalities of operating an amphibious aircraft in EASA land?
Where (on water) would one be allowed to land?
That is the problem, there are few places that allow operating a seaplane. The best-known is the Como seaplane club. AFAIK there are a couple in Germany, a few more in Switzerland, one in Holland, a few in France. And there are a few events, like the (up-scale) Scalaria in Austria and the bi-annual seaplane meet in Biscarrosse. I have heard of commercial seaplane services in Scotland, Croatia, Greece. In Belgium, the CAA are reported to have said they can not authorise any seaplane operations for lack of a legal base…
Doubtlessly some more possibilities can and will be mentioned, but I agree that a seaplane has little utility value in Western Europe.
In principle in all scandinavia, some parts of UK and Italy as far as I know. There are some seaplane stations in Germany and France, too. There isn’t a complete List and I have started to mail all NAAs about this to assemble a list how seaplanes are handled in each country.
In Sweden it is very uncomplicated, basically stay away from special wildlife areas and you are good to go. In Norway I think it is the same for salt water ops but you need special approval to land in inland fresh water.
Norway does require special permission for fresh water landings. Sweden seems more easy going. I asked and was told that there are four places in Germany. I asked to land at Lake Como a month ago, and the permission, while eagerly given, was very time of day restricted, so I could not land there with the schedule for our trip. I did land in a harbour in Croatia with permission, but permission was hard to get, and a lot of fussing around. That harbour is an aerodrome, but PPR, and they enforce it. It is a bad idea to leave an aircraft floating in salt water for any length of time. I bristled at the thought of leaving the one I was flying in overnight in the Croatian harbour, so sought and received permission to fly it out, and land into the otherwise closed airport at sunset, and rinse it down.
While I land in the ocean in Norway with it, I always fly it back into the lake the same day, so it is rinsed. I have so far avoided landing my flying boat in salt water. I have flown a length of the Canadian Atlantic coast in Labrador, where a salt water landing was possible, but there are risks which dissuaded me. I have salt water landed in British Columbia, but again, back into the fresh water the same day. In Canada the fresh water options are endless, so unless you need water access along the coast, no need to be in the salt water. I understand that in the US, they are tightening up on lake landings in some states.
I was asked to participate in the restoration of a Piaggio Royal Gull. What a marvelous plane! But the project lost steam. It is an amazingly built plane, but very expensive to restore and maintain. It was designed in a day where propeller blades could be replaced at lower cost. I shudder to think of the cost of those pusher blades now, knowing that they would be very vulnerable to water spray damage. A super plane if your pockets are very deep!
A super plane if your pockets are very deep!
Many of those planes around, but some planes are worth much more than their monetary balance :-)
Here are a couple of pics, I dont know how they will come out.
In Ireland its very simple. Leaving the rules of the air aside, if you need permission to navigate/launch a boat on that water you don’t land. If you don’t need permission to launch/navigate a boat then work away.
Saved you asking the IAA.
Nice pics of some rare amphibs indeed.
