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If you ever get a chance to fly in an amphibious Grumman Albatross – DO IT! It may be a chance of a lifetime for you. It was for me.
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| Author, Bonnie and Lucy |
Being a girlfriend to a pilot has many benefits. The best one is meeting other pilots, listening to their adventurous flying stories and being invited to ride in their airplanes. I’ve learned that most pilots have a passion for one particular type of aircraft. While on a visit to Carson City, I met Bill DaSilva and his wonderful wife, Gina. Bill’s passion is seaplanes. (I must also mention he flies 747s for a day job.) Bill and Gina own a beautiful Grumman HU-16C Albatross' Sea Plane.
Several years ago, Bill and his Albatross were hired by Quiksilver Surf Wear Company to take their team of professional surfers on a surfing safari known as The Crossing. I remembered seeing this seaplane outfitted with Quiksilver logos and I had made a mental note to meet the pilot and hear the stories of flying surfers to remote surf breaks.
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| Sweetpea |
Bill and Gina had invited a small group of us to fly up to Lake Tahoe for a picnic lunch on a beach. Everyone who was invited jumped at the invitation. We even had a woman fly her own plane from Visalia to Carson City just to ride in an Albatross.
As I climbed up the steep steps into the Albatross, I was greeted by a very friendly black Labrador named, Sweet Pea, who lives up to her name. Sweet Pea refuses to be left behind. She will climb up the incredibility steep ladder just so she can lie in her own bunk bed and go for a ride. Once on boarded, I was amazed on how roomy it was. I could just imagine the Quiksilver surf team loading all their surfboards easily into the plane, with room to spare.
Taking off in an Albatross is quite an experience. Being used to my boyfriend’s Cessna 185, which can climb quickly over a short distance, the Albatross felt more like a Cadillac, easing into a gradual climb out of Carson City. We steadily gained altitude before we crossed over the Sierras that surrounds Lake Tahoe. The weather, smooth and sunny, couldn’t have been more perfect.
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| Copilot Steve |
Bill and his co-pilot, Steve, took us on a scenic flight over a snow-covered mountain ridge near the south side of the lake. I eagerly looked out the window for potential summer hiking trips in the backcountry. As we cruised back over the lake, Bill had already scoped out a beach for us to have our picnic on. Keeping a look out for small boats, the plane descended down to one of the smoothest landings I have every experienced. I had expected a water landing to be quite bumpy, but not in an Albatross. It was awesome to watch and experience the power of the props that Bill used to swing the tail of the plane around before backing up onto the beach.
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| Lake Tahoe |
With the engines shut down, Gina opened the back door to the plane and dropped a step platform that acts like a small dock above the water. Sweet Pea was the first one out the door and onto the beach. I threw on my shorts, grabbed my sandals and step out into the toe-numbing alpine lake. A few of the guys were able to jump onto the dry sand from the platform. A few of the women, wearing long pants, took a piggy-back ride 3 feet to the sand.
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| The Albatross |
We weren’t on the beach long before boat after boat came by to take pictures of this magnificent bird on the water. I could just imagine their awe of seeing this huge, double prop seaplane gilding across the calm lake from a boat. So I couldn’t blame these folks wanting to get a closer look at this seaplane.
After a nice picnic lunch, we packed up for an enjoyable flight over the lake. This time I sat on the left side of the plane next to a bubble window that allowed me to look out at both the front and the back of the plane. Taking off from the water was beyond exhilarating. A lot more power and take off distance is required, especially in the higher altitude of Lake Tahoe. The Albatross roared across the water, for what felt like a long time, before she broke free.
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| Shadow of the Albatross |
We gained altitude as we flew over the middle of the lake towards the north shore. As we got closer to the north shore, Steve the co-pilot, banked the plane into an S turn before bringing her down onto the water for touch-and-go landing. The plane skimmed across the clear aqua blue lake while people from numerous boats were hooting and hollering at us. Steve kept the plane powered up and with a little more juice, we lifted off the water. We banked into a turn away from the mountain peaks and flew over Sand Harbor Beach Park. Looking down at the lake’s many shades of the turquoise waters, is a sight to behold. We cleared the Sierra mountain peaks and headed back to Carson City. I guessed it to be only a 15 minute flight from Lake Tahoe to touch down in Carson City. Amazing!
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| Sand Harbor |
Not everybody gets the chance to experience something like this and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given this amazing opportunity to water dance in an Albatross.
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