The Pilot’s Lounge #17:A Homebuilt Taste of Summer
As Old Man Winter settles in on the Lounge’s residents, thoughts turn to warmer climes and times. One resident, though, is not letting the cold weather keep him from aviation. Instead, he’s working steadily away on a homebuilt amphibian, a SeaRey, by Progressive Aerodyne. AVweb’s Rick Durden has poked around the project and even made the pilgrimage to the company’s factory.
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Winteris finally getting a grip here at the virtual airport. Airplane owners aresniffing the air and have set up engine heaters. Lots of hangars have airplanesplugged into wall sockets, as owners hope their steeds will start on the coldmornings without damaging the engine. The regulars here at the Lounge arestarting to look forward to our annual skiplane weekend in January when we gettogether and fly a J-3 and Super Cub on skis. We always hope for very coldweather so the lakes will be frozen solid and we can land on them, stop, get outand stand around acting macho before chickening out and rushing in out of thecold.
While many of us have made the mental transition to the colder months, one ofour regulars, Dr. Chuck, is hoping the water stays in the liquid stage for alittle while longer. He is very nearly finished building a two-place amphibianand he wants to fly it before the lakes freeze over.
A Homebuilt? A Homebuilt Amphibian!?
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Most of us here in the Pilot's Lounge have had little if any experience withthe homebuilder portion of sport aviation so we have been following Chuck'sprogress intently. We have trooped over to his house with some frequency andgotten in the way as he worked. We've been both impressed by the kit he isbuilding and by the EAA's technical advisor program as Chuck has had experiencedhomebuilders available to him by telephone and in-person to help him over therough spots of building his own airplane.
Not For The Faint Of Heart...
I've known Dr. Chuck for some time and became very interested in his project.I admit to a certain level of uncertainty about homebuilt airplanes. I spent afair portion of my life working for a general aviation manufacturer and I amaware of the tremendous amount of labor involved in building an airplane. Littleof that labor is of the unskilled variety. There are a staggering number ofsmall parts to be made to exacting tolerances and then attached to other partsin a fashion that doesn't brook much in the way of error. The resultingcollection of amateur-assembled parts must then withstand the awesome loads offlight. Over the months, I paid quite a bit of attention as to how well Dr.Chuck's kit went together.
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What I observed was that the parts came made to the correct size, when holeshad been drilled they seemed to be in the correct spot and that the airframeassembly went amazingly fast. The instructions seemed well written and Dr. Chuckcommented that there were only three or four times he felt that the instructionswere out of order, that is, he had to remove something he had installed to putin something that should have been installed earlier. He commented that hiscalls to the factory with suggested manual changes were well received. Time willtell if the manual is revised.
...Or The Mechanically-Challenged
I am the first to admit that whatever mechanical genes I ever possessed wereremoved violently during the process of building go-karts as a youth.Consequently, I am impressed by those who have the skill to build an airplanebut some skepticism as well because I have seen some pretty horrible lookinghomebuilts on tiedowns at airports. My impression of Dr. Chuck's kit was that itwas first rate and that if built according to the instructions would make a mostsatisfactory airplane.
The airplane Dr. Chuck is building is called a SeaRey. A kit manufacturerknown as Progressive Aerodyne, Inc. of Orlando, Florida, produces it. Power isprovided by a Rotax engine, a mechanical contrivance I've heard about for years,but never seen other than from a distance.
Splash And Dash?
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The SeaRey is a true flying boat, with a hull and pusher engine mounted abovethe wing. I've flown various types of seaplanes, and freely admit to a bias infavor of flying boats over floatplanes (except when having to contend with adock), maybe because I learned to fly from the water in an old Seabee that hassuperb manners in the water and is a pain in the whatsis on land. I also knowthat the process of crossing a boat with an airplane can result in a machinewhich does neither required task well, is terribly heavy because of the demandsof a high-speed hull and can have the in-flight handling qualities of a bowl ofoatmeal. As a result, I was very interested in the SeaRey and was, frankly,skeptical of the potential that a small homebuilt amphibian could be worth thepowder to blow it up.
Dr. Chuck is getting pretty close to finishing his kit. He has a healthyattitude toward safety in little airplanes and has read more than a few accidentreports in which the pilot/builder crashed on one of the initial test flightsdue to lack of knowledge about the type or failure to obtain a good checkout. Asa result, in October, Dr. Chuck arranged to travel to Orlando, Florida toreceive an extensive checkout from the designer of the marque, Kerry Richter. Ina moment of weakness, Dr. Chuck asked me to attend, take a look at the factoryand fly a SeaRey so I can be in a position to fly his when it's done.
A Visit To The Factory
I went. I flew. I had a ball. Look, as a lawyer I have to evaluate aircraftthat are involved in lawsuits as objectively as I can. When I write aboutairplanes I have an ethical obligation to be as accurate as possible. With thatas background, I'll simply say that the SeaRey impressed me favorably and I hadmore fun flying it than I've had in virtually any other non-aerobatic airplaneI've ever flown. It was not the easiest flying airplane I've experienced; thathonor is still split evenly between the Cirrus SR20, Cessna 208 and Cessna T303.But from a standpoint of just having fun in a little airplane, the SeaRey isright up there with the best.
Progressive Aerodyne is located in modest surroundings in Orlando. Thefactory is small, but the right size for the process of building and shippingkits to homebuilders. The only downside is that it is about a 40-minute drivefrom the delightful little grass field where checkout flights are done.
On the way to the airport there was time to talk with Kerry Richter whodescribed his background designing ultralights before moving to the heavier,faster aircraft that must be certified under the experimental category with theFAA. The first version of the SeaRey was a single-place, but, the desire to takea passenger triumphed and a two-place version was created.
Up Close And Personal...
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The airplane consists of a very rigid fiberglass hull beneath an aluminumtube framework that forms and supports a fuselage with tubular spar, aluminumribbed, fabric covered wing and empennage. A range of choices of engines isavailable to mount as a pusher on the pylon above the center section of the highwing. The two most popular seem to be the 80 hp Rotax 912 and the 95 hp,turbosupercharged Rotax 914. Yes, there is a Porsche connection to Rotax. Thetwo occupants sit side by side with both being able to easily reach thecentrally-located throttle. A stick is directly in front of each seat. Thelanding gear retracts vertically via the Armstrong method; however, electricpower is an option.
An 80 hp SeaRey was the aircraft of choice for the factory to check outprospective SeaRey pilots. Preflight was easy as everything seems exposed.Reduction of drag did not seem to be a major consideration in the design. Ilearned that even with all sorts of pieces and parts and cables in the breeze,the airplane scoots along quite reasonably. Ninety to 95 mph on 80 horsepowerwhile shoving a boat hull through the air certainly impressed me.
I had no previous experience with Rotax engines and was interested to learnthat they turn substantially faster than the Lycomings, Continentals andFranklins I have followed through the skies for many years. A reductionarrangement allows the propeller to turn at a much slower speed for greaterefficiency and lower noise. It also means that when the power is pulled back toidle, there is noticeably more drag as the prop turns the engine than withdirect drive engines. That effect makes for a very fine speed brake and allowsregulating an approach to landing quite precisely.
...Systems, And Land Operation...
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The SeaRey comes with a conventional electrical system, so startup and taxiare nothing out of the ordinary, other than there is no mixture control. Whenoperating on land, the tailwheel is steerable; however, there is no setup fordifferential braking. Interestingly enough, even though a handle applies thebrakes evenly, it is still possible to break the tailwheel loose and pivot onone wheel. Taxiing in a crosswind is not difficult. Being a tailwheel airplane,use of the ailerons does help with the process of taxiing in a crosswind.Takeoff is almost as easy as in a nosewheel airplane. With the propeller blowingstraight on the rudder, directional control is positive. Acceleration is sorapid that the ground run is quite short, less than 500 feet.
Our demonstration airplane required a substantial amount of aft stick torotate and maintain speed on climb out. With the occupants in front of thecenter of gravity, full nose-up trim (the trim is electric and has an indicatorto display the position of the pitch trim) and backpressure were needed. Iassumed the trim was improperly rigged, as I never did see any nose down trim onthe indicator at any time during the flight.
In flight, the airplane behaves as do most other relatively slow,low-wing-loading airplanes. Rudder is absolutely necessary in turns, but is easyto coordinate. The ailerons are effective but figuring out the amount ofpressure on the stick and rudder to get them to work together takes a fewminutes. The overall control harmony is adequate with nice responsiveness toinputs. The left hand control stick does take a little adjustment for thoseaccustomed to using a stick with the right hand. For those transitioning from acontrol yoke, there is little to sort out.
Cruise speed is roughly 90 to 95 mph on something less than 5 gph. The factthat the seats are comfortable makes the SeaRey worth taking on a trip of somedistance. With pleasant controls, even bouncing around in a headwind won't turnthe pilot into the seething mass of frustration, one step away from axe murder,that some slow airplanes can create.
...Getting Wet...
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Because seaplanes come off the water at speeds just above the stall, goodhandling is essential to their longevity. It is worth taking some time flyingthe SeaRey around just above the stall to learn what to expect in those momentswhen the airplane is staggering off the water on a hot day and it's gusty. Ifound that I liked the way the airplane flew slowly. The cuffed wing leadingedges in front of the ailerons kept the ailerons very effective down to thestall. At the stall, the demonstrator airplane did roll off to the left withsome vigor. That may be due to an improperly-rigged cuff, but, whatever thereason, it should be investigated and Dr. Chuck and I noted it for his airplane.Cuffed leading edges in front of the ailerons substantially improve low speedhandling. Despite that benefit, there just aren't any free lunches inaerodynamics: the tradeoff is that those cuffs also adversely affect spinrecovery. That is a regime I did not explore in the SeaRey, but any wing drop atthe stall should be cured if possible.
Water handling is very simply the best that I've experienced in any seaplane.The old Republic Seabee has historically been considered about the best-behavedairplane in the water. The SeaRey is better. Flying final short at about 70 mphto flare to a level attitude produces a pleasant touchdown. No matter how manytimes you have done it, that moment when the tip of the keel just starts toripple across the tops of the waves is one that is among the most enjoyable inany form of aviation. Because of the small size of the airplane and the pilot'sseating position, the level of the pilot's eyes at touchdown on the water doestake some adjustment. One feels as if the water were only inches away before thekeel finally touches. The feeling is accurate.
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...On And Off The Step...
The hull is clean enough that the technique of pulling the nose up radicallyafter touchdown to rapidly decelerate does not work. The airplane will skip backinto the air. It is necessary to hold everything still for a few moments whilethe airplane decelerates on the step and sinks a little lower into the waterbefore pulling the nose up to decelerate off the step.
Idle taxiing showed that the airplane was fully controllable in moderatewinds, even though the one we flew did not have a water rudder. The airplanealso tended to sit level in the water, rather than resting slightly cocked, withone sponson in the water. Both sponsons tended to stay out of the drink all ofthe time.
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Kerry demonstrated step taxiing. I'm pretty skeptical of the stuff a demopilot does as he usually knows precisely what the airplane will do and operatesat the very limit of the performance envelope to make the airplane lookimpressive. Kerry proceeded to take us through a water ski slalom course. He 'S'turned around the buoys down the center of the course that the ski boat goesbetween when pulling a skier. He had the airplane sliding slightly sideways onthe keel in the turns to run the course; a technique that initially got myundivided attention as such behavior in most seaplanes immediately precedescapsizing. After he had me try step taxiing, I found that what he had donewasn't any sort of magic. The SeaRey is remarkably maneuverable on the step,more so than any seaplane or amphibian I've experienced. It can be effectivelycontrolled while sliding noticeably sideways by using power to assist incontrolling the radius of turn. Slight power changes also allow the airplane tobe a little higher or lower on the step, affecting the way it behaves. Within anhour I was comfortable maneuvering on the step in the SeaRey in ways I wouldnever try in other seaplanes. For example, in most seaplanes a step turn fromdownwind into the wind is to be avoided like the plague. It was not a problem inthe SeaRey.
It must be kept in mind that the SeaRey is a little airplane, so it is nevergoing to be able to wrestle with waves more than about five or six inches high.One won't be going out to make rescues in foul weather in it.
...And Back To Terra Firma
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Takeoff from idle taxi happens quickly. As the throttle is pushed forward,the stick is held full aft. The airplane pitches up once, pauses, then pitchesup a bit more. At that point it is on the step and it's time to lower the noseto a nearly level attitude. Then something happens that is very rare in anyseaplane: one feels the airplane accelerate. In most seaplanes one gets theairplane on the step and waits until reaching the speed at which it can becoaxed off the water. "Accelerate" is generally not a word used todescribe the process. The SeaRey accelerates quickly for a seaplane. Themanufacturer claims a 300-foot takeoff run. I think that is the usual puffingmanufacturers are heir to. At nearly gross weight on awell-above-standard-temperature day, we used about 600 feet to get off thewater. For any seaplane, that's impressive. I've run over a mile to get a Seabeeairborne on a warm day and it comes off at 40 mph while the SeaRey leaves thewater at 50 mph.
Returning to land on land, the gear is extended and checked visually. TheSeaRey proved to be quite docile on the approach and landing. Full stall andwheel landings came off without any special effort other than the normalattention a person must pay to keep a tailwheel airplane tracking straightahead. The lack of individual wheel brakes never became an issue in the rollout,although I did notice some brief directional uncertainty at about 20 mph. I didnot try a landing on a hard surface runway. With the propeller just in front ofthe rudder, I suspect that any directional excursion could be rectified with abit of rudder and throttle.
Design Details
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From a safety standpoint, the SeaRey is about average for homebuilts. I'm notat all crazy about having fuel in the fuselage of an airplane; however, here itis behind the occupants, not in front, where a crash almost inevitably means afire. In most amphibians, landing on the water with the gear down is usually afatal error. Most pilots know this and have a little mantra for the landinggear: "This is a land, landing, the landing gear is down, the left main isdown (look and see), the right main is down (look and see) and the tailwheel isdown." Or, they say, "This is a water landing, the landing gear is up,the left main is up (look and see), the right main is up (look and see) and thetailwheel is up." To help the pilot SeaRey does provide panel lights forgear position in the electro-hydraulic gear, although not on the manual gearversion. Dr. Chuck is modifying his airplane to include the lights even thoughhe has the manual gear retraction system, a wise idea, in my opinion.
Gear down landings in the water have happened in SeaReys and so far, allinvolved have survived. I looked at the remains of one airplane and noted thatthe occupant space was intact enough to allow egress and the airplane itself wasrebuildable. While the forward portion of the hull is very strong, there is nota lot of structure in front of the occupants to absorb energy in a crash. Isimply don't know how occupants would fare if impact is against an object whiletraveling at any significant speed.
The SeaRey, as with many ultralights and some homebuilts, uses swaged cablesin a number of locations on the airframe. I have never been able to get asatisfactory answer regarding useful life of those cables. I have had them breakon sailboats. The resulting loss of the mast in a boat is usually onlyembarrassing. The effect in flight could well be more distressing. I, for one,would pay special attention to those cables on inspections.
Is There A SeaRey In Your Future?
If I could find a way to afford it, I'd get myself a SeaRey. I've not runacross an airplane that is more fun to fly and more versatile that I canconveniently recall. I'm excited for Dr. Chuck and his SeaRey. I just hope I geta chance to fly it.
See you next month.
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