Float Flying

tbienz

tbienz

Well-Known Member
I'm a fan, but not a participant yet... in the early phase of a search.

What is your typical cruise speed and fuel burn on amphibs with a Husky at around 8,000 ft?

Have you had the opportunity to depart lakes/rivers with others flying the various Cessna amphibs? If you have a 185/182 with Sportsman/Wing-X extension with a similar load camping with you (two people, camping/fishing stuff and 3 hours of fuel), Is the Husky still in a "completely different realm" for distance/time off the water or does the 300hp & larger wing make up for the airframe weight? Thanks.
 
photodoc

photodoc

New Member
tbienz said:
I'm a fan, but not a participant yet... in the early phase of a search.

What is your typical cruise speed and fuel burn on amphibs with a Husky at around 8,000 ft?

Have you had the opportunity to depart lakes/rivers with others flying the various Cessna amphibs? If you have a 185/182 with Sportsman/Wing-X extension with a similar load camping with you (two people, camping/fishing stuff and 3 hours of fuel), Is the Husky still in a "completely different realm" for distance/time off the water or does the 300hp & larger wing make up for the airframe weight? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Not sure how to answer a couple of your questions. My 180 hp Husky cruises at about 100 mph at sea level to 3000 ft @ 65%power. For a long camping trip like flying to Alaska with all your stuff it becomes a single place aircraft. I have not had the opportunity to fly it at 8000 ft but that said I have had no problem departing from a 4000 ft density altitude lake with two 200 lb guys and half fuel. I don’t have data to compare it to Cessnas, etc but I have flown all of them on straight floats including the Beaver.
If you download the Vimeo app and bring up my site: Dave Woodcock, there is a 10 min video called Small Lake Landings. We had two of us on board and full fuel minus about 4 gallons and survival gear. The lake is essentially at sea level.
 
M

MTV

Active Member
tbienz said:
I'm a fan, but not a participant yet... in the early phase of a search.

What is your typical cruise speed and fuel burn on amphibs with a Husky at around 8,000 ft?

Have you had the opportunity to depart lakes/rivers with others flying the various Cessna amphibs? If you have a 185/182 with Sportsman/Wing-X extension with a similar load camping with you (two people, camping/fishing stuff and 3 hours of fuel), Is the Husky still in a "completely different realm" for distance/time off the water or does the 300hp & larger wing make up for the airframe weight? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I've flown Huskys on EDO floats, Wipline straight and amphib floats, PK amphibious floats and Baumann straight floats, and a variety of Cessnas on different float models.

Short answer to your question: There's no comparison in takeoff and landing performance of ANY Husky to just about any Cessna on floats, either amphib or straight floats. That's assuming you abide by legal gross weight limits, of course. I have not flown the latest A-1C on floats, but I've put a lot of time on 2200 pound Huskys on floats, mostly near sea level.

I based for 20 years in Fairbanks, at Fairbanks International Airport, which has a 5600 foot long, but pretty narrow float pond. So, it's pretty easy to get a good feel for performance of a seaplane there. Just use airplane's parked along the edges of the pond to "measure" your takeoffs.

I've operated Huskys in and out of very small lakes that I wouldn't even consider going into with a 185 or 206, even light.

But, if you need to carry two or three people, all their gear for an expedition, folding boats, etc, the Cessna will win every time, assuming you need to go a ways on the trip. If the leg into the wilds is relatively short, the Husky can make two or three trips and get the load moved as well. But, even in that case, large stuff isn't going to fit really well in a Husky.

I carried Pak Boats in the float lockers of the Baumann floats https://pakboats.com/folding-kayaks/ one in each compartment. That, combined with the standard and aft baggage, makes for a lot of room for gear. But, that depends on your version of "camping".

Anyway, the Cessnas and the Huskys are really in a very different class of aircraft, and a comparison really isn't fair. Choose your primary mission, and go with the airplane that fits that mission most of the time.

Small lakes and high density altitudes are definitely not the forte of the Cessnas, but long trips with more than one person and a lot of gear don't work all that well in a Husky.

So, obviously, you need one of each.

MTV
 
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