Landing a Seaplane is Fun, Docking It Can Be Wet and Dangerous!

The government used to have a lot of money; I took some of it from the GI Bill to learn how to fly a seaplane!

My instructor and me took off from San Francisco bay in the seaplane used for student training.

We flew over to the California Sacramento River Delta to practice water landings; a good thing to do if you fly seaplanes!

I did a pretty good job landing the plane but after you land a seaplane you have to sail it, like a boat not an airplane. 

As I was approaching the dock to tie up for lunch, my plan was to jump out of the cockpit, about 3 feet above the left pontoon, with the rope in my hand that I was going to use to tie the plane to the dock.

Then we’d go up and have lunch in the restaurant right above the dock.

As I jumped out of the plane, rope in hand, I missed the pontoon and plunged in the water, rope still in hand, gasping for breath and clinging to the rope, for fear the airplane would float away from the dock.

As I dog paddled my way back onto the pontoon, jumped onto the dock and tied the plane up I looked up at the restaurant and saw some other seaplane pilots who were there for lunch; they saw the whole thing!

As my instructor and me, dripping wet, walked up to the restaurant they started clapping.

 I figured it was because they liked the way I was spending the governments money by learning how to fly a seaplane!