SMIX, the seaplane, loves to go on adventure trips so I thought I'd open up the plane to people wanting to join in. This is not a business-- we all just share the fuel bill and airport costs and I pay my share along with everyone else. I select amazing destinations not too far from Barcelona (most of Europe is within a few hours) where I want to go and people can join in if they want to. If you join, you'll become a seaplaneatic too!
Here are some adventures the Seaplaneatics have been on lately:
- Flight to a mountain airport in the Pyranees and mountain bike to the ski lift
- Flight along Costa Brava and land at the parachuting capital of the world - Ampuria Brava for a go-kart race!
- Exploration of a brand new seaplane lake in Sardegna
- Flight to Menorca to explore the coastal bays - land at the aeroclub and beach it for a day or two...
- Fight to a Volcanic lake near Rome - some high risk (of stomach bursting ) eating local great food
- Flight to the last island before the North Pole. It was -4 degrees inside the tent... there was no night
- Flight to Lake Como to water land at the world's oldest seaplane base.
- Flight to Austria to water land in an amazing lake - went skinny dipping (that was the ugly part).
A seaplane gives you freedom and safety - every lake, every ocean and every river is an airport for a seaplane weather permitting. Smix is an amphibious seaplane - so it can land not only on water but at airports, country strips, grass fields and even the highway if the need arises...
Smix easily carries 4 people (it's designed for 6 being a Cessna 206 but we've removed 2 seats for extra luggage and leg room) and can land on both water and land. So in a single day we could take off from an airport near Barcelona, land at a grass strip at the top of the Pyranees, alight on a lake in Italy, or outside of a sea port on an Island in Greece!
We can carry mountain bikes and camping equipment and usually fly for about 2-3 hours or less at a time. We can do over 400km in 2 hours.
Typical trips I go on are to the South of France (land at Cannes after about 2 1/4 hours), to Menorca or Ibiza (1 - 1.5 hours one way), to Bolsena lake near Rome (5 -6 hours one way), Ampuriabrava (20 minutes), lake Como (after a stop in Cannes) etc. The important thing to note is that this is NOT a business and I am not a commercial pilot. This is just me bringing enthusiasts along on a shared expenses basis. I welcome fellow seaplane pilots or people interested in aviation.
Smix is visiting Spain for a few more months and is at Sabadell Airport.We've been doing quite a few fun excursions from there.
I'm happy to answer any questions.
Martin Picard
FrogfeetAviation.com
EXTRA (BORING) INFO
N206MX is a fully insured, fully maintained US aircraft being operated for pleasure not business. This club and our modus operandi were checked by the legal department of the AOPA and given the "ALL LEGAL" green light. In conformity with FAA rules: 1)I just have friends join in for trips I am planning for my own fun anyhow 2) I try not to handle money at all - best if we all just take turns paying the man at the pump! I pay all the other plane costs (insurance, hangar etc ) out of my own pocket - you just help with that trip's running costs.
I have under 900 flight hours on general aviation aircraft and a few hundred more on hang gliders and ultralights. I'm rated SES, SEL, IFR of which most on an Amphibious Seaplane N206MX - see www.waterscapeseurope.blogspot.com for our last Artic Adventure or www.frogfeetaviation.com for my site that helps people go fishing and exploring by seaplane. Also www.stage2aviation.com for planes that carry motorcycles - the way to go anywhere fast!
