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Issue 41 March 2015 Issue 41 March 2015 On-the-Step Newsletter of the Seaplane Pilots Association of Australia R Seaplane Pilots PRESIDENT’S REPORT Association he SPAA AGM was held on 16th and maintaining our website and David Australia TFebruary and we were pleased to have Geers very kindly provided the hosting 19 members present which, while a small service. Unfortunately the history of fraction of our membership, it was a high the original development of the site had and possibly a record on an historical been somewhat fragmented and confused potential loss of some of our freedoms, basis. In the light of our widely dispersed and Phillip was left with dealing with a the executive have decided to trial the part membership this number is encouraging, stitched together site based on a variety time employment of a Secretariat to help with Skype making it possible for 12 of older software packages that were very with much of the leg work needed. members to participate. Unfortunately difficult to maintain and edit and didn’t We are looking for someone, with a Skype seems to provide some distractions lend themselves well to distribution of reasonable understanding of the seaplane when trying to establish and maintain information to our members or financial community, who could undertake about connections, and seems to struggle with transactions. one day per week of casual work. larger numbers of participants. We will I am pleased to announce that we have Tasks would include general administrative be looking to see how we can make this secured the services of a web builder who duties, maintaining records, databases a more reliable method for member will build a completely new website that and social media, maintaining involvement. will be much easier for us to maintain and correspondence, arranging meetings, Perhaps typical of these voluntary provide all the facilities that we expect of ensuring agreed tasks are followed up, associations, we weren’t flooded with modern sites. maintain close communication with all new nominations for positions and the We expect to be able to launch the new the SPAA Executive. This would be a paid Executive for 2015 looks much the same site early in April 2015. position and it would be expected that the as that of the previous year. - § - cost to SPAA would be largely offset by It seems you are stuck with me as t is vitally import that the SPAA continue the increase in membership contributions President for another year. I must admit and increase our efforts in ensuring that I secured by the secretariat. that I haven’t been all that pleased with the access to waterways and freedoms If you feel that you could assist the SPAA my performance over the past year but that Australia’s seaplane pilots enjoy are by providing such a role, or you know of undertake to be more effective in 2015. not further eroded and that access to someone who you think could fill the role, The new steps that I mention in this waterways that have been stopped or please let us know by contacting myself or column, such as the new website and restricted with no justifiable reasoning one of our Vice-Presidents or Secretary Secretariat, should assist me in lifting my can be reinstated The SPAA executive whose contact details are at the back of performance. are concerned that, as a purely voluntary this news sheet. - § - organisation, the time and resources that - § - ur website has been the subject its members can contribute are limited Happy, safe flying Oof much discussion over the past and that the effort required to pursue all year. With the passing of Richard our goals in a timely manner is more than and Holgate back in 2011 Phillip Dartnell the current executive can make available. Wheels Up For Water kindly took on the role of resurrecting Rather than let our goals slip and risk Page 1 Issue 41 March 2015 A FORTUNATE LIFE?? George Beattie hat an understatement! An amazing enjoyment-filled 30 and by the time it was finished, the debt was getting beyond my Wyears of seaplane flying from a waterfront home 5 miles capacity to keep paying , despite getting every band-playing job I from Coolangatta Airport, 400 metres taxying to a straight, wide could find. After being assured that no-one would ever want such waterway obstacle-free for 7000 ft. Over 8000 water landings on a ridiculous house, we found a buyer, a retired furniture business some of the most beautiful waterways imaginable. Does life get owner with a huge private collection of antique furniture. He any better than that? couldn’t believe his luck at finding a house with such My seaplane dreams huge storage space. Better still, he bought it early in began as a young the year and asked us if we would like to live in it until boy fascinated by he moved up from Sydney the following Christmas. “Boy’s Own” stories So I was able to buy another block, put down a ramp of floatplanes loaded with water supply, ready for when the time came to with deer antlers and vacate the house.. a canoe strapped to The next two years saw my wife, Joyce, and I fishing their spreader bars, up in Moreton Bay, swimming and lazing on some rocking at anchor at deserted beach, having lunch at seaside restaurants, some little dock by a meeting Brisbane friends by their Bayside suburbs and lake nestled beneath generally wondering “Who needs an aeroplane with the Rocky Mountains. wheels?” A couple of incidents stick in my memory. I remember being Joyce and I were sitting on a float one afternoon, thrilled by a story of smugglers going to and forth from a secret dangling our legs in the blue Bay water when suddenly a black island with a flying boat and being brought to justice by a group fin appeared only feet from our vulnerable tootsies. No aircraft of kids. Only when I became a school librarian did I actually built could retract its undercarriage as fast as ours came up that find that it was a Famous Four book by Enid Blyton! I knew day! As it almost brushed the float we saw that it was, in fact, even then that I must fly one one day. one of the Bay’s large Like most of us, however, the scarce funds of a manta rays, casually young family man meant that any such dreams cruising by, with its must remain just that, into the future. But in triangular wingtips 1973, my flying dreams finally came true with cutting the surface. my PPL gained at Air Gold Coast. Within Another time we spied months, I was knocking on Bill Lane’s door three chaps with a at Southport to seek a float endorsement. Bill fire going a hundred kindly leant me VH-DNT to do some follow- metres or so away. We up flying but again financial imperatives reared sauntered up to where their ugly heads and my logbook was without a they were boiling their water-flying entry until Christmas 1984, when catch of mudcrabs and I heard that VH-TUV, which had gone from blue swimmers from Bill s care to a syndicate in Sydney Harbour, the night before. To my was on the market. Bill told me that as far as amazement I realized he knew , it was still in good condition, so I bit as we got closer to them the bullet and Johnny Raymond flew the little beauty to Bayview that one was the president of the P.and C. at the school where I Harbour Marina for me. was teaching. They asked if we would like to share their freshly cooked delicacies. Does a bear.........?? Their offer of a can of The next few weeks saw me driving from Tweed River to the Fourex to accompany the feast was, of course, politely refused! Marina, having the plane dropped into the water by a giant fork -lift and, on return, negotiating the narrow channels in the After two years of such bliss and gradually rising insurance and marina, with the afternoon south-easterlies and boat owners maintenance costs, I decided that owning a floatplane privately worse for wear after a good weekend, trying my limited slow- was becoming a bit expensive for a humble school teacher taxying skills. This couldn’t last so I decided I would just have and the only way I could keep flying was to go commercial. I to anchor it by a block of land I had bought in a new waterfront duly obtained my CPL and was lucky enough to be offered estate by the Tweed River with plans for a house there, where the opportunity of flying under the banner of the fledgling the plane could live underneath (Another dream that came true!) Seair company. After the usual battle against bureaucracy ( 10 different government departments to fight through) and the Courtesy of a generous finance company, I was soon able to start usual petitions signed by people visualizing hourly Sunderland building my dream home. I had the plane below the floor slab flights destroying the fish population and chopping the heads off before a stud was put up! At this stage I had spent enough money half the local ankle-biter population, I finally received approval to build a normal house and all I had was a huge concrete slab in 1986 to operate on the Tweed River. In the meantime I had and a roof over the wings! The cost of the house began to escalate Page 2 Issue 41 March 2015 commenced weekend joyflight operations at Coochie Mudlo and I had a few anxious times just making it home before last Island near Victoria Point.

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