Skimmer One in Florida

[skimmerone]

February 24 on Lake Apopka. Skimmer One photographed by George Bauer from his Lake Renegade. She was the star of the show at our annual Lakeathon. I would bet that there were at least one thousand photos taken and she performed flawlessly.

[skimmerone]

[skimmerone]

Attitude is everything!

[skimmerone]

If you look carefully or can zoom in on this photo...there is water flowing from the step back along the lower aft fuselage and then waterfalling back to the surface just a bit in front of the rudder. There is very little surface wetted in the step area in this photo, only the skeg is wet. If you look at a previous photo taken on the Hudson River near the railroad tracks, you can see a little splash every so often, which I believe is this same effect.

[skimmerone]

[skimmerone]

[MrWidgeon]

Awww Man,
You are having WAAAAAAY to much fun.
(Ya lucky stiff)

Bill

[Cameraman]

Hi Skimmerone,

the first shot's a cracker.

Regards

Reggie

[skimmerone]

I like that one, too. They are all good, but that one gets to me.

[skimmerone]

I was hoping that I might post some photos from the Sun n Fun Seaplane day at Lake Agnes but it was not to be. I was on my way northbound to take advantage of a window of good weather. No doubt you all have heard about the tornados that ripped through the area on Thursday, March 31. Luckily Skimmer One was doubly tied down securely at Winter Haven while storms passed on either side. She sat through about 5 minutes of 60 mph winds and all day of heavy rain...it even got into the tight fitting pitot cover. I was out tying her down at 7 AM and watching a black sky and constant lightning only about 10 miles north, directly over Lake Agnes. Later on a separate storm hit Lakeland and Bartow doing mass destruction. The 11.3 hour trip home was good weather, but horrendous winds and turbulence. Every landing was a gusty crosswind experience, but she plugged along, thankfully with a tailwind most of the way, and never missed a beat. Luckily no one was watching my landing at home, exhausted and very, very happy to be there. The Hudson River corridor with a gusty 90 crosswind boiling over the New Jersey buildings and Palisades was a joy to behold, and the proximity to the NYC buildings on the the right, downright frightening. On the plus side, there was very little traffic. Nobody in their right mind was flying that day. I am getting too old for this type of flying...