I'm located in GTA but will travel anywhere in Canada for weekend to get a floatplane rating. Tried to contact Tartan air but no-one seems to reply. I'm looking to get 10-15hrs in the first weekend, but looking for reasonable pricing. Got my money ready just need to find a good reputable school. Any suggestions???

Lake Country Airways!!!!! Ask for Jeff.
Just did my float rating last month and was the first honest and down to earth place i flew.

10 to 15 hours in one weekend?... i'd say thats a little too ambitious. Plus you won't likely get to see glassy water and rough water over two days.. its possible but rarely happens. If you look at the seaplane pilots association web page, it will direct you to most float schools in canada. I would also make sure the person teaching you doesn't have a wet CPL and 50 hours of float time.

Brokenwing is right.

And any one that would sign out a float rating without you actually seeing real glass is not teaching and is placing you in harms way (not to imply that Lake Country Air is one like this, I don't know them).

Learn floats from those that have been doing it, in the real bush not cottage country pretty lakes and docks, for many years. Another one is http://www.sudburyaviation.on.ca/flight-school.php - they rent too. (I'm not associated with nor did I train there).

If you are serious about floats you need more than circuits. You need lakes, rivers with current, docks, rocky/sandy/brush shores, shoals, obstacles, cross winds, glassy, operating around points, low level nav and much more....and learn to tie knots.

I just did my rating with a fellow by the name of Randy Hanna through the Floatplane Academy. Here's the website: http://www.seaplaneacademy.ca/index.htm. He does the training out of Quenelle Lake just outside of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I did the 7 hour course with him and learned way more in those seven hours about hands and feet flying than I have in a long time. the price wasn't too bad either, plus I got to fly, what is im my opinion, an excessively overpowered 172 (220hp with a constant speed prop), so that was a lot of fun too.

If you are serious about floats you need more than circuits. You need lakes, rivers with current, docks, rocky/sandy/brush shores, shoals, obstacles, cross winds, glassy, operating around points, low level nav and much more....and learn to tie knots.

And get it all in 7 hours - oh, i mean 15. No wait those 50 hour courses are just a waste of money, get that experience working on a dock. Remember the days of the 5 hour floatplane rating? Those were the days.

cessnafloatflyer wrote:

If you are serious about floats you need more than circuits. You need lakes, rivers with current, docks, rocky/sandy/brush shores, shoals, obstacles, cross winds, glassy, operating around points, low level nav and much more....and learn to tie knots.

And get it all in 7 hours - oh, i mean 15. No wait those 50 hour courses are just a waste of money, get that experience working on a dock. Remember the days of the 5 hour floatplane rating? Those were the days.

You can cover a lot of material in 7 hours if its spent teaching and not flying circuits around a lake. The 50 hr bush course is a way for some operators to grab more cash sure. You have to shop around - again, be sure its not taught by a new CPL and 5 hour float guy/gal. When I did one it, one of the very first, it had a curriculum that was written down, taught by someone with experience and also approved by their insurance company allowing people that took it to rent, unrestricted, following the training. The 7 hour course mostly teaches you to take off and land on floats from a good lake. If you want to do it and not break the airplane or yourself - look for more. Doesn't have to be a 50 hour course, just get more time after the 7 hours.

I'd say the minimum experience for the instructor should be at least 1000 hrs float and from areas like NW Ontario - not just tourist flying to/from outpost camps but service/charter flying too. In perspective this is about 2-3 seasons.

Bushav8er wrote:

cessnafloatflyer wrote:

If you are serious about floats you need more than circuits. You need lakes, rivers with current, docks, rocky/sandy/brush shores, shoals, obstacles, cross winds, glassy, operating around points, low level nav and much more....and learn to tie knots.

And get it all in 7 hours - oh, i mean 15. No wait those 50 hour courses are just a waste of money, get that experience working on a dock. Remember the days of the 5 hour floatplane rating? Those were the days.

You can cover a lot of material in 7 hours if its spent teaching and not flying circuits around a lake. The 50 hr bush course is a way for some operators to grab more cash sure. You have to shop around - again, be sure its not taught by a new CPL and 5 hour float guy/gal. When I did one it, one of the very first, it had a curriculum that was written down, taught by someone with experience and also approved by their insurance company allowing people that took it to rent, unrestricted, following the training. The 7 hour course mostly teaches you to take off and land on floats from a good lake. If you want to do it and not break the airplane or yourself - look for more. Doesn't have to be a 50 hour course, just get more time after the 7 hours.

I'd say the minimum experience for the instructor should be at least 1000 hrs float and from areas like NW Ontario - not just tourist flying to/from outpost camps but service/charter flying too. In perspective this is about 2-3 seasons.

+1 ,

Don't worry too much about the type of plane either, the best plane to learn on is something underpowered, like a 150hp 172 or J3 cub that will teach you the finer points of energy conservation and give you time to get used to finding the "sweet spot" when on the step. When you start flying a 180 or 185 commercially(loaded) it will pretty much fly like a 172 with 2 guys and fuel.

Elmhirst Vacation Air.

Rice Lake near Peterborough.

I did mine there over ten years ago and it was a great experience!

PA-12 Super Cruiser and a farmer for an instructor

Have fun!

http://www.elmhirst.com/air_adventures.html

If you want to come to the southwest, try Huron Flight Centre. They do float ratings off of Sarnia bay and can get them done quick if the weather holds. Give them a call.

Bushav8er wrote:Learn floats from those that have been doing it, in the real bush not cottage country pretty lakes and docks, for many years. Another one is http://www.sudburyaviation.on.ca/flight-school.php - they rent too. (I'm not associated with nor did I train there).

I second this! I trained there a few years ago and am still renting from them occasionally. Great people, great planes and nice territory. I've recommended Sudbury Aviation to others as well, and they loved the experience. Plus - it's what they do. They don't just teach it.

yzfer wrote:I just did my rating with a fellow by the name of Randy Hanna through the Floatplane Academy. Here's the website: http://www.seaplaneacademy.ca/index.htm. He does the training out of Quenelle Lake just outside of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I did the 7 hour course with him and learned way more in those seven hours about hands and feet flying than I have in a long time. the price wasn't too bad either, plus I got to fly, what is im my opinion, an excessively overpowered 172 (220hp with a constant speed prop), so that was a lot of fun too.

+1 Most fun I ever had in an airplane.

Amhurst air adventures is closest to me, the only thing is that they're using a piper PA-12 vs most other schools that use a Cessna 172. I phoned Sudbury and it's approx the same price to fly their 172's. Any comments on the different types?

Nothing wrong with a PA-12 at all.

More of a real airplane if you ask me.

If it's an original PA-12, it will only have 115HP too - you've got to nail that attitude bang-on to do any kind of accelerating.

That's good training, say vs an empty Beaver or a 185 which will leap out of the water almost no matter how you abuse it.

I did my rating on a PA 18. It's somewhere in between, I figure - the 150HP on a light Cub comes out pretty quick but you still need to feel it in your ass; (the acceleration, I mean.)