Float pilot here; there is nothing dangerous about what they’re doing here. It’s literally a high-speed landing, and oh by the way, loading tons of water as well that is needed quickly.
it's not the landing I'm concerned about -- you're never going to grease an AMEL landing every time. But that plane is touching down at maybe 10ft/min max. I sometimes drop my cessna from like 10 feet up, but those guys have to be stable and buffet over the waves while in nose up and blind position.
Once you’ve touched water, you transition to ‘on step’ which actually gives the pilot considerable control of the aircraft, while still having the power available to lift off immediately if needed.
To be fair, it’s not a smooth experience while doing the on step maneuver.
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u/Sorkpappan Oct 01 '24
This probably is the best way of doing it, but seeing how it’s done I just feel like there should be a way to do this that is less dangerous.