COMP AIR 8 - Heavy Hauler Floatplane, continued

This is quite a list, but I had never flown a seaplane with a turbine engine. When we arrived for our flight, the Comp Air 8 was tied up at a small makeshift dock (more suited for a canoe than a seaplane). I began to check out the aircraft in preparation for its first flight of the day. As I waded around the nose, untying the plane's huge prop, I sank up to my ankles in the Florida mud. A common problem with seaplanes is that they are difficult to pre- flight thoroughly. And it's even difficult to climb into one without getting your feet wet, especially if you're to sit in the seat away from the dock. You must be agile to wiggle and squirm under the fuselage and along narrow struts to open the door and climb into your seat. (The company pilot had already claimed the seat closest to the dock.) But all this was a small price - one I was more than willing to pay - for the privilege of flying the Comp Air 8 on floats.

I finally settled into my seat in the large, 46.5-inch-wide cabin. And this plane's fuselage was 2 feet longer than the Comp Air 7's that I had flown earlier. When we untied the plane's lines (sailors never call them ropes), the big floatplane immediately began to drift toward the middle of the little inlet .To get us facing into the wind for takeoff, the pilot had to jump out on the float and maneuver the plane with what looked like a cheap, little, 99-cent paddle-something quite amusing considering we were in a $180,000 airplane. He finally got the big airplane to swing into the wind, and we were almost ready to start the engine.

PHOTOS BY BILL FEDORKO
The Walter engine and controls are exactly the same as those in the other two Aerocomp models. The pilot started the big turbine engine, and it was soon purring away. Now came the tricky part. He used the beta prop to try to get the plane turned around and headed out to sea. But the lagoon was so small, it would have been hard to do that without disturbing the birds, fish and other wildlife in the cove. So the pilot shut down the engine. As the plane was pushed by the light breeze out toward the ocean, I saw herons, fish eagles and even a couple of alligators - all of which blissfully ignored us. Arriving on open water, the pilot was about to start the engine but stopped when I pointed to a large fin protruding from the water alongside the aircraft. When it surfaced, I saw that the fin belonged to a beautiful, big dolphin that was swimming along, playing games with a couple of seagulls. The seagulls would swoop down to the water's surface, and the dolphin would leap up and splash, then settle down on the surface. The seagulls would hitch a ride on his back until he dove again. What a treat. This is just one example of the kind of pleasure you can't find in a wheeled airplane on a hard runway. Seaplanes are   the essence of unbridled fun and enjoyment on and over the water.

We'd had our fun, but now it was time to test an airplane. Earlier in the day, Editorial Director Bill Fedorko and I had coordinated arrangements for the photo shoot. Using the Comp Monster as a camera plane, he would photograph the takeoff of the Comp Air 8 by passing alongside us at about 50 feet. Right on cue, the company pilot in our aircraft fired up the Walter, then chatted for a while on the radio with the pilot of the other plane.

January 2000 · CUSTOM PLANES 43

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