Last March, Simple Flying profiled Kenmore Air as a seaplane airline with a rich history. In this article, we will take focus on the organization’s other operations, such as flight instruction, floats, and maintenance.
Flight instruction
Kenmore Air provides the opportunity to start from nothing and have your introductory flight for currently, as of late October 2022 $125. According to Kenmore Air, you can;
Take the controls of a Cessna 172 or Piper Super Cub and learn float flying fundamentals as one of Kenmore Air’s qualified flight instructors guides you through approximately 30 minutes of take-offs and landings on Lake Washington.
But that’s not all Kenmore Air does. Kenmore Air provides a full syllabus to get a Private or Commercial Pilot Single-Engine Sea Rating. However, potential students must have a Private, Commercial, or Airline Transport Pilot Certificate as a prerequisite.
The course comes with ground school, flight training and a check ride with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) examiner to ensure the potential seaplane pilot is ready and able to fly a seaplane. Once the check ride is completed, the pilot will be certified to fly single-engine seaplanes in the United States.
To fly for say Kenmore Air or another seaplane airline, the airline says;
Most seaplane operators require 200-500 hours of seaplane experience in addition to 14 CFR Part 135 minimums. The most practical way to build this time is to work as a flight instructor. Another popular option is to purchase a seaplane, or join a flying club which has a seaplane in its fleet.
Floats
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying
What does a seaplane specialist truly need to be a seaplane specialist? Well, floats, of course. Like the floats on the Turbine Otter seaplane pictured above.
So Kenmore Air acquired EDO Floats, an offshoot of a company created by Earl Dodge Osborn on October 16, 1925. The original goal of Osborn was to build airplanes, but his floats were what kept his company… afloat, especially as EDO Floats was the first to use aluminum instead of wood. Currently EDO Floats offers floats for many propeller aircraft as well as parts such as additional cargo compartments inside floats and zinc blocks to keep corrosion away from the aluminum EDO Floats.
Maintenance and Services
Kenmore Air also maintains and services seaplanes, not just flies and builds floats for them. From avionics upgrades to float repair to inspections to modifications, Kenmore Air can do it all. In fact, Kenmore Air can restore de Haviland Beavers.
Yes, restore de Haviland Beavers to the point of adding modern avionics as per above. The aircraft are stripped down to the bare bones and renewed also to ensure the aircraft is airworthy for decades to come.
Kenmore Air also does inspections for every 100 hours of flight and annual inspections – both of which are required by the FAA. For Kenmore Air, the inspections are when regular maintenance is done but also a list of “repairs and maintenance” broken down into required for safety, if the aircraft was Kenmore’s and optional performance enhancements. Because,
“At Kenmore, we have a ‘don’t wait’ mentality. Which means, we believe in repairing and replacing items before they become an airworthiness concern.”
Kenmore Air also provides services such as aircraft moorage where seaplanes can be based from Kenmore Air’s headquarters for flight operations. Kenmore Air also has a paint shop to paint parts, an upholstery shop to make seats, and machine shop to machine metal to Kenmore Air’s needs.
A YouTube introduction to Kenmore Air
Above is an Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) YouTube putting into video the holistic approach Kenmore Air takes to aviation.
Do you know of another airline with such ample support systems? Please let us know in the comments.
Sources: EDO Floats, Kenmoreairharbor.com
Source: simpleflying.com
