A date was soon set for Steve Bridgewater and I to meet up with Richard and demo pilot Jeff Stumthal at Lantana airport, which is just north of Fort Lauderdale. I had already admired the Seawind's clean, futuristic looks at the AOPA Convention's static park and was champing at the bit to get behind the controls. The Seawind was designed by two Canadian brothers, Roger and Len Creelman and first flew in 1989. The first few Seawinds were powered by 200hp engines which, although adequate for most operations, did not really provide sufficient power for taking off from small lakes or hot 'n' high airfields. Consequently, when Seawind SNA Inc, took over the project in 1991, it decided to increase the power available by an impressive 50%, by substituting the four-cylinder 200hp IO-360 with a six-cylinder IO-540 of 300hp. Other changes included increasing the span of the tailplane and the chord of the elevator.

Viewed from any angle, the Seawind is an extraordinarily graceful flying (and floating) machine. It possesses wonderful flowing lines and has a real 'space age' appearance. It is also, quite obviously, extremely well made. Constructed primarily of fibreglass over PVC foam, the hull features four separate flotation compartments and is of the single-step design. Making the airframe and wings out of composites

confers the absolutely crucial advantage that corrosion is no longer an issue. Indeed, the ravaging effects of salt water on aluminium has seen many a metal flying-boat condemned before its time. Another excellent aspect of the Seawind is that when it is on its wheels there is over eight inches of ground clearance, which means that it is possible to land on the water, extend the undercarriage and then taxi up onto a ramp or the beach. I was also interested to see that the ailerons appeared to be interconnected to the flaps, and Jeff confirmed that the ailerons are actually flaperons, which droop with the first 20 degrees of the slotted flaps movement. I was also interested by the drooped sponsons on the wingtips and guessed that they would help to increase ground effect, which would be useful for better take-off performance.
In common with most other single-engine flying-boats, the engine is mounted as high up as possible in order to keep the propeller out of the spray. However, unlike similar amphibians, such as the Republic Sea Bee or Lake Buccaneer, the Seawind uses a tractor propeller arrangement. This confers several useful advantages. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it places the prop out of harm's way with respect to the spray. This is extremely important, as water striking the leading edge of a rotating propeller blade can very soon reduce the prop to scrap. Obviously, having the prop up high is much safer, which is no bad thing in a busy dock, while another plus is that as the engine is above and behind the cabin, it is much quieter for the occupants. Finally, this arrangement also makes the aircraft quieter for people on the ground (or water). Why? Well, because the exhaust discharges behind the propeller, the noise characteristics are generally slightly muted and also more constant. With a pusher-type arrangement, the exhaust is discharged through the propeller disc. The prop then chops the exhaust up, and this creates additional noise. As the Seawind is a flying-boat and all boats need tying up I was surprised that there didn't appear to be any mooring cleats fitted. However, Richard reached into the stowage compartment in the nose and showed me a selection of ring-and-post tiedown pins. These snap into sockets that are strategically located in the nose, hull and wings, making it very easy to either moor the aircraft or to tie it down securely on land.

Access to the cockpit is excellent. The truly enormous rear-hinged canopy opens extremely wide and is well supported by gas struts, while the well-placed sprung-loaded footwell makes it easy to step over the sill and down into the cockpit. I was also very pleasantly surprised by the amount of room available in the cabin. At 52 inches wide (54in for the back seats) it is very roomy, which makes for a very pleasant cockpit environment. Overall, I thought the cockpit was very well thought out. The seats adjust over a good range and the panel is huge, with plenty of space for just about every conceivable permutation of instrument fit, while all the controls were easy to reach and operate. The centre console carries all the usual power control levers and also the cowl flap lever, undercarriage selector, flap switch and also a large brown knob, which I quickly discovered extended and retracted the water rudder. When extended, the water rudder is automatically coupled to the rudder pedals and steers through an arc of about 45 degrees, which is approximately twice as large an arc as the air rudder moves through. I was intrigued by the nosewheel steering, which is operated by a small rocker switch on the instrument panel and is actuated by the same electro-hydraulic power pack that drives the undercarriage and flaps.

The trusty 300hp Lycoming IO-540 started readily and we were soon trundling briskly across the parking ramp. This particular engine has been stripped down and 'blue-printed' and also features a tuned exhaust system. By now it was already beginning to get hot and I was glad we could taxi with the canopy open. Initially I found the nosewheel steering a bit fiddly, but after only a couple of minutes I had soon adjusted to using it. Indeed, the combination of nosewheel steering, differential braking and a touch of power gives the Seawind an excellent turning circle. Two small lights on the panel illuminate to show whether the nosewheel is right or left of neutral. During the pre take-off checks I was surprised to note that no trim position indicators are fitted for the ailerons, rudder or elevators. Jeff explained that he always checked that all the trim tabs were neutral during the pre-flight checks. I must admit that this was the only aspect of the Seawind's cockpit that I found unsatisfactory. For instance, the elevator trim setting for take-off is bound to vary slightly, depending upon the location of the C of G, and personally I would like to see precisely where the trim was set. Trim control for the elevators and ailerons is via a four-way 'coolie-hat' switch on the pilot's yoke. With the rest of the pre take-off checks completed and the flaps set to the take-off setting of 22°, we swung the huge canopy down and locked it. In fact, because the canopy is so big, it is locked shut by two independent latches on each side of the cockpit wall, as well as catches under the instrument panel coaming.

The Seawind that I was flying is fitted with the optional outboard wing tanks, which take the total fuel capacity to an impressive 110 US gallons. With all the fuel tanks full, we were carrying 660lb of Avgas, so with Jeff and I probably weighing another 400lb we were within 40lb of the maximum all-up weight. Nevertheless the acceleration was excellent and after a ground roll of around 900ft a smooth steady pull on the control yoke saw the Seawind rotate into the take-off attitude and climb swiftly away from the ground. I aimed for its Vy of 85 knots and the VSI was soon indicating in excess of 1,200 ft/min. Jeff had suggested that we fly out to Lake Okeechobee so that I could try a few splash 'n' goes, and as it had been sometime since I'd done any water work, I keenly accepted his suggestion.

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