Coast Guard Rescues Pilot in Lake Michigan Beaver Island!

"Upon arriving at the alert location, the crew found a partially submerged amphibious plane with one individual sitting on top"

Hmm, they had only worked out the water landing part I guess. :eek:
 
Been some discussion about the Seawind's record over on the homebuilt airplanes forum. Unlike many seaplanes, it's a demanding high performance airplane.
 
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ASIAS also shows a runway overrun on landing in O'Neill, NE on July 2... so, two off-runway events and one gear-up landing since June 26 preceding yesterday's accident.

Seawinds do have something of a reputation, but I'm not sure that we can really blame all this on the plane?
 
Flying Doc said:
Strange..its Amphibious...should it not float a little better?
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Not unless the water were very calm. Boats (including flying boats to some extent) are designed to have the centre of gravity below the waterline, so that if they roll, they'll naturally right themselves. Float planes (including amphibs) have their centre of gravity above the waterline, so if they roll too far, they'll just keep rolling, until they reach a stable state with the floats above and the airframe below the water.
 
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I wish someone would explain to reporters that not every ditching results in a "crash." (And I guess this would be especially true of float planes making water landings.)
 
Interesting, I guess it sold then. I've had a few calls about it in semi recent history. The thing has been for sale forever. As somebody mentioned above, the Seawind has some very unique characteristics, very demanding airplane to fly.
 
Nose gear was stuck down when it landed on the water, apparently damaged from his previous hard landings and runway excursions. That caused it to flip. When they rescued him, he was actually sitting on top of the bottom of the plane. Now it's about 350 feet underwater.

He was flying it home from where he bought it in CA. Gear up landing was his first landing in the plane ever. Was just 50 miles from home when the final incident happened. I don't know him, but asked a buddy about him and he just shook his head. Apparently Dennis is known in the area for his recklessness.
 
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Arbiter419 said:
Interesting, I guess it sold then. I've had a few calls about it in semi recent history. The thing has been for sale forever. As somebody mentioned above, the Seawind has some very unique characteristics, very demanding airplane to fly.
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Yep. Builder updated his listing: https://www.barnstormers.com/ad_detail.php?id=862417
PzXz360
 
Zeldman said:
I wonder if he had insurance...
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According to a comment on Kathryn's Report, nope. I believe it. Seawinds are tough to insure and the kind of person with that bad judgment shrugs and says, "I don't need insurance!"

Here's the comment, adds a little more to the story:
I am the airport mgr at KONL..I spent 3 days with this fellow..He landed gear up the day he bought it for 100 plus grand..in CA...Then ran off the runway in NM..wiping out landing lights and left flap..He repaired it..the we were his next stop..5 attempts to land..last one lost it on landing..creamed two runway lights..His story was..Airplane sat for 2 years..when he got to us he had already damaged the hull...I fed him..housed him..and gave him tools and parts..We got his CG corected for his pilot weight..He replaced the trim motor..ad the first was inop..hence the 4 attempts to land..He was way aft..outside the envelope..Luccky to be alive..lucky...His trip to test everything was not much better..his trim was reversed..wiped out right main and brake assembly..Feds talked to him..We advised him to truck the plane..he refused all efforts..Snuck out Saturday..did not pay his bill..made it all the way home..over the lake..his engine quit..He deadsticked it back to a nearby airport..broke the nosewheel.Fixed it again..added fuel..Now ran all the tanks dry..sucked all the fiberglass trash into the fuel system..Took off halfway across the lake..it quit again..Nosegear was locked down..hull was scraped and damaged..lanned dead stick in the lake..nose gear down..Fliped over..lucky to have gotten out..Airplane is at the bottom of Lake MI..Nice guy..bit of a temper..hellbent on gethomeitis...No insurance..lost it all because of god knows why...It was like watching 2 trains heading towards one another..nothing you could do..Even the FAA..after verifying his credentials and barely current currency.They.said to let..him go..Sad day indeed..
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Unbelievable. I'll supplement my previous opinion. I have a bit more than 300 hours in the Seawind...I feel qualified enough to say: Dennis in Traverse City, you sir, are a moron. You're lucky to be alive. Try to find a hobby that keeps you a bit closer to the ground.
 
Not that it really matters much, but the photo on Kathryn's Report appears to show the right main extended.
 
Capngrog said:
"Nice guy..bit of a temper..hellbent on gethomeitis...". In my opinion, that does not describe a "nice guy", but someone so self centered as to ignore his training, good advice and reality. A classic example of an "accident waiting to happen".
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Yeah. How in the hell do you do put that sentence together and precede it with "nice guy"???
 
donjohnston said:
Yeah. How in the hell do you do put that sentence together and precede it with "nice guy"???
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Ask a Dungeons and Dragons player — if I recall correctly from some lost hours around 1980, "charisma" is a separate character attribute from "wisdom" or "intelligence". It's fully possible to be a likeable idiot.
 
Its so annoying. This sort or nonesense moron crap makes my friends and family not want to fly on GA panes. Huge disservice to all of us that work hard to stay safe in GA. FAA should have pulled the plugs from that plane and slashed the tires.
 
David Megginson said:
Ask a Dungeons and Dragons player — if I recall correctly from some lost hours around 1980, "charisma" is a separate character attribute from "wisdom" or "intelligence". It's fully possible to be a likeable idiot.
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In my book, "bit of a temper" does not equal "likeable".
 
231TC said:
Here's the comment, adds a little more to the story:
I am the airport mgr at KONL..I spent 3 days with this fellow..He landed gear up the day he bought it for 100 plus grand..in CA...Then ran off the runway in NM..wiping out landing lights and left flap..He repaired it..the we were his next stop..5 attempts to land..last one lost it on landing..creamed two runway lights..His story was..Airplane sat for 2 years..when he got to us he had already damaged the hull...I fed him..housed him..and gave him tools and parts..We got his CG corected for his pilot weight..He replaced the trim motor..ad the first was inop..hence the 4 attempts to land..He was way aft..outside the envelope..Luccky to be alive..lucky...His trip to test everything was not much better..his trim was reversed..wiped out right main and brake assembly..Feds talked to him..We advised him to truck the plane..he refused all efforts..Snuck out Saturday..did not pay his bill..made it all the way home..over the lake..his engine quit..He deadsticked it back to a nearby airport..broke the nosewheel.Fixed it again..added fuel..Now ran all the tanks dry..sucked all the fiberglass trash into the fuel system..Took off halfway across the lake..it quit again..Nosegear was locked down..hull was scraped and damaged..lanned dead stick in the lake..nose gear down..Fliped over..lucky to have gotten out..Airplane is at the bottom of Lake MI..Nice guy..bit of a temper..hellbent on gethomeitis...No insurance..lost it all because of god knows why...It was like watching 2 trains heading towards one another..nothing you could do..Even the FAA..after verifying his credentials and barely current currency.They.said to let..him go..Sad day indeed..
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Yeeks... hope his next adventure doesn't include sky diving...
 
donjohnston said:
In my book, "bit of a temper" does not equal "likeable".
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I agree, personally, but people who throw frequent temper tantrums seem to attract lots of friends and followers, and sometimes even get hired as CEOs or elected to high political office. There must be something I'm missing…
 
Just did a little digging, and I'm sorry to say this guy is from my hometown. And yes, this really is him:

upload_2021-7-12_18-17-15.png
 
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Narcissists are never wrong, whether they're pilots or political leaders. The world exists solely to give them what they want, and truth is whatever is most convenient at the moment. :(
 
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