In 2019 I got my instrument rating and took my check ride with Chuck Brown of the Jack Brown Seaplane Base. Chuck uses the Jack Brown seaplane base as his office for check rides. While hanging out on the dock waiting for Chuck I had a few minutes to walk around and check out all the Cubs. At that time I decided that in the near future I would be getting a sea plane rating.
Seaplane guys really do have more fun. When we fly in the RV-10 we climb through 1,000 feet expeditiously and spend very little time loitering at lower altitudes. These sea plane guys never seem to climb above 500′! In fact in two days of flying the Cub I never did! We also never got over 85 miles an hour either! No matter how clean the windscreen is on the RV-10 it is not as clear as the open door on the cub. I can best describe it like this. When you ride a motorcycle through an orange grove you can smell the blossoms as you get near it, you can feel the temperature change as you go from the concrete jungle to the woods. While they are the same roads you experience moving from point A to point B in the car, somehow on the motorcycle you feel more connected. This is EXACTLY what flying the seaplane was like, more connected to the air. What a blast! The folks at Jack Brown Seaplane Base are a class act.
Cub on the ramp waiting to slide into the water.
Alligator swimming by the dock in the morning on day 1. Day 2 I saw otters there.
This Cub has been teaching people for a long time.
Amazing that these Cubs get slid down every day and pulled out by a tractor. These floats are tough.
Checklist
