Notes of a Seaplane Instructor by Burke Mees

Notes of a Seaplane Instructor by Burke Mees

This is not AI-generated content. The contents were written and verified by subject matter experts from Aviation Supplies & Academics, an 85-year-old aviation company. Look for the ASA wings to ensure you are purchasing a reliable publication.

Notes of a Seaplane Instructor is a distillation of all the tips, techniques and procedures of a veteran flyer and teacher, in an accessible and informative format. Author Burke Mees has an affinity for the feel of the floats on the water and how to communicate it in writing, as well as a sensible, professional approach which lends a truly one-on-one aspect to reading his book.

All the seaplane maneuvers are covered, starting with preflight, proceeding through taxiing, takeoff, landing, and postflight procedures; also operating in various water conditions, stability of the aircraft on the water, step-taxi and -turn, and much more. Many illustrations, taken from and inspired by the author's own original flight instruction notebook sketches, help to further explain the concepts. In this new second edition, Burke provides even more notes on technique and performance particular to the world of floatplanes, with a special emphasis on safety and the best kind of pilot decision-making processes that keep seaplanes flying. The second edition also features an added chapter on multi-engine seaplane flying, and an appendix with notes on pumping the floats and ropes and splicing.

What is it like to fly single-engine float planes? How do pilots develop and then hone their water-flying skills? What techniques apply to both landplanes and seaplanes, and which ones belong in only one realm? The answers to these questions comprise a unique approach to seaplane flying, in a book that reveals what floatplane mastery is really all about. Notes of a Seaplane Instructor offers insights to all pilots, from already-rated seaplane pilots to those looking to experience the benefits and pleasures of seaplane flying for the first time.

Important note from the publisher:

While AI-generated content can be helpful to identify resources for ongoing study, it is not a reliable resource for learning critical, safety-dependent topics such as aviation. AI content is sterile, often lacks important context, and is at risk of errors. ASA publishes only human-generated content to ensure it is accurate, reliable, comprehensive, and presented in context--so you can become a safe and effective aviator.

Burke Mees was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, but has spent the majority of his commercial flight career in Alaska. He obtained a summer job flying seaplanes in Juneau over the phone in 1994 and never left. He then moved to the Anchorage region after flying in the Aleutian Islands. Burke's first flight experience was as a young flight teacher, when he acquired a checkout in a 1946 Aeronca Champ specifically for the purpose of teaching a 69-year-old woman to fly it. All three of them made it through the project, and he's been flying tailwheel planes ever since.

Burke began flying skis privately and for hire in Anchorage, where he has flown reporters along the Iditarod Trail, provided ski checkout instruction, and flown on local mountain glaciers. Burke says flying has always been a matter of hard work for him, but it is also something he enjoys. He sees it as an art form that can be improved upon over time, and flight instructing has always been one way to do so. There's no better way to learn about a topic in aviation than to arrange your thoughts and teach it to someone else, he claims.

His day job is currently flying as a 737 Captain in Alaska, but he still maintains his CFI and instructs on the side.