August 2004 - May 2005

Engine failed because of fuel system problems. Emergency landed (gear up) in sugar cane field (in Brazil).

Yes, I was the pilot and this occurred on the initial test flight of this aircraft. Approximately two minutes into the flight at an altitude of 500 feet, the engine lost all power and fuel pressure went to zero. I retracted the landing gear and landed in a sugar cane field. The aircraft was not damaged during the landing and subsequent inspection found the engine had starved for fuel. It was later determined that during construction, in an effort to reduce water spray entering the fuel system, the fuel vent had been relocated from the vertical fin leading edge rearward by a few inches. This placed it in an area of low pressure air and created a vacuum in the fuel system.

There was/is another Seawind in the Sao Paulo area of Brazil which was involved in a water landing accident and heavily damaged sometime prior to my engine failure. In addition, there was another one being assembled in Ipeuna by the same builder as the one I was flying. I understand that one is very close to being completed.

I'm sure this lead to uncertainty as to who did what.

Hi John, Enclosed is my membership for the Seawind Pilots Association. I do not have a home computer but use the computer at work. So please mail me the password to get into the members only website. Enclosed is a self-addressed envelope also.

I purchased Pat Sampson's N88PS several weeks ago and have had my dual time with Jack Ardoyno at my home on Lake James, North Carolina at the foot of the mountain from Ashville, North Carolina. I live waterfront and have a hangar and runway at my house. I've been a pilot since 1982 and have a single engine land and sea rating. I also own a SeaRay with a 914 Turbo Rotax. I am semi-retired from construction and pharmacy. I've had the Seawind for one month and already put 28 hours on it. I'm having a great time as to finally fulfilling all my material dreams.

Look forward to meeting you and all Seawind owners. All Seawind owners have and open invitation to my bachelor pad on Lake James anytime.

Best Regards, Bracey

Hi, John! I want to introduce a new Seawind owner to our group. On Friday, November 5, 2004, Bracey Bobbitt finalized the purchase of Pat Samson's Seawind, N88PS. Bracey engaged me to fly the plane from Livingston County Airport (near Detroit) to his home in Nebo, North Carolina (near Asheville) and provide dual instruction for him to become comfortable in the airplane.

I am extremely pleased to report that Bracey's new airplane is a marvelous flying machine and Bracey is becoming very adept in flying it. On Sunday, November 14, 2004 Bracey dropped me off at my airport in Hayward, WI and on his second solo flight in the airplane, flew non-stop from Hayward to Concord, NC (800+ NM) with gas to spare.

I wish to congratulate Pat Samson and Mike Bowes for an excellent example of workmanship in building 88PS. If our airplanes turn out as well we will be very well rewarded for the effort. I have attached two photos for the website. One is of Bracey posing by the tail numbers in North Carolina and the other is on departure from Hayward back to North Carolina.

Jack

Tuk & Back

A trip to the Arctic Ocean in Seawind C-GIFD

On Monday morning July 12, 2004, my flying companion, Jim Ulmer from Ft Lauderdale Florida and I departed my private Airstrip at Craik, Saskatchewan Canada on what was to prove to be the perfect trip for the Seawind. It was 6 a.m., temp. was plus +12 C, I had removed the rear seats and packed the plane with survival gear and camping gear (which we never used). I also had a neat little Satellite phone, which really worked well.

We departed Craik with about 40 gals of fuel and planned a stop in Prince Albert SK to top up. We arrived in P.A. In about 45 minutes only to wait for another 45 for the gasman to show up. We departed P.A. Enroot to Uranium City but ran in non VFR Conditions and had to return to P.A. At 12 noon we an again made an attempt. This time we were able to reach our cabin at Pink Lake in Northern Sk. We decided to spend the night.

July 13 after a breakfast of fresh fish and bannock. A weather check, which proved we had to change plans. We proceeded west to Ft McMurray, Alberta a nice 1&1/2 Hr flight. Air Traffic was very busy around McMurray with up to 40 water bombers working in the area. We took on some fuel and departed for Hay River, Northwest Territories. The forest fires in Alaska and the Yukon Territories created a very bad smoke fog which reduced forward visibility anywhere from 0 miles to 3 miles. Hay River is a unique community, as it is the staging area for a great percentage of the products moving north to the Arctic Ocean. Large barges are loaded at Hay River to begin their journey up the McKenzie River to Inuvik and the Arctic Ocean.

After a bite to eat and a top up with fuel we were off to Norman Wells following the McKenzie River northwest bound. Passing by Fort Providence where another Seawind builder used to live but has since moved to British Columbia (at least that's what the locals had told us). As we proceeded enroute we began to encounter some moderate rain and thundershowers, so with smoke and low visibility we decided to land at Fort Simpson. While we were waiting we added a bit of fuel from the local FBO. He didn't have a meter on his gas but just told us to estimate how much we used. He was a real nice guy and ran a nice clean operation. After a walk around Ft Simpson and some lunch we were off to Norman Wells, which is a busy oil town where they have built Islands in the middle of the McKenzie River where they have their oil rigs. We overnighted at Norman Wells in a motel that was within walking distance of the airport, The rooms were clean but not fancy but the dining room served a 5 star meal (Caribou Medallions in red wine sauce, and Arctic Char served with a white cheese sauce)

Wednesday, the low pressure had passed to the east and we were able to continue on to Inuvik. It was during this leg that we crossed the Arctic Circle. We arrived in Inuvik about 2 pm local time and decided to continue on to Tuktuktuk, NWT (The Arctic Ocean). It is just a short 30 minute flight to Tuk (there are no roads to Tuk, so all goods must come by barge in the summer or by air) We arrived at Tuk around 5 PM to find a quiet little Community right on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. We spent a few minutes flying around the area looking for wildlife (Caribou or Beluga Whales but didn't see either, although the locals had shot a caribou right on the airport that day)

The runway at Tuk is 5000' of packed gravel and it runs right into the ocean. One of the interesting sites around Tuk were the Pingos, which are small inland lakes that have somehow frozen from the outside in to form small hills that look like mini volcanoes.

We called for a taxi to take us to town but had to wait while the radio operator came out to check out the Seawind. The taxi took us to the only hotel in town. Rooms $195 Per night and $12 for breakfast.

We spent the evening walking around town, visited with some locals smoking fish and whale meat. As walked along the ocean we saw that the buildings are all built on stilts because of the permafrost. They also have a cave dug into the permafrost where the locals store their wild meat.

We realized it was 1:a.m. in the morning and still broad daylight. The sun just goes around in a circle. We went back to our room, which has black out blinds and had a really good sleep.

We awoke about 7 AM and went for breakfast to find the dining room open but no one around. Some contractors who were also staying there said no problem just make your own coffee and someone will be along sometime. People were very relaxed.

After breakfast we walked down to the Northern Store to purchase some souvenirs. They didn't have much but we met a local native carver who took us to his home where he showed us some of his ivory carving made from walrus tusks.

We headed back to Inuvik about noon, on a nice cloud free day, but smoke was still a limiting factor. Upon arrival back at Inuvik, we parked on the ramp and again had pilots and ground crew checking out the plane. We also met up with a couple of other aircraft doing the same thing, one group was an RV7 and a Cherokee, the other was an old Cessna 140 with a father & son. They had flown all the way from Northern Alberta to Tuk and back to Inuvik in 1 day (Nearly 24 hrs all in day light).

We planned to spend a couple of days in Inuvik, as I had a nephew working there and there was an Arts festival just about to begin so we spent the evening checking that out, It is a very interesting show that runs for 10 days and features all kinds of native arts, it was really impressive.

The next morning we found the smoke to bad to fly the Demster Highway to Dawson City in the Yukon (Actually they weren't even allowing vehicles over the road). It didn't look like things were going to improve in the near future so we decided to return by following the Mackenzie River back the same route we had come up. Which was a bit of a bummer. We returned back to Norman Wells and then on to Hay River where we ran into thunderstorms and had to spend the night. Monday was a nicer day and we filed to Ft. McMurray with visibility 3 miles in smoke.

Arriving in McMurray it was still full of Water bombers. We fuel up and filed direct to Craik with a bit of a dogleg to miss the Cold Lake Military Bombing range. We arrived back home at around 3p.m. to 35C temps.

The trip had taken 25 hrs and about 4000 miles. An interesting note is we only had tail wind for about 30 minutes on the whole trip, how unlucky is that! Last year my wife and I had driven through western NWT, the Yukon and part of Alaska and had 2-1/2 weeks of perfect flying weather.

If anyone is planning a trip to the far north don't be intimidated, there are lots of facilities and great people but be sure and leave time for weather delays and be flexible as to your route.

The Seawind performed flawlessly and although we didn't land on the water very often during the trip it was really nice to know we had that option. If we had had better weather we had planned on camping at some remote lakes but that will be for next time.

Len Carlson

I thought I should post an update on flying N55SW for some of the newer members. I got my kit in 97 and completed it last fall and had a very short first flight. Weather and other issues delayed further flight until just recently. Keep in mind, I'm a first time builder. I followed the manual closely and got as much advice from other builders as I could. Love This Website!

Visited MIke Bowes shop several times, checked the factory plane and looked at as many Seawinds as I could. Learned from each and every encounter. Had multiple inspections towards the end and virtually every one found something I overlooked or could have done better. Made no major changes from the manual. My weight came in at a reasonable number (see prior posting 945, (2476 lbs w/o rear seat, Ed.))

So got to test it and IT FLEW GREAT. I am a low time pilot with time in a Cherokee six and a Piper Cub mostly the last few years. I got a seaplane rating in a Lake last year (great Idea). I am not a great pilot. I bounced the first 4 landings then it clicked and it was a piece of cake after that. To quote a fellow builder "treat her like a Lady" on landings and all is well. We did multiple land and water landings and the aircraft and the IO-540 performed flawlessly. Added lots of weight in the nose to get the CG up there around 140-141 which was a great suggestion. Had plenty of elevator control. Stall with 20 or 40 flaps was 58. Speed in pattern 80kts. Slowing to 75kts on final helps. Airspeed indicator is not calibrated but cruise is gonna be about like everybody else. Plane flew straight with just some rudder trim.

THIS IS A GREAT AIRCRAFT. Build it like they say and you will do fine!!

Dear Dick, Millie, Brent and John,

Our Seawind 300C simulation finally made it to the website at www.x-plane.org under New Resources.

X-Plane started as an engineering calculation and simulation software to simulate the effects of airflow on wings, and to accurately simulate flight characteristics of planes under design. See www.x-plane.com for information, software and updates. Austin Meyer and his volunteers have really done a tremendous job!

I needed to simulate the plane for prospective users, and was thrilled when I found a good aerodynamic simulation package. We have tried to stay as close to the dimensions and bits of information that we could find from your websites. Unfortunately the webmaster loaded the real and not the simulation pictures.

We will be very grateful if your members can test the Seawind's flight characteristics and help to further improve the realism of the simulated flight. High definition pictures looking at the two sides (from inside) and looking towards the back seat can be included into the simulation to add to the realism thereof. If you want your plane for all to see, this is your chance!

Any inputs, pictures, comments or constructive criticism can be sent to us at reniermeyer2@yahoo.co.uk

Best regards and hoping to join the Seawind family soon.

Renier & Odendaal Meyer
Penang, Malaysia