Air Venture around the corner…

Come visit The Seaplane Safety Institute at the seaplane base in Oshkosh.  That’s right folks we are taking the big trip!  Lyle Panepinto and his daughter Lacey will be flying Southern Seaplane’s Cessna U206F Amphibian all the way from Belle Chasse, LA.  And that’s not all.  Southern Seaplane’s part-time pilot and aviation enthusiast, Mark Rhodes, will be making the big trip in Southern Seaplane’s PA-18 straight float Super Cub!  You can hear all about Mark, Lyle, and Lacey’s adventure when you stop by the Seaplane Safety Institute booth.  We can’t wait to meet all of you that have been reading our newsletter over the past year.

Cessna U206F

Piper Cub PA18

N’awlins Air Show
On May 2nd and 3rd, The Air Show returned to New Orleans.  The last air show was held in October of 2007 and because of a tight budget the annual show was pushed back to the spring.  Despite the dates falling on the last weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the big act drew a large crowd.  The Blue Angels performed for the first time since 2004.

Aircraft Tracking
As a charter operation, Southern Seaplane weights great importance on the tracking of our aircraft.  A large portion of our destinations are out of company radio communication as well as out of cell phone range.  Office Manager, Emile Charvet landed on a great discovery, Spot.  No, not a cute little puppy, but just as comforting.  Spot is the world’s first satellite messenger.  As an advocate of safety, Southern Seaplane sends the device with all charter trips.  Every 10 minutes an updated status is posted and shown on Google maps.  And the best part, its water proof and it floats, music to a seaplane pilots ears.

Island Hopping in the Bahamas!
Graduates of the Seaplane Safety Institute, Bill Workman and Greg Smith, put their lessons to work.  They took their wives in their C185 Amphibian island hopping in the Bahamas.  What a dream!  Thank you to Bill and Greg for sharing this adventure with us.  Take a look at their route of flight and the beautiful pictures at their web site:
http://www.washingtonsawyer.com/Bluebirds_Bahams_Trip/Welcome.html