Should be soon.  Maybe SWS will chime in and give us a progress report.

Regards,

Ray

 

And it should have water rudders, which are really important. 

26 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

And it should have water rudders, which are really important. 

Hopefully animated 🙂😂

Edited January 23, 20224 yr by teletom

Hope the trim wheel stays animated too. Can't wait for this!!

Excellent. looking forward to this....

1 hour ago, Bobsk8 said:

And it should have water rudders, which are really important. 

 

1 hour ago, teletom said:

Hopefully animated 🙂😂

The large water rudders are absolutely necessary to water taxi - this is a very large aircraft and is mounted on some of the largest floats available.  The Kodiak sits high and tall in the water and will easily drift with the wind and waves if not constantly corrected.

I got my SES rating at the Jack Brown Seaplane School way back when Jack was still alive and worked there just about 24 hours a day.  It was a weekend package then and I showed up with my young wife on a Saturday morning, we had ground school and short flights on the lake, more ground school, spent Saturday night at the Seaplane School and left on Sunday afternoon with a SES rating.  I never thought for a minute I would be flying a 750 hp Turboprop on floats, even in a simulator.

We flew from lake to lake and practiced taxiing more than flying.  Very fond memories of the training and of Jack's teachings.

I did checkout in a Piper Cherokee Six on floats to deliver it from Vero Beach, FL to Alaska, but, the FAA did not approve the temporary fuel tanks in the cabin, so that trip never happened.  

Love the sounds of water lapping on the floats with the frogs croaking and the peace and quiet of sitting on the edge of a lake having a cold beer.  The smell of the leather seats in the Kodiak should mix well with the hot dogs and chips.

Regards,

Ray

4 minutes ago, raymar said:

 

The large water rudders are absolutely necessary to water taxi - this is a very large aircraft and is mounted on some of the largest floats available.  The Kodiak sits high and tall in the water and will easily drift with the wind and waves if not constantly corrected.

I got my SES rating at the Jack Brown Seaplane School way back when Jack was still alive and worked there just about 24 hours a day.  It was a weekend package then and I showed up with my young wife on a Saturday morning, we had ground school and short flights on the lake, more ground school, spent Saturday night at the Seaplane School and left on Sunday afternoon with a SES rating.  I never thought for a minute I would be flying a 750 hp Turboprop on floats, even in a simulator.

We flew from lake to lake and practiced taxiing more than flying.  Very fond memories of the training and of Jack's teachings.

I did checkout in a Piper Cherokee Six on floats to deliver it from Vero Beach, FL to Alaska, but, the FAA did not approve the temporary fuel tanks in the cabin, so that trip never happened.  

Love the sounds of water lapping on the floats with the frogs croaking and the peace and quiet of sitting on the edge of a lake having a cold beer.  The smell of the leather seats in the Kodiak should mix well with the hot dogs and chips.

Regards,

Ray

Thanks for sharing your story ramar. Love reading this kind of stuff.

4 minutes ago, raymar said:

 

The large water rudders are absolutely necessary to water taxi - this is a very large aircraft and is mounted on some of the largest floats available.  The Kodiak sits high and tall in the water and will easily drift with the wind and waves if not constantly corrected.

I got my SES rating at the Jack Brown Seaplane School way back when Jack was still alive and worked there just about 24 hours a day.  It was a weekend package then and I showed up with my young wife on a Saturday morning, we had ground school and short flights on the lake, more ground school, spent Saturday night at the Seaplane School and left on Sunday afternoon with a SES rating.  I never thought for a minute I would be flying a 750 hp Turboprop on floats, even in a simulator.

We flew from lake to lake and practiced taxiing more than flying.  Very fond memories of the training and of Jack's teachings.

I did checkout in a Piper Cherokee Six on floats to deliver it from Vero Beach, FL to Alaska, but, the FAA did not approve the temporary fuel tanks in the cabin, so that trip never happened.  

Love the sounds of water lapping on the floats with the frogs croaking and the peace and quiet of sitting on the edge of a lake having a cold beer.  The smell of the leather seats in the Kodiak should mix well with the hot dogs and chips.

Regards,

Ray

The best man at my wedding years ago, had a flying school at Lake Havasu City for years. Joe LaPlaca won many  Instructor of the year awards and people came from all over the world  to attend his seaplane classes. I never got out there, but I did have a chance to fly a C 182 with a float conversion kit once from Hood Lake in Anchorage. Float planes are really cool.

I authored the FSX review of the Milviz Beaver on Floats and researched a lot of background stories in Alaska and Canada.  The water effects and added sounds while in the Beaver were outstanding. I was wearing Top Siders and cutoffs as I was completing the review.

Regards,

Ray

Some great videos near the end of the review. REVIEW: MilViz DHC-2 Beaver Bush Plane - Aircraft - The AVSIM Community

The included essay - Straight Floats vs Amphibious Floats - makes for some great reading. (was used with permission)

"Remember, the Kodiak was designed from the beginning for floats. " Daher.

The kodiak Series ii with carbon fiber floats No Other Aircraft In The World Today Matches The Kodiak’s Seaplane Performance, Efficiency, Safety And Cost. The Kodiak was designed from the outset for float operation. This seaplane can take off from water or a runway while preserving unprecedented water operation performance. There is no need for structural upgrades. The possibilities are endless: Travel to all those out-of-the way lakes and rivers you’ve always longed to visit; haul hunters, fishermen or supplies to those locations that can’t be reached any other way; deliver guests to..

[ THE SEAPLANE ] The kodiak Series ii with carbon fiber floats No Other Aircraft In The World Today Matches The Kodiak’s Seaplane Performance, Efficiency, Safety And Cost.

Pilot Report.  

FLYING THE KODIAK Faced with scaling the big Aerocet carbon-fiber floats and their struts to board the Kodiak amphibian through the front left pilot door, I’m struck by the notion that this is a large flying machine to have swooped into little Skaneateles Aerodrome (6B9) and its two 3,000-foot runways—one grass, one blacktop. The pilot’s eyeline when seated is not much shy of 10 feet up—about where it is in a 727. The cockpit exudes quality: the high-contrast white-on-black design, the sturdy switches, the leather-wrapped control wheel and the hefty black lumps of milled aluminum through which the control shafts disappear into the panel, the absence of plastic pretty much everywhere except knobs and buttons. This is the pilot’s everyday interface with the machine, and it conveys a solidity that is borne out when the airplane is in its element charging through chop on the water or in the air. Before starting the PT6 you need to make sure both overhead fuel selectors are on. With just one engine, there’s no provision for transferring fuel from one tank to the other. If the airplane is parked on a slope with both selectors on, fuel will migrate to the downhill wing, so you turn them both on before start as part of the preflight. Beyond that, the process is simple and requires little more than keeping the usual sharp eye out for a .  .  .  .

Full text here.  ain_2017_pilot_report_kodiak_1.pdf (bjtonline.com)

 

Daher Kodiak 100: Stylish versatility - Skies Mag - Full article, lots of photos and some float video.

I just bought the Kodiak about 3 minutes ago, going to go give it a try, then I guess I can partake and decide whether the floats version will be worth it for me!

Could a 5 bladed prop be available on the SWS Float Plane?  The MT 5-blade prop is part of the approved EASA Float Plane package in Europe.

EASA Certified Seaplane

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified the Kodiak 100 for seaplane floats use in the following configuration:

• Kodiak 100 aircraft

• Aerocet 6650 amphibious floats

• Standby battery STC

• MT five-bladed propeller

We will take a close look at these individually. But, first, let’s see how the EASA type certification came about – with the help of Kodiak’s long-time European dealer, based at Mönchengladbach Airport in Germany.

Rheinland Air Service (RAS) has been the European Dealer and Authorized Service Center for Kodiak Aircraft since 2014. RAS provides Kodiak sales, maintenance, service and training all from one convenient source. The company has been an Approved Training Organization (ATO) for the Kodiak since 2017, and is the only European ATO offering EASA certified training for the Kodiak 100 on floats.

RAS just delivered its first Kodiak 100 on floats to a customer in southern Europe, the first Kodiak seaplane in operation there. But another two Kodiak Seaplanes were also sold by RAS and will soon be delivered for use in northern Europe.

Rheinland Air Service Aids EASA Certification

Rheinland Air Service was also instrumental in gaining the EASA supplemental type certification (STC) for Kodiak Aircraft in parachute and floats configuration. RAS worked closely with its partners and service providers to make this happen.

Unlike the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), EASA required its registered Kodiak 100 owners to retrofit a third battery to initially comply with European regulations. But the Field Service Instructions in FSI-148 for the standby battery system created some challenges for floatplane use. In normal use, the third battery is installed behind the engine firewall in the cabin, between the crew seats. But in a seaplane, that space is needed for the lever controlling the float landing gear. .

A creative solution was needed. In preparation for EASA certification, RAS commissioned the development of a Kodiak 100 battery modification. RAS worked with the aircraft company, EASA, and a German engineering firm to develop and gain approval for the necessary modification. RAS even furnished its own Kodiak aircraft during the development in just eight weeks. The plane was made available for engineering processes, installation, testing, and final STC approval by EASA.

As mentioned, the normal standby battery location is unsuitable for seaplanes. The normal location would interfere with optional equipment like the TKS tank for the deicing system or with the hydraulic hand pumps for the floats. To overcome these limitations the subcontracted German engineering company, an EASA Part 21J design organisation, developed an STC that reorganises the battery arrangement.

The company implemented a larger battery, housed in fireproof casing which can be installed in the nose of the aircraft. Besides allowing EASA-registered owners to use floats, the solution provides about a 20 percent weight saving, compared to the normal European battery installation. That’s a nice bonus.