I need to know, is there a specified distance for the landing areas of seaplanes? In airports, we have generally distances are defined according to the flight requirements. I need to know whether there are certain distances defined or just making the landing area by guessing?
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$\begingroup$ Which type of seaplanes exactly? $\endgroup$– 60levelchangeCommented Jul 22, 2017 at 9:38
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$\begingroup$ Cessna Caravan 208 $\endgroup$– KalumCommented Jul 22, 2017 at 10:39
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$\begingroup$ In general, the landing distance is much less than the takeoff distance so it is a non-issue. $\endgroup$– Mike SowsunCommented Jul 22, 2017 at 14:08
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8$\begingroup$ Google "Cessna 208 on floats performance" and you'll find lots of info. The first entry is wipaire.com/aircraft_page/cessna-caravan-series, which will show you that the takeoff run on water with the small engine is 2341 feet, takeoff over a 50 foot obstacle 3660 feet. As @MikeSowsun said, a water landing run will be much less (they don't even bother to give it) and is a non-issue. My guess would be less than half the takeoff run. At least that was I think true of the old J3 floatplane I used to fly. $\endgroup$– TerryCommented Jul 22, 2017 at 17:49
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2$\begingroup$ @ Terry, is there any major class of plane you haven't flown? $\endgroup$– dalearnCommented Aug 9, 2017 at 19:10
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1 Answer
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is there a specified distance for the landing areas of seaplanes?
A cautionary note: As @MikeSowsun said, the required distance to land a seaplane is MUCH shorter than that required to takeoff. For operational planning purposes, what you should be interested in is takeoff distances. My offhand guess is that landing distances are less than half that of takeoff runs. At least that was I think true of the old J3 floatplane I used to fly.
Now I assume you're including floatplanes as seaplanes. There are relatively few hulled seaplanes these days as compared to floatplanes, and compared to the numbers of the wheeled configuration of a given aircraft for which floats are available, the number of floatplanes is relatively small, which may account in part for the POH (pilots' operating handbook) for aircraft usually not providing performance data for float configurations. There are also differences in performance depending on the make and model of the floats being used.
All that said, you can often find performance details for current production floats on a given aircraft on the float manufacturer's website. For example, http://www.wipaire.com/aircraft_page/cessna-caravan-series/ gives that information for the Cessna 208 on Wipaire amphibious floats. In this instance, the takeoff run on water with the Caravan's small engine is 2341 feet, takeoff over a 50 foot obstacle 3660 feet. The same manufacturer's figures for a Cessna 206 on their amphibious floats is 1770 feet takeoff run, 2850 feet over a 50 foot obstacle.
just making the landing area by guessing?
Not by guessing, but looking at the intended area of operation in the light of past experience and judging whether they can takeoff from that area.
