The West Coast Seaplane Association’s Splash In
By Russ Albertson
Clear Lake, California provided a perfect setting and beautiful weather for this year’s annual Splash In. (Russ Albertson)The West Coast Seaplane Association’s annual “Splash In” was held at Clear Lake, Calif. in September, 2011 and was certainly the place to be if you have an interest in some fun aviation! “Splash In” is the perfect description for this event that attracted seaplane pilots and fans from as far away as British Colombia.
More than thirty seaplanes arrived over the weekend to participate in the activities and perfect weather at Lakeport, on the west side of Clear Lake. The city allows the association to utilize an inactive high school athletic field located at the water’s edge with a short dirt ramp to the beach. It was great fun to watch various planes land in the water, lower their landing gear as they approached the beach and taxi right up onto the grass field. Amphibious seaplanes, equipped with retractable wheels, certainly add a great versatility to the adventures possible for these pilots. Buoys and docks were also available to planes not equipped with wheels.
Early Adventure in My Luccombe 8A
By Steve Weaver
Quitting time came promptly at five o’clock and I was out the door and in my car in a flash. I drove as fast as I could without attracting police attention, to the airport where the Luscombe awaited me, tied securely down in the back row of parked airplanes.
The old Stewart Airpark lay on the west side of the town, hard by the banks of the Ohio River, and was one of the few old-time flying fields that had survived into the 1960s. It was built in the 20s, when airplanes had little crosswind capability, and were constructed to enable a pilot to land into the wind, no matter which way the wind was blowing. The landing area consisted of acres of well-drained sod, some 1,800 by 3,100 feet in size, and from the air it looked like a great, green velvet tablecloth.
Editorial: Happy Election Year
By Ed Downs
The customary greeting for a January editorial would be “Happy New Year.” And, so be it! HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012 comes upon us with the same promise carried by every new year. All beginnings contain “good news” and “bad news.” It is up to the individual to write history and decide how each day, or year, turns out. But 2012 comes with special promises of good or bad. It is a Presidential election year. The FAA, federal budgets for aviation, private flying and business aviation are going to be topics for political controversy and we, the average flying guy or gal, are going to have an audience as never before. Let’s take a look at the “bad news” first, and then offer some creative solutions. We can make this a winning year for aviation, no mater who wins the election.
With political campaigns now well underway, it becomes clear that our major political parties will continue to ignore the real problems and opportunities facing our country. Instead, the PR firms hired by the DNC and RNC will focus upon inflammatory sound bites, insulting TV commercials, and daily “talking points” memos issued to those seeking election, to be quoted to “target voting groups” like trained parrots (apologies to parrots!). And what, you may ask, do any of these insulting realities have to do with you and your airplane?
