Economical Seaplane Ratings in Canada?

[Surfer007]

Looks like Pacific Seaplanes in BC offers a basic float rating for $1699

[ScudRunner-d95]

Think that's a pretty good deal these days, I did mine many years ago out of Fort Langley with Dave Hamel lots of fun. Not sure if Fort Langley Air is still around after Daves passing. 

[CpnCrunch]

It does seem like a good deal. Just two potential issues:


[1] It says you need to pay a 50% deposit before getting a date for your course, then the final 50% before starting the course. Generally people recommend against giving money upfront to a flight school. From what I can tell Randy is a reputable character so perhaps this isn't an issue here.


[2] It's unclear whether your training is actually done by Randy, or by another of his pilots. It says "[size=18px]Mr. Hanna is not alone however, he has a number of highly skilled pilot affiliates here in BC and around the world when you need training brought to you."[/size]

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I really don't see how getting the most experienced float plane instructor in Canada for that price would take long to figure out it is a good deal.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Randy has made a good decision getting the 172 because paying for a C180 for the rating is pissing money away.

[redlaser]

Most insurance companies require 30 hrs as PIC, before insuring your aircraft,
Now the problem is if you fly with a check pilot both of you can't log as PIC in
the journey log book, So you may have to fly the first 30 hrs without the aircraft
being insured, but carry liability only, which you can purchase, The other problem
is that the check pilot may not want to fly with you since you are a low time pilot
and the risk are too high especially flying a Cessna 180 aircraft which handles like
a race car, not an easy plane to fly on floats, I now fly a 206 on floats but have
quite a bit of hours flying 180's and 185's, and surprisenly the 206 is much easier
to fly, mainly because of bigger floats, I've flown quite a few times as check pilot
but usually ask that the person I'm checking has at least a 100 hours on wheels.

[Cdnpilot77]

I'm pretty sure almost none of that is accurate.  I was fully insured on a beaver amphib after 5hours dual and 620hrs TT.  ReLaser, you are an awesome troll, but not much substance.

[redlaser]

I'm pretty sure almost none of that is accurate.  I was fully insured on a beaver amphib after 5hours dual and 620hrs TT.  ReLaser, you are an awesome troll, but not much substance.

Then you are one of the lucky ones.  Was this your own private beaver, or in a commercial operation?