Who needs runways? Head to your nearest lake or river and let’s go!

What is a seaplane?

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft which is capable of taking off and landing on water. Generally speaking, there are two types of seaplanes: floatplanes and flying boats. Let’s briefly examine these two types of seaplanes.

A floatplane has pontoons, which are flotation devices that are attached to the fuselage. There are usually two pontoons on a floatplane but other configurations are possible. The pontoons are normally what come into contact with the water.

Flying boats do not have pontoons but instead utilize the fuselage for buoyancy. Most multi-engine seaplanes are flying boats, as opposed to floatplanes.

Amphibious aircraft (amphibious literally means land or water) can take off and land on either water or a conventional runway. A true seaplane can only take off and land on water but there are amphibious flying boats as well as amphibious floatplanes and others with a hybrid design.

Seaplane Use

Heavily used during both WWI and WWII, most seaplane use today is for recreational purposes or for light duty transportation to lakes and other remote areas such as the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness. You can usually find a chartered seaplane service or even scheduled service in any area with a large number of lakes convenient for takeoff and landing.

The various coast guards are probably the largest operators of seaplanes due to their efficiency and their ability to both spot and rescue survivors.

Seaplane Pilots Association

The Seaplane Pilots Association (SPA) is a non-profit organization serving the needs of the seaplane community throughout North America and the world. SPA is headquartered in Florida.

SPA states the following:

The primary mission of the Seaplane Pilots Association is Advocacy. Our mission is to be the voice of the seaplane community and to represent the interests of seaplane enthusiasts on the federal, state, and local levels. It includes ensuring fairness and equality for seaplanes to share public waterways with all other user groups… Other key elements of our Mission include Safety, Education, and Environmental Stewardship.

Seaplane Training

For information on seaplane flight training, please see Seaplane Training.