SEAPLANE, SKIPLANE,
and FLOAT/SKI EQUIPPED
HELICOPTER
OPERATIONS
HANDBOOK
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FEDERAL A VIATION ADMINISTRATION
Flight Standards Service
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PREFACE
This operational handbook introduces the basic skills necessary for piloting seaplanes, skiplanes, and helicopters
equipped with floats or skis. It is developed by the Flight Standards Service, Airman Testing Standards Branch, in
cooperation with various aviation educators and industry.
This handbook is primarily intended to assist pilots who already hold private or commercial certificates and who are
learning to fly seaplanes, skiplanes, or helicopters equipped for water or ski operations. It is also beneficial to rated
seaplane pilots who wish to improve their proficiency, pilots preparing for flights using ski equipped aircraft, and
flight instructors engaged in the instruction of both student and transitioning pilots. It introduces the future seaplane
or skiplane pilot to the realm of water operations and cold weather operations, and provides information on the per-
formance of procedures required for the addition of a sea class rating in airplanes. Information on general piloting
skills, aeronautical knowledge, or flying techniques not directly related to water or cold weather operations are
beyond the scope of this book, but are available in other Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) publications.
This handbook conforms to pilot training and certification concepts established by the FAA. There are different
ways of teaching, as well as performing specific operating procedures, and many variations in the explanations of
operating from water, snow, and ice. This handbook is not comprehensive, but provides a basic knowledge that
can serve as a foundation on which to build further knowledge. The discussion and explanations reflect common-
ly used practices and principles. Occasionally the word “must” or similar language is used where the desired action
is deemed critical. The use of such language is not intended to add to, interpret, or relieve a duty imposed by Title
14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR).
It is essential for persons using this handbook to also become familiar with and apply the pertinent parts of 14 CFR
and the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). The AIM is available online at http://www.faa.gov/atpubs.
Performance standards for demonstrating competence required for the seaplane rating are prescribed in the appropri-
ate practical test standard.
The current Flight Standards Service airman training and testing material and subject matter knowledge codes for all
airman certificates and ratings can be obtained from the Flight Standards Service web site at http://av-info.faa.gov.
The FAA greatly appreciates the valuable assistance provided by many individuals and organizations throughout the
aviation community whose expertise contributed to the preparation of this handbook.
This handbook supercedes Chapters 16 and 17 of FAA-H-8083-3, Airplane Flying Handbook, dated 1999. This hand-
book is available for download from the Flight Standards Service Web site at http://av-info.faa.gov. This Web site
also provides information about availability of printed copies.
This handbook is published by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Airman
Testing Standards Branch, AFS-630, P.O. Box 25082, Oklahoma City, OK 73125. Comments regarding this hand-
book should be sent in e-mail form to [email protected].
AC 00-2, Advisory Circular Checklist , transmits the current status of FAA advisory circulars and
other flight information and publications. This checklist is available via the Internet at
http://www.faa.gov/aba/html_policies/ac00_2.html.
Front Matter.qxd 8/25/04 11:41 AM Page iii
Photo credits:
Cover (Lake amphibian): Lanshe Aerospace
Cover (Skiplane), Tom Evans Photography
Page 2-1, bottom right: Wipaire, Inc.
Page 7-1, left column: Airglas Engineering
Front Matter.qxd 8/25/04 11:41 AM Page iv
Downwind Arc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Downwind Takeoffs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Glassy Water Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Rough Water Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Confined Area Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
CHAPTER 5—Performance
Performance Considerations for Takeoff,
Climb, Cruise, and Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Takeoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Climb and Cruise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Flight Characteristics of Seaplanes with
High Thrust Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Multiengine Seaplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
CHAPTER 6—Seaplane Operations –
Landings
Landing Area Reconnaissance
and Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Normal Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Crosswind Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Downwind Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Glassy Water Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Rough Water Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Confined Area Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Go-Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Emergency Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Postflight Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Anchoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Mooring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Docking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Beaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Ramping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Salt Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
CHAPTER 7—Skiplane Operations
Skiplane Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Construction and Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Plain Ski Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Combination Ski Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
CHAPTER 1—Rules, Regulations, and Aids
for Navigation
Privileges and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1
Seaplane Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
14 CFR Part 91, Section 91.115, Right-
of-Way Rules: Water Operations . . . . . . 1-2
Rules of the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Inland and International Waters. . . . . . 1-2
United States Aids for Marine
Navigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Seaplane Landing Areas . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Buoys and Daybeacons . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Nighttime Buoy Identification. . . . . . . 1-4
CHAPTER 2—Principles of Seaplanes
Seaplane Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Seaplane Flight Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
CHAPTER 3—Water Characteristics and
Seaplane Base Operations
Characteristics of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Determining Sea Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Water Effects on Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Seaplane Base Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
CHAPTER 4—Seaplane Operations –
Preflight and Takeoffs
Preflight Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Starting the Engine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Taxiing and Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Idling Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Plowing Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Planing or Step Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Turns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Porpoising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Skipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Normal Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Crosswind Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Controlled Weathervaning . . . . . . . . . 4-13
Using Water Rudders. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
CONTENTS
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Operational Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Types of Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Types of Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Surface Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Preflight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Taxiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Off-Airport Landing Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Glaciers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Lakes and Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Landings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
Parking/Postflight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
Emergency Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Ski Malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Night Emergency Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
CHAPTER 8—Emergency Open Sea
Operations
Operations in Open Seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Sea State Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Swell System Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
High Reconnaissance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Low Reconnaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Select Landing Heading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Select Touchdown Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Landing Parallel to the Swell . . . . . . . 8-4
Landing Perpendicular to the Swell . . 8-4
Landing with More Than One Swell
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Effect of Chop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Night Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Sea Evaluation at Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Night Emergency Landing. . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Landing by Parachute Flare. . . . . . . . . 8-6
Landing by Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Emergency Landing Under Instrument
Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Escaping a Submerged Seaplane . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Water Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Flotation Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Normal and Unusual Exits. . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
CHAPTER 9—Float and Ski Equipped
Helicopters
Float Equipped Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Construction and Maintenance . . . . . . . . 9-1
Operational Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Preflight Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Starting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Taxiing and Hovering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Takeoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Autorotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Shutdown and Mooring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Ground Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Ski Equipped Helicopters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Construction and Maintenance
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Operational Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Preflight Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Starting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Taxiing and Hovering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Takeoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Autorotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Ground Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G-1
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1
Front Matter.qxd 8/25/04 11:41 AM Page vi
AMPHIBIAN —A seaplane with
retractable wheel-type landing
gear that can be extended to allow
landings to be made on land.
ANCHOR
—A heavy hook con-
nected to the seaplane by a line or
cable, intended to dig into the
bottom and keep the seaplane
from drifting.
AUXILIARY FIN
— An addi-
tional vertical stabilizer installed
on some float planes to offset the
increased surface area of the floats
in front of the center of gravity.
BEACHING
—Pulling a seaplane
up onto a suitable shore so that its
weight is supported by relatively
dry ground rather than water.
BEAUFORT WIND SCALE
—A
standardized scale ranging from
0-12 correlating the velocity of
the wind with predictable surface
features of the water.
BILGE
—The lowest point
inside a float, hull, or watertight
compartment.
BILGE PUMP
—A pump used to
extract water that has leaked into the
bilge of a float or flying boat.
BULKHEAD
—A structural parti-
tion that divides a float or a flying
boat hull into separate compartments
and provides additional strength.
BUOYANCY
—The tendency of a
body to float or to rise when
submerged in a fluid.
BUOYS —Floating objects moored
to the bottom to mark a channel,
waterway, or obstruction.
CAN BUOYS
— Cylindrical buoys
marking the left side of a channel
for an inbound vessel. They have
odd numbers which increase from
seaward.
CAPSIZE
—To overturn.
CAST OFF
—To release or untie a
vessel from its mooring point.
CENTER OF BUOYANCY
—The
average point of buoyancy in float-
ing objects. Weight added above this
point will cause the floating object
to sit deeper in the water in a level
attitude.
CHINE
—The longitudinal seam
joining the sides to the bottom of the
float. The chines serve a structural
purpose, transmitting loads from the
bottoms to the sides of the floats.
They also serve a hydrodynamic
purpose, guiding water away from
the float, reducing spray, and con-
tributing to hydrodynamic lift.
CHOP
— A roughened condition of
the sea surface caused by local
winds. It is characterized by its
irregularity, short distance between
crests, and whitecaps.
COMBINATION SKI
— A type of
aircraft ski that can be used on snow
or ice, but that also allows the use of
the skiplane’s wheels for landing on
runways.
CREST
—The top of a wave.
CURRENT
— The horizontal
movement of a body of water.
DAYBEACONS — Unlighted
beacons.
DAYMARKS
—Conspicuous
markings or shapes that aid in
making navigational aids readily
visible and easy to identify
against daylight viewing back-
grounds.
DECK
—The top of the float,
which can serve as a step or walk-
way. Bilge pump openings, hand
hole covers, and mooring cleats are
typically located along the deck.
DISPLACEMENT
POSITION
—The attitude of the
seaplane when its entire weight is
supported by the buoyancy of the
floats, as it is when at rest or dur-
ing a slow taxi. Also called the
idling position.
DOCK
—To secure a seaplane to a
permanent structure fixed to the
shore. As a noun, the platform or
structure to which the seaplane is
secured.
DOWNSWELL
—Motion in the
same direction the swell is moving.
FETCH
—An area where wind is
generating waves on the water sur-
face. Also the distance the waves
have been driven by the wind
blowing in a constant direction
without obstruction.
FLOATPLANE
— A seaplane
equipped with separate floats to
support the fuselage well above the
water surface.
FLOATS
—The components of a
floatplane’s landing gear that
provide the buoyancy to keep the
airplane afloat.