Story: Flying in seaplanes from downtown Seattle's Lake Union

Aviation practically began on the water. The Wright Brothers made their first successful flight on a wind swept sand dune at a beach in North Carolina. A decade later Mr. Boeing built his first planes with floats so they could deliver the mail to far off places in the Pacific Northwest. At the carefully preserved factory building in Seattle you can see antique fuselages in various states of construction, unwrapped and free of their canvas skin. Their neat rows of wooden ribs could easily be boat hulls.

Ships and docks had been around for eons. The concept of runways was only just developing. For the better part of the first century of American flight, planes were built to land on water, especially those that were used to cross oceans. But as our confidence in aviation grew, our focus turned to speed and we grew less concerned about needing to land on the water if something went wrong.

Sadly, floating airplanes aren’t as common as they once were. But they are still heavily used in places like Seattle, Alaska, British Columbia and, to a lesser extent, Florida and the Caribbean. I’m frankly mystified as to why they’re not more popular in coastal areas as they are extremely practical. You can take off and land anywhere you can find a little patch of water. There’s really no need to worry about building and maintaining runways. Beyond the pragmatic reasons, there is also something romantic about flying in them. The throaty whir of a propeller and a small cabin do much to evoke an age when flying was more visceral. It is the antithesis of the dehumanizing flying bus experience that commercial aviation has become. The best part is being able to drive right up to the seaplane dock with a backpack and a fly rod and to zip off to some remote fishing spot without having to take your shoes off for a security screening.

Seattle is an excellent place to see commercial seaplanes in routine use. Many of the aircraft flying out of Lake Union are standard airplanes that have been modified for use on the water. Their controls are identical to conventional planes that are designed to take-off and land on runways. Long metal floats take the place of wheels and tiny rudders at the back of each float helps the pilot to maneuver the plane while it taxis on the water. Piloting a seaplane can be a bit different too. For one thing, the floats add lots of extra drag. And runways are usually not crowded with pleasure boats and canoes.

When the water in front of you is clear and the wind is off your nose, you set your flaps, verify clearance from air traffic control and push the throttle. The engine springs to life in a roar and you’re cruising across the water like a speedboat. If you were on a runway, when the plane reached take-off speed you’d simply rotate the yoke by pulling back until the nose tips up and you jump into the sky. But in a seaplane there’s an extra step. As the plane gains speed and the wings generate lift, you wait until the plane floats higher in the water for a bit before you break from the surface and take to the sky. The take-off is gentle and shallow as the drag from the floats will make you stall if you try to climb too quickly. Once you’re in the air the flight characteristics are the same as any other aircraft. Flaps up, throttle back, eyes scanning for traffic.

Everything looks better from the air and from far away. Seattle is especially beautiful with the snow-capped Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east with the crown jewel of Mt. Rainier off to the south. Puget Sound with its endless vistas of water and verdant islands unfurls before you. Boxy white car ferries zip around below, keeping everything connected. With a seaplane you can go anywhere there is water and a dock. Fly up to the San Juan Islands for dinner at Friday Harbor and fly back.

If taking off is statistically the most dangerous part of any flight, landing is usually much safer. It is merely a matter of lining yourself up with the runway and managing your energy. But landing a seaplane is trickier, especially on a busy waterway. With runways you also don’t have to worry about waves and boat wakes. Seattle’s Lake Union is a particularly hairy landing spot because of its prolifate small boats as well its densely populated shores which include communities of houseboats on all sides. There are no marked or designated landing areas. Wherever you can find a clear patch of water, that’s your runway.

Approaches are steep. After a quick fly-by to ensure that a landing spot, you set your flaps for landing and let the controllers at Seattle center that you’ll be disappearing from the radar. Pull back the throttle and the sensation of speed melts away quickly, giving you the feeling you’re hanging in the air. Then you swoop down precipitously like the path of a roller coaster over eight lanes of interstate at the lake’s northern end. Level out and the plane gently falls toward the water. If you do it right the plane stalls slightly just as the floats skim the water, bleeding off lift as the tail of the plane settles back. Hold her steady through a boat wake or two and you’re bobbing around on the surface of the lake once again, taxiing towards the dock, grinning the whole time while thinking that those early aviation pioneers were onto something by marrying aviation with water.