Let’s start by clearing some misconceptions, floatplanes are not seaplanes, and not all
seaplanes are amphibious airplanes.
These terms have different meanings, a seaplane is built around a single hull which serves
as the plane’s floating body and fuselage, and it takes off from and lands on its belly,
for example, the Icon A5.
On the other hand, for a floatplane, instead of a hull that can land on water, a floatplane
has floats that serve as the surfaces to land on and take off from, for example: Cessna
206 Stationair.
Meanwhile, the term amphibious aircraft refers to airplanes that can land both on land and
water surfaces.
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The Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey is one of the best seaplanes you can get your hands
on in the market today.
This airplane comes in three options, the SeaRay, the SeaRay Adventure, and the SeaRay
elite.
The SeaRay elite is factory-built, FAA-Certified, with 115 horsepower Rotax 914 turbocharged
engine and Garmin G3X Touch avionics, the second option: the SeaRay adventure is also
factory-built, FAA-Certified, but here you get to enjoy flying in its purest form, featuring
analog instrumentation, manual flaps and 3 different choices of Rotax powerplants.
The third option: the basic SeaRay, is an experimental airplane, which means you get
to customize it as much as you want.
Design-wise, it's not the sleekest or the best-looking airplane from the list, but it
is the best bet for that money.
Performance-wise, you're looking at a cruise speed of 90 to a hundred knots, useful load
is close to 600 pounds.
Now the best part about the Searay is the price, you can easily get into one of these
airplanes for only $120,000.
And if you search good enough in the used market, you can get into one of these planes
for less than $60,000.
The Seamax M22 is another great amphibian airplane just like the SeaRay.
The Seamax is a light-sport aircraft with a sleek design that ditches the traditional
look of a floatplane.
One convenient feature of the M-22 is the fact that it can operate using premium auto
fuel, making filling up the tanks a breeze, especially if you choose to take it for a
spin on one of Florida’s many lakes.
The Seamax comes in three models: The Seamax performance, Seamax exclusive, and the Seamax
exclusive dual.
They all use the Rotax 912 engine, the Performance trim provides an exceptional useful load,
extreme versatility, powerful performance, and aviation in its purest form with analog
avionics.
The Exclusive trim brings a hybrid panel, combining the Garmin G3X touchscreen avionics
with analog gauges, making it perfect for training purposes.
The Exclusive Dual trim is the loaded version, this trim brings two Garmin G3X touchscreen
and a Garmin G5 avionics.
This version comes with an integrated communication system and Engine Integration System.
They sell at $148,000, $162,000 and $168,000 respectively.
If you want a recent design, then the Icon A5 is a good option.
The ICON A5 makes flying more exciting and more accessible than ever before.
In my opinion, this airplane is very good by design and it has a lot of cool features.
One of them being the folding wings, the wings can be folded aft for ground transport and
if you want to store it in your garage at home, so you won’t have to pay hangar or
tie-down fees to anyone.
The Icon A5 is fitted with the Rotax 912 engine.
This powers the airplane to cruise around 95 miles per hour, and you have a nice useful
load of about 500 pounds depending on the configuration of the airplane.
The A5 is considered the premium brand for seaplanes because this airplane is not cheap,
starting base price is $269,000, and then depend on the extra features you choose, it
can drive the price up to $400,000.
If you don’t like the Icon A5, then the Aeronautica Super Pétrel LS is another good
airplane to consider: One of the first obvious things you notice about this aircraft is the
biplane feature.
I don't know if the double wings make it fly better or that’s just for looks, but design-wise,
this airplane looks good.
And just like the icon, you have a Rotax 912 engine.
But with the petrel, you can also opt-in for the Rotax 914 turbocharged engine.
The base price for the super petrel is $175,000, and that's if you wanted a less powerful Rotax
912, which is also fuel injected, or if you opt-in for the turbocharged Rotax 914 engine,
you will pay a little more.
And with these engines, you get a nice climb rate of a thousand feet per minute in the
912 engine, and 1400 feet per minute in the 914-turbo engine.
The cruise speed is roughly around the same depending on which engine you go for.
So, you're looking at 80 to maybe 120 miles per hour, with a nice useful load of 537 pounds,
and you can fly as far as 600 miles.
If you live in a place like Florida with a lot of waterways, and you like flying around
with your whole family on weekends, then go for the Cessna 206 stationair.
Unlike other airplanes in this list, the Stationair was not originally designed to be a seaplane,
but it is certified to use Floats for water operations.
I consider the 206 Stationair as a flying SUV.
Power originally came from a 285 hp Continental IO 520A engine, but was soon swapped out for
the 300 hp Continental IO 520F engine.
Cessna built the 206 until production stopped in 1986.
After 12-years, the Stationair returned to production with a 300hp Lycoming IO 540 engine,
which helps it to cruise at 160 mph, climb at 900 ft per minute, with a range of 800
miles.
With $750,000, you can buy this airplane brand-new.
If you want something near the practically of the Cessna 206 stationair, then go for
the Seawind 3000.
This airplane is a great choice for a family trip, the cabin can fit two adults and three
children, or four adults in total, and the panoramic view is a fun addition for those
wishing to take it on sightseeing flights.
Also, this seaplane goes fast.
The cruising speed is 190 MPH or 165 knots at 75% power, although most pilots tend to
fly at 55% power, not even taking advantage of the speed at their fingertips.
You can get this airplane with $100,000 in the used market.
If you love flying alone for recreational purposes, then go for the FlyNano Nano.
This aircraft is half jet ski and half-plane.
The fly nano combines marine and aviation technology to create a lightweight plane that
only weighs 70kg, though a pilot license is not required to fly the aircraft, however
it is not for beginners because flying experience is recommended before attempting to fly the
seaplane.
The electric power engine makes it extremely quiet, cheap to run and maintain, it is made
from carbon fiber which makes it extremely light and strong.
The good thing about this airplane is that the aircraft wing can be removed for storage
or ground transportation, so if you live close to a lake and love flying around on your day
off, this airplane is for you.
It features a joined wingbox wing, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, a hull
for water operations, a single electric engine in tractor configuration mounted above the
cockpit.
This aircraft can fly incredibly fast compared to others in this category, as high as 9000ft.
To get a brand new of this plane will cost you $90,000, so if you love traveling fast
and quietly in an ultralight aircraft, this airplane is for you.
Another revolutionary design to look into is the Lisa Akoya, this is more than just
an amphibious plane, this airplane will be able to operate on land, water, and snow.
In addition to its unrivaled versatility, the AKOYA has exceptionally sleek aerodynamic
lines, making the performance just as good as you might imagine.
The Akoya uses the Rotax 912 engine, which helps it to cruise at 130 mph, climb at 1000
feet per minute, with a range of 1000 miles.
The best thing is that it can land in a space of less than 650 ft and can easily be stored
in a garage, thanks to its folding wings.
The Akoya is a cheap airplane, getting it brand will cost you about $300,000.
Vickers wave is another great airplane to wait for.
Now for this airplane, we haven't seen a flying prototype yet, all we have is just the design,
but it is coming to the market next year.
The Wave is a two-seat, side-by-side configuration, high wing amphibious aircraft.
The fuselage and wings are constructed from a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber
composite materials, featuring an automatic folding wing mechanism and ballistic parachute
recovery system.
When you look at this airplane, it's pretty much an icon A5, it looks a little sleeker,
but the proportions are almost the same.
What we're hoping for with the Vickers wave is that it costs a lot less than the icon
A5.
Currently, the price is set at $180,000, but it's so early to assume what the actual production
airplane would cost.
But until then we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Another great airplane to look out for is The MVP Model 3.
When you look at this airplane, it does look a little bit bigger in size, and that's because
a lot more practical features were built into this plane.
You can take this airplane for a sightseeing flight, fishing, and camping.
It's basically a living boat.
You have room for a dock to chill on.
You have room to sleep in.
There's so much more to this airplane than just flying.
Performance-wise, you're not getting much more.
You're getting similar performance numbers as the other amphibian airplanes listed in
this video.
The MVP is powered by the Rotax 912, or the 914 engine, which helps it to cruise at 120
mph, climb at a thousand feet per minute, with a range of 700 miles.
Now the best part about this airplane is that you get all these features for less than $200,000.
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