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While talking with Jeff and Richard during the pre-flight inspection both had emphasised that the Seawind was a real 'going places' machine. Therefore, eschewing the usual Today's Pilot flight test schedule of exploring the handling first, I set the Seawind up for high-speed cruise in order to get out to the lake as fast as possible. Now, the Achilles' heel (or should that be Achilles' hull) of any flying-boat design is, as my rather appalling pun implies, the hull, and the phenomenal amount of aerodynamic drag that it creates. Fortunately, the Creelmans had the good sense to use a NASA NLF-type aerofoil for the wings, and this type of laminar-flow aerofoil section lends itself to using a reflexed, or negative flap, setting. So, having levelled out at 3,000 feet above the Everglades I set the flaps to 10° negative, with the manifold pressure gauge showing 24 inches and 2,400rpm on the prop. This is about 75% power, and the ASI soon settled at 140 knots indicated (148 true), for a fuel burn of around 14 US gallons per hour. I was impressed! Not only is the Seawind a true four-seater, but, shiver me timbers, it's a flying-boat to boot. To be able to cruise so fast and also be able to operate from land and water makes the Seawind something really quite special.

With such an excellent turn of speed we were soon approaching Lake Okeechobee and I reduced speed to around 120 knots and began to experiment with the Seawind's general handling. While looking around the aircraft on the ground at Lantana airport, several very interesting questions regarding its handling characteristics had occurred to me, and I was eager to find out the answers.

Take a good look at some of the pictures that accompany this article. That big, heavy engine and propeller is mounted quite high up isn't it? How do you suppose that might influence the aircraft's lateral stability and handling in roll? What about the considerable amount of keel area in front of the centre of pressure? Do you think that might adversely affect its directional stability, even with that great big fin? And what about having the thrust centreline set so high? Surely changes in power must adversely affect pitch trim? Well, I am pleased to be able to report that, contrary to what you might expect, the Seawind handles perfectly normally in every respect. I must admit that I definitely expected large changes in power to produce equally large changes in pitch trim, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was not the case. Directional stability was equally benign, while I could not discern that the weight of the high-mounted engine adversely affected the Seawind's lateral stability. A couple of steep turns revealed that just a touch of rudder was necessary to keep the slip ball centred. Visibility all through the turn was excellent. Before slowing down to take a look at the stall, a brief exploration of the Seawind's stick-free stability revealed a very long amplitude low-frequency phugoid, which damped itself out after three oscillations. Slow flight and the stall were equally undramatic. With the undercarriage retracted and the flaps set to zero, mild buffet began to shake the airframe at about 67 knots before the wing finally quit flying at about 62 knots. With the wheels down and landing flap of 30 degrees selected there was considerably more buffet, before the nose finally dropped at 55 knots. This was accompanied by quite a pronounced wing drop, despite the fact that I had taken particular care to ensure that the slip ball had remained central. Jeff opined that the wing drop was in fact most probably due to a slight imbalance of the fuel, and he turned the electric transfer pump 'on' and began transferring fuel from the optional outboard tanks to the inner main tanks.

While Jeff continued transferring fuel, I retracted the flaps and undercarriage and swept down towards the surface of the lake so that Jeff and I could inspect the water conditions. However, even from 500 feet it soon became apparent that the fresh northwesterly wind was creating waves larger than either of us liked the look of. Luckily, Jeff had a 'Plan B' and he directed me to fly south past Kreamer Island towards the Hillsboro Canal. The surface of the canal appeared much calmer than the lake, and as the canal is oriented NW-SE it was also into wind, making it ideal for some 'splash 'n' goes'.

Jeff suggested that he fly the first splashdown, that I would follow through on the controls for the second and then try a couple by myself. He also asked me to select the flaps from 30 to 22 degrees as soon as he added take-off power. The first two splashdowns went well and Jeff passed control to me and I swept the Seawind around in a graceful sweeping turn and commenced the downwind leg parallel with the canal. The flap limiting speed is 100 knots and as the speed slowly bled back past this, I put the first stage of flap down and re-trimmed for 90 knots. There was a slight tendency for the Seawind to balloon as the flaps came down but this was easily counteracted by a slight push on the yoke. Water work requires keeping a very careful look-out, as your intended 'runway' may well be in use by others. In this case, there were several boats cruising up and down the canal, while another potential hazard for flying-boat pilots is that there can often be large birds flying around. Indeed, Lake Okeechobee appeared to be infested with very large buzzard-like creatures that appeared to take a perverse delight in constantly getting in the way. Turning final I let the speed bleed back to 80 knots while pushing the prop lever to maximum rpm and opening the cowl flaps. I also checked that, as this was going to be a water landing, we had 'three blues' (the panel lights are arranged so that 'undercarriage down' is indicated by three green lights and 'up' by three blue lights). Speed control all around the circuit was very precise, and as we sank towards the waiting water I selected full flap, while ensuring the speed remained steady at 80 knots. A few feet above the water I levelled out, let the speed bleed back to around 70 and then slowly raised the nose to about four degrees above the horizon. The Seawind settled lightly upon the water and I immediately and smoothly added full power, while asking Jeff to raise the flaps to the take-off setting. Jeff had warned me during the pre flight briefing that the yoke required a fairly hefty pull as the Seawind accelerated on the step. Nevertheless, I obviously wasn't holding the nose up enough as a small porpoising motion began to develop. At this point Jeff also eased back on the yoke and the Seawind quickly settled down and flew itself off at about 55 knots.

Slightly irritated at almost letting the Seawind get the better of me, I swung this graceful flying-boat around onto the down wind leg and dodged another couple of buzzards. Having noted that another boat had just appeared on 'our' stretch of the canal, I began planning my next approach while silently resolving to make this splash 'n' go a much more tidy affair than my previous attempt. All went well, and I levelled out just above the water and raised the nose four degrees while smoothly drawing the last of the power off. As graceful as any sea bird, the Seawind gently kissed the water with the tip of its keel and began planing smoothly along the canal. I was surprised at the small amount of spray that splashed up onto the canopy and impressed by how stable the Seawind felt on the water. This is probably due mainly to the fairly wide hull design. I smoothly added full power while calling for take off flap and maintaining a firm, steady pull on the yoke, with the result that the Seawind very rapidly climbed up off the water and back into the air. Feeling very pleased with myself, I asked Jeff if we had sufficient time for another splash 'n 'go, but he regretfully shook his head and said that if I also wanted to try a few landings on tarmac then we should be getting back.

With such an impressive cruise speed, the transit back to Lantana took no time at all and we were soon slipping easily into the circuit. The undercarriage limiting speed is 100 knots, and extending it as soon as allowable can be useful for slowing this quite slippery airframe down. I used the same speeds in the circuit as I had for the water landings and all went well. However, during the landing roll I sensed that the rudder was no longer as effective as it had been, and wondered if perhaps at idle power settings the propeller disc was tending to blank the rudder slightly. I think that if landing in a crosswind, it would probably be prudent to carry just a smidgen of power to help keep the rudder effective. Finally, and in my case extremely reluctantly, we taxied back to the parking ramp and shut down.

What a fantastic day's flying, spoilt only by the fact that we hadn't seen a single alligator! So, in closing, what can I tell you about the Seawind? Well, I suppose I could tell you that the Seawind is 27ft 2in long and that it has a maximum all-up weight of 3,400lb with a wing loading of 21.25lb/sq ft and a power loading of 11.33lb/hp. However, in truth, such dry statistics really don't capture the sheer fun of such a machine. I would much rather tell you about the sublime satisfaction in the subtle transference of weight from wing to water, or the sizzling swish of the water on the hull as the Seawind settles lightly upon the waves. Boats that can fly everyone should have one!

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