Floatplanes Over Australia

Countries like Germany, the United Kingdom or the United States have a well-balanced distribution of population because they have good transport and communication facilities. In the United Kingdom large cities throughout the nation are inter- and intra-connected, ie British Rail has seven main stations in and around London, a most efficient and ubiquitous Underground – so that you can get from one remote part of London to another or from any part of London to any part of the country just as easily. It’s not good enough just to have one central station in each centre because it can take longer to get from that central location to another part of the city than it takes to travel inter-city.

Similarly, in the USA where air travel is the more modern and appropriate means of travel, large cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, etc, have many airports (seven in San Francisco, 12 in Los Angeles, six in Pittsburgh). Every city has at least two major airports with many smaller satellite airfields strategically located in and around the cities. Anyone can fly from a downtown airport or a suburban light aircraft field to any other similar airport in another city or to a country airfield.

Likewise, television and telephone networks are just as efficient in rural areas as in the suburbs or the city centre. With such a well-developed network of transport and communication people feel secure and relaxed about their need to be close to others of their choice and it doesn’t much matter where they live. Those who choose a country environment may live in the country in the knowledge that the city is on the end of the telephone or a 10 minute drive to the local airfield. The wide distribution of population and industry in USA can be attributed to a large extent to this communication and transport network.

By contrast, Australia, with its vast area and sparse population, is highly centralised, with almost 50 per cent of its people living in only three cities. The transport and communication problem is the sole cause of this situation and it is a difficult one to solve because of the technical problems and costs involved.

From the aspect of transportation, we have a relatively good record of operation but the tyranny of distance is our biggest enemy. Under our conditions, railways are impractical because of low-density traffic and roadways are expensive. Airways could be our saviour. Compared to other nations we have good conditions for commuter flying with relatively good weather, moderate climate, no mountainous terrain, and a sophisticated airway system. Why then are we so centralised?

The problem lies solely in the lack of accessible airfields within the city metropolitan area. A city the size of Sydney for example, in any other nation would have at least six airfields in and around it – compare it with any US city! But because of Australia’s peculiar problem of sparse population distribution, it needs even more, not less, accessibility. In Sydney, it often takes longer to drive through the traffic to Mascot to Bankstown than it does to fly the distance to most country areas in the State.

Attempts by responsible people to get more small airfields, such as Duffys Forest, have been unsuccessful against strong political minority pressure groups. Well-meaning citizens ironically calling themselves environmentalists and wanting “country life” have politically stifled the very means of achieving their goals. They want a country environment in the city and imagine that the whole population of Australia can live in Sydney in this lifestyle. Airfields like the one proposed at Duffys Forest are the only practical way they could achieve their ideal by linking the country with the city with simple, easy airways.

Without a thorough education program, this ironic dilemma of people wanting a country life environment in the city and yet pressuring against the means to obtain it will remain with politicians who must react to local pressures, no matter how ignorant and selfish the minority groups may be.

For the practical side of the nation and the State of NSW and for the quality of life of the individuals who will all want country life in the city and city life in the country, it is a sine qua non that many accessible airfields must be provided throughout the city metropolitan area.

This is a difficult political pill to swallow. It will not be easy to achieve. Even the Major Airport Needs of Sydney Committee studying the siting and needs of one major airport has had extensive political problems.

We don’t need a lot of larger airports. Two interstate and international airports would serve Sydney for many decades. What is needed for intrastate decentralisation is a spread of small light aircraft fields, distributed evenly throughout the metropolitan area.

Seaplanes

One easy and obvious answer requiring no political action or decree whatsoever is to make proper use of the city’s waterways and encourage the use of seaplanes and amphibians. While large flying boats have been phased out of long distance travel on the grounds of economics, it is NOT the long distance flights which are involved. These flights can afford to use one or two major airports and the ground time necessary to get to them.

The light seaplane on the other hand is an economical solution and, considering the overall cost of operation including the construction and maintenance of airstrips, is probably more economical than the use of landplanes: Certainly they are far safer and more convenient, and they operate at less than half the cost of helicopters.

The City of Sydney is blessed with a great harbour and many peripheral waterways ideally suited for light seaplanes. Unknown to most people the country areas of the State have far more water areas for seaplanes than they have airfields, even west of the Great Dividing Range. Although a seaplane is a little slower than its landwheel counterpart, the accessibility to a waterway in the city and suburbs more than compensates for this and overall it would be quicker to get to most places in the State by a slower seaplane.

Conservationists would be far happier with the use of waterways as landing areas as they do not involve the cutting down of trees and earthworks to make airstrips and need no maintenance.

Although airfields may be necessary and could be built with grass runways, like many English and American fields which resemble golf courses, if the political pressures are too great from local pressure groups then at least full natural use of existing waterways should be encouraged.

Even in country areas where there is no suitable natural waterway, it can be far more economic and environmentally more acceptable to make one, as they do in Alaska and Canada, from swamps, drainage channels or low-lying areas by simply digging them or dredging them a bit deeper.

In Tourism

For the tourist, Australia has a lot to offer but most of it is pretty inaccessible.

A vast proportion of the continent presents a prosaic landscape with dry, hot dust and flies and, while this in itself may be presented as a tourist “attraction”, all the real beauty, the scenery and the wildlife is concentrated around the waterways. Like an oasis in the desert, the inland lakes and water storages do far more than provide a drink for the thirsty continent – they provide relief for the spirit of man.

In such a dry land the relief is mainly in the water itself; but it is also manifested in the life it brings and supports – vegetation, kangaroos, animals of all sorts, birds, and the activities of people.

In the inland of New South Wales more than 20 major storage dams have been added to the 50 or so natural lakes, rivers, billabongs and streams which support the whole population of creatures and plants. These are the waterways, too, which could supply the access to the inaccessible – perfect alighting areas for light seaplanes.

Access direct from Sydney Harbour to any of these “oases” could be available now for any tourist interested in seeing the most interesting parts of the outback. From what is virtually the centre of the city, and a spectacular tourist attraction in itself, the traveller can be on any one of the New South Wales inland lakes in not much more time than it would take him to drive to Bankstown or Mascot plus the ground time from a country airport at the other end (e. g. Burrinjuck). Floatplanes are a recognised major contributor to the tourist industry in Canada!

In addition to the inland waterways the coastal plain with its thousands of lakes and rivers presents a more obvious invitation for the use of seaplanes. Scenic flights along the beaches, virtually flying over water all the way, can lead to exciting areas, uninhabited and otherwise inaccessible; places almost unknown to the usual traveller, even within two hours from Sydney Harbour.

Further away in the north of Australia there are fjords, tropical rivers, crocodile swamps, volcanic islands, coral cays, sleepy lagoons – places of great interest and excitement unvisited by man. As an illustration of this, one should read “Australia – The Greatest Island”, by Robert Raymond and Reg Morrison, published by Ure Smith – a pictorial record of three seaplanes in a “Pelican’s Progress” round Australia. Access to any of these places by any means other than seaplane would be a major engineering task (if not impossible) and an environmental disaster! In this type of country a seaplane is more practical than a helicopter, and certainly more economic.

For the proper development of a tourist industry without the spoiling of our scenic beauty the use of light seaplanes must be encouraged, in the same way as they are in USA, Canada and Alaska.

In Defence and Coastal Surveillance

World War II demonstrated a definite role for seaplanes when famous aircraft such as the Sunderland, Walrus, Catalina, Grumman and Martin flying boat were developed by the Allies.

The ability of a seaplane to alight on natural waterways and even the open sea, extended the versatility and range of aircraft to such an extent that there was no part of the globe inaccessible to aircraft.

The exploits and success of seaplanes during the war is well known and need not be repeated here, but since the war, maritime nations such as Japan and USA have progressed considerably in developing seaplanes for defence and coastal surveillance.

Australia has such a vast coastline that it is a tedious and almost impossible task to reconnoitre and supervise remote areas where illegal fishing, smuggling and migration is taking place almost daily, to say nothing of the unfriendly charting of our coastline by foreign submarines.

The recent decision to employ GAF Nomads for coastal surveillance is to be applauded, but just think how much more versatile and what greater range could be given to these aircraft if put on floats. The Government Aircraft Factory has recently developed a floatplane version of the Nomad which would now permit it to alight and operate out of every estuary and bay along our whole shoreline – after all, it is in the estuaries and bays that most of the illegal trafficking must terminate.

Seaplanes used for civil and defence purposes can also serve an important role in Search and Rescue where their ability to operate from waterways close to a search area gives them far greater flexibility than land-based aircraft.

Overseas Experience

One only has to make a trip to Vancouver in British Columbia, a city less than half the size of Sydney, to see what an important role the seaplane plays in the decentralisation, development and tourism of that country.

Alongside the international airport at Vancouver is a seaplane airport in the adjacent riverway, more or less acting as an additional runway of the main airport.

In downtown Vancouver, only about seven miles away in the main commercial harbour, is a seaplane base where six commercial airlines operate.

In an average day these airlines fly over 250 seaplane movements made up of 60 twin turboprops, 150 single engine light seaplanes and 40 helicopters. They commute regularly between the city centre, the international airport, the capital, Victoria, and a number of other cities and tourist resorts on Vancouver Island.

The commercial operators work in their own control zone, created in the last few years because of the traffic density. They operate in VMC on a “see and be seen” basis at their own discretion – an information service is provided by a control tower situated on the top floor of one of the nearby city buildings. Their alighting area is shared with all the other usual private and commercial water traffic such as ferries, ocean shipping, yachts, tugs and motor cruisers.

In addition, private floatplanes use the waterway extensively, not only in the downtown area, but in numerous bays, lakes and streams everywhere.

As in most western democratic countries seaplanes operate in Canada on the basis that, while on the surface of the water, they are a motor boat subject to all the rules, restrictions and privileges thereof. On this basis there has never been any hassle.

Local Experience

In 1969 my company made the decision to decentralise from Sydney to Wyong and I investigated the feasibility of commuting daily by seaplane.

Enquiries in Norway, USA, Canada and Alaska revealed that large numbers of seaplanes were used privately and commercially all over the country, not only in the populated areas but also in remote bush parks.

In fact, in the state of Alaska alone there are more seaplanes registered than there are aeroplanes in total in the whole of Australia.

Seaplanes in all these countries are used for all sorts of purposes, both sport and business, but one of the greatest uses made of them is by the Parks and Wildlife Rangers and scientists.

This is not so much because the seaplane causes much less disturbance to the environment than most other forms of communication – tracked or wheeled vehicles or boats. Seaplanes, in fact, are the only “vehicles” permitted on many of Canada’s drinking water supply dams and lakes.

When you think of it, when a seaplane comes out of the sky and alights on the water the only contact with the water are the float bottoms; the engine and propellor stay up in the air and because they use avgas and are properly maintained, aeroplane engines do not blow smoke like two-stroke outboards or many marine diesel engines.

So they do not pollute the water at all and have the minimum effect on the air – almost half as much as a motor car. Most people do not appreciate that the take-off and landing runs of a light seaplane on the water occupies only 15 seconds of time.

My enquiries overseas surprised me in many ways with facts such as these and encouraged me to pioneer their use in this area.

For the past seven years I have been flying my seaplane regularly from the busy lane Cove River in Sydney Harbour to the secluded shores of Tuggerah Lake, there to cohabit and splash around with the pelicans and swans who, though jealous at first, have accepted me now as a brother and friend.

Unfortunately, at large jet airports birdstrikes are a serious hazard and many millions of dollars are spent in trying to scare birdlife away – without success!

In Mascot, Sydney, as in Boston, USA, airline pilots are constantly warned about birdlife hazards at the airport, in spite of all the efforts to disperse them with loudspeakers, shotguns poisons, and falcons. On Midway island, the US Navy in despair still has to shell albatross flocks with mock mortar fire – in vain because the birds keep returning to nest along the runways.

From from my personal experience of six or seven years operating from Tuggerah Lake, I can assure residents and bird lovers that the facts are as stated and that in spite of me the birdlife is increasing.

From the point of safety to people – have no fear, light seaplanes, such as the one I fly, are far less dangerous to boats or people in the water than a speed-boat; especially one towing waterskiers.

Birdseye View

While on the water, a seaplane is in fact a boat and subject to all the normal boating regulations of the Maritime Services Board. It has the same responsibilities (and privileges) as any other water craft and must observe the international navigation laws and local rules concerning speed limits, right of way, noise levels and safety procedures.

When airborne, the seaplane is responsible to the Department of Transport and the aircraft must abide by all its laws and regulations.

In practice, a seaplane pilot has a birdseye view of the waterway on which he is going to alight and can see every other boat or object in the water, far more clearly than a person on the surface can. He can select an area, complete his landing in a few hundred feet, less than 10 seconds of time and then is a boat like the rest of them, just as manoeuvrable or as fast or as slow as he needs to be. Take-off also takes only about nine seconds and a couple of hundred yards.

In this over-regulated society, seaplanes have two lots of regulations to abide by and my experience is that they fit in rather well in spite of it. In fact, the Seaplane Pilots’ Association of Australia, of which most operators are members imposes further voluntary restraints, simply because of the need to demonstrate to the general public just how safe, quiet, unpolluting, convenient and bird-loving they are! Should anyone feel concern about the operation of light seaplanes in harmony with yachts, waterskiers or other conventional water users, just think of some of the following practical facts:

1. Seaplane operations while on the surface of the water, whether in a taxiing, take-off or alighting mode, are in fact safer and more controllable than many power boats currently being operated.

2. The seaplane can manoeuvre in a much more confined space than most sailing vessels (which do not require any registration at all) and at speed, has better directional stability and control than many speed-boats and is certainly superior to hydrofoils and hovercraft. The seaplane carries an anchor and warp and a paddle.

3. A seaplane may become airborne after 40kts whereas power boats are capable of speeds up to 100mph, with engines of 150hp and over.

4. The only licence a boat driver requires is to be able to answer questions on about 30 rules, whereas a seaplane pilot, in addition to this licence, must also be a qualified pilot, a course which takes at least 12 months followed by theoretical and practical examinations. They also are given special instruction in the aircraft, of over 10 hours, dealing mainly with handling the aircraft on the water – taxiing, sailing, docking and mooring.

5. All pilots must undergo regular medical check-ups and are continually checked for currency.

6. Seaplane pilots may not and do not consume alcohol for a minimum period of eight hours before any operation.

In spite of some initial adverse public reaction a number of light seaplane operators have shown that they can operate safely and harmoniously in the maritime and aviation world in Australia. At Southport in Queensland, and Palm Beach in Sydney, floatplanes have been operating for about five years with good acceptance. ln other parts of Australia from North Queensland to Tasmania, seaplaners have now demonstrated the viability of this mode of transport.