Flying Boats

[Art VanDelay]

I took demo flight in a Seamax seemed ok if not grossly over priced for something that can't really haul much.

 

[Henning]

Well, if the Eclipse morass teaches us anything, crooks aren't any better at shepherding an aircraft to market than engineers.

I disagree, they had the opposite problem. They had more sales than they had product was their problem. They lacked the plane to fill the contracts they had written, then the economy tanked and the market disappeared.

 

[weilke]

I disagree, they had the opposite problem. They had more sales than they had product was their problem. They lacked the plane to fill the contracts they had written, then the economy tanked and the market disappeared.

That is a very kind description of a rather sinister fraudulent ploy.

You know how they say that 'GE is a bank with a electrical department' ? 'Eclipse is the ponzi scheme that happened to produce a little plane as a side effect'.

 

[Henning]

That is a very kind description of a rather sinister fraudulent ploy.

You know how they say that 'GE is a bank with a electrical department' ? 'Eclipse is the ponzi scheme that happened to produce a little plane as a side effect'.

Right, but the entire business model our economy works on is a Ponzi scheme so what he did was "good business", he was collecting money before producing a product. The statement was that Eclipse was a poor business model causing the failure. If the dude running the company walked away with more money than he started with, according to the American business model, Eclipse was a success. We do not consider what a business sells as its product any more, we now only determine it by the profit made, cash is our only product anymore.

 

[weilke]

why is that people putting deposits for A5 do not go and buy SeaMax instead?

Because Icon is run by talented salesmen and SeaMax is not.

Is that plain enough ?

 

[weilke]

I took demo flight in a Seamax seemed ok if not grossly over priced for something that can't really haul much.

How big are you ?

Just going by the specs off the website, the useful load is 570lbs. 25gal of fuel is 150lbs leaving 420lbs payload. It is a two seater, if you put an average male at 200lbs and an average female at 140lbs in there, you still have useful load for more luggage than you probably have cubes.

What am I missing ?

 

[Henning]

How big are you ?

Just going by the specs off the website, the useful load is 570lbs. 25gal of fuel is 150lbs leaving 420lbs payload. It is a two seater, if you put an average male at 200lbs and an average female at 140lbs in there, you still have useful load for more luggage than you probably have cubes.

What am I missing ?

That's a big average.

 

[weilke]

That's a big average.

If I grabbed 30 random people off the street and put them on a scale, I would probably come in above what I used.

(140+200)/2=170lbs , the FAA average adult.

I could fit my family of 4 into the payload of that plane.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

How big are you ?

Just going by the specs off the website, the useful load is 570lbs. 25gal of fuel is 150lbs leaving 420lbs payload. It is a two seater, if you put an average male at 200lbs and an average female at 140lbs in there, you still have useful load for more luggage than you probably have cubes.

What am I missing ?

A Cessna 206 carries 1400 pounds. The Seamax doesn't even come close.

A 40 year old POS Cessna 150 costs less than a brand new LSA.

Since a Cessna 172 is a two seat airplane, a two seat airplane must, by definition, be a no seat airplane.

 

[weilke]

A Cessna 206 carries 1400 pounds. The Seamax doesn't even come close.

You are comparing a 300hp 6-seater with a 2 seat LSA ? A U206 on amphibs is a 250k aircraft, a T206H on amphibs is in the 400-600k range. Both have engines that burn 3 times in Avgas what a LSA burns in Mogas.

A 40 year old POS Cessna 150 costs less than a brand new LSA.

Can it land on water or land alternatively ? There are a couple of 150s on straight floats, dont think I have ever heard of a C150 amphib.

Since a Cessna 172 is a two seat airplane, a two seat airplane must, by definition, be a no seat airplane.

Why would a 172 be a 2 seat airplane ? Yes it is payload limited, depending on weight of pax, skill of the pilot and environment, you can fill every seat on them.

 

[zaitcev]

Note that SeaMax is limited to 600 kg gross weight, while amphibious LSA in U.S. are limited to 648 kg (1430 lbs). This may have to do something with the certification rules in the country of origin, Brazil.

 

[weilke]

Note that SeaMax is limited to 600 kg gross weight, while amphibious LSA in U.S. are limited to 648 kg (1430 lbs). This may have to do something with the certification rules in the country of origin, Brazil.

Even with that limitation, it looks like the cabin payload (barring any CG issues) is 420lbs. For a 2-seater that burns 5-6gph and is mostly used for local flying, this seems entirely sufficient.

I agree with you that it is an interesting question why people would put down money for vaporware with a snazzy website if a certified alternative is available off the shelf. A cursory web search didn't show a distributor for the US, may be one of the reasons.

I have been looking at a waterfront property with a old boat ramp. A bit of gravel and some goverment paperwork and I could taxi up into the backyard .

 

[zaitcev]

I agree with you that it is an interesting question why people would put down money for vaporware with a snazzy website if a certified alternative is available off the shelf.

Exactly. I met people who paid for A5 positions, they really exist.

A cursory web search didn't show a distributor for the US, may be one of the reasons.

There is this:
http://www.seamaxamerica.com/index.php/contact
SeaMax America, LLC
Headquaters
175 Great Neck, Road Suite 406
Great Neck, New York 11021 USA
The question is, how real it is. Can you get spares from that guy or not?