Glassy Water Takeoff & Landing Challenges

Floatplane flying is like no other experience, it affords you so much freedom, but flying a float plane does take some specialized skill sets. When not dealing with the consistency of a runway and dealing with water as your landing and takeoff medium there are some particular skill sets you need to stay safe and have a great flying experience.

Early morning and early evening are some of the quietest and most serene times to fly a floatplane, but that time of day also usually brings the most stillness to the water. At first, this seems like it would be an ideal situation, but actually, still water is much tougher to judge for takeoff and landing rather than choppy water. Glassy water lacks the visual cues that come with choppier water, and coming in on a still lake or river with low light can be trickier than you think. Glassy water takeoffs and landings take specialized techniques that our chief instructor, Dave Lewis is a pro at!

Glassy Water Specific Challenges

Glassy water conditions happens when there is little to no wind. Takeoff can be more challenging because the adhesion of the water to the floats increases the drag making it a more difficult takeoff requiring some special techniques. Also, when coming in for a landing, glassy water makes it difficult to judge the plane’s altitude or height above the water, making landing a floatplane on a smooth water surface a trickier operation.

Glassy Water Takeoff Techniques

There are two ways you can approach a glassy water takeoff, but you only have two methods if you have plenty of room in a river or lake compared to a narrow channel. Two factors you need to consider while getting airborne are critical to a safe flight. Be sure to have a positive rate of climb, there is less chance this way to inadvertently descend and contact the water again. Second, try to avoid turning before and after takeoff, we have seen a wingtip accidentally hitting the water and causing real problems even for an experienced floatplane pilot.

Glassy water creates more drag because of the high surface tension of the water. Using the one-float method for takeoff is a way to counteract the increased drag. Usually, you would have the right float lifted out of the water first, this helps use the torque of the engine to help you with a safe takeoff.

The other method of glassy water takeoff, if room permits, is to create a curved path during takeoff, which disturbs the water and creates less drag, however you do need the additional room for this method. In this method the float plane is taxied in circles to create a disturbance on the water, this artificially creates less of a mirror effect or glassy water and allows for a more normal takeoff.

Glassy Water Landing Techniques

As much as a glassy water takeoff is challenging, landing in glassy water conditions takes a specific skillset and practice also. According to FAA guidelines, a glassy water landing should include two predetermined go-around points. The first is after dropping below the tree line. If your floatplane isn’t properly configured with the correct decent rate, go around and try again.

The second go-around point is related to approaching the shoreline when landing. Because glassy water techniques take so much more landing distance, you must keep the approaching shoreline in your view and scan and go around well before you get too close to the shoreline.

Once go-around points are established follow these techniques listed below for a glassy water landing that will help insure a safe landing in these conditions:

• Plan a landing lane, this is most important! Because glassy water landing takes a longer distance you need to plan by choosing a landing lane with plenty of room. Some experienced float plane pilots estimate that you need three to four times the normal landing space to pull off a safe glassy water landing. This is a place you don’t want to cut corners. Very important, when at all possible you will want to land parallel to shore.
• Identify the last known visual reference point and set the pitch attitude. Keep proper pitch attitude until water contact.
• Very important, don’t make a turn once leaving your last visual reference point, because if turns are executed there is a good likelihood of touching a wingtip in the water, which has very unfortunate outcomes.
• Set up a normal landing approach. You will want to begin by starting a normal approach in a standard float plane configuration for landing.
• Add power to your landing. Once below the tree-line on the shore, add power to your a slow and steady descent.
• Visual cues on the shore are very important. Use trees, houses, or any other prominent point to judge your rate of descent to the water. Try not to descend more than 100 to 200 feet per minute, this keeps your landing under good control.
• Wait for the water, don’t force the approach. Hold your descent and landing altitude steady until contacting the water. Don’t try to prejudge the height above the water, wait for contact.
• Finally, pull the power to idle and come to off the step as soon as possible to the finish the landing run.

The best way to learn all float plane flying techniques is getting your float plane rating in a weekend through Cubs Floats and Fun. Dave Lewis, our senior instructor has flown more types of aircraft than you can count and not only is an incredible pilot, but he makes floatplane training fun and probably one of the top experiences in your lifetime!