Lake
Amphibian
Flyers
Club

At Home Again at River Ranch

The first Lakeathon to be held at River Ranch in eight years was an unqualified hit. Attendees were clearly enthusiastic about the “new” venue. Many of them had never been to River Ranch and did not know what to expect. The first-timers and those that had been to the ranch before were uniformly pleased at the many improvements in staffing and in the upgrades to the premises that have been implemented since Westgate took over from the prior owners. Rooms were better than ever, services were greatly improved, and all enjoyed the wide-open campus and the improved group dynamics that, combined with the airport and the surrounding water landing sites, make River ranch a near-perfect venue for our club members to gather.
 

Lakeathon 2008 Slide Show

The staff at River Ranch went out of their way to make things go well for us, and we are planning a return there in 2009. See photos of the gathering sprinkled throughout this issue.

Insurance Report. As reported at Lakeathon by the experts at Airsure, Ltd. who manage the Lake insurance program, once again Lake Amphibian Flyers Club members have flown much more safely that their non club-affiliated counterparts. According to statistics covering the ten years from 1997-1007, while 40% of all Lake pilots are in the insurance program, these 40% accounted for only 7% of the pilot-error accidents during the ten-year time period under study. This superior accident record leads to lower insurance rates for those who are in the program. Four quotes were sought on an imaginary Lake pilot with average qualifications. AIG declined to quote. Avemco quoted $6981, US Specialties $3300, and Airsure’s rate was $2775. All resulting, we think, from the required recurrent training that is a part of the program. Our special thanks should go to those Lake-approved instructors who are so much a part of this program. So, keep up your training, train with Lake-approved instructors, and save money while flying more safely. Talk about win-win!

Lake History Archives

Once again at Lakeathon, John Staber offered his fabulous Lake history CD for sale. For a donation of $60 or more toward the restoration of the prototype Skimmer, you will receive a CD of "the history of the Lake Amphibian 1946 to 2006". Over 1600 scans of photos, brochures, articles, biographies, memorabilia and more. It takes weeks to go through it all. A must for every Lake owner. Call, e-mail or write: 518-794-9091 Skimmer One, Inc., PO Box 72, Old Chatham NY 12136 jx2staber@fairpoint.net 

In addition to daily flying from the resort's own paved airport and the surrounding fresh water lakes, participants were treated to informative seminars and expert instruction, an optional propeller testing program, and a special hands-on maintenance seminar at the hangar of Amphibians Plus in Bartow. Seminars were held on varied topics including Flying to Mexico, Ditching at Sea (with Life raft demonstration), Instructors’ Forum, Lake Operation and Maintenance, Insurance, parts sourcing and availability, engine developments, and much much more. Idle time (was there any?) could easily be filled by technical and social conversation amongst the participants, who came from as far away as Australia.

Our heartfelt thanks go to our dinner sponsors (underlined below), as well as those who provided valuable content to the event, and the helpful volunteers who pitched in wherever there was a need. Special thanks go (in no particular order) to Airsure Limited, Phoenix Aviation Underwriters, Amphibians Plus, Jim Campbell, Michel Lapointe, Rick Gardner, Harry Shannon, Elton Townsend, Ron Van Slooten, Trevor Forde, Adrian Hill, Jill Gardy, Donna Louth, Ed McNeil, Dawn Degenhardt, Mardy Array, Crystal Shannon, and Wayne Gierke of Lycoming Engines. Also our panel of Instructors: Paul Furnee, Harry Shannon, John Staber, Tim Kramer, & Art Stifel. All of you make this event the special experience that it is. There is no way we could do it without you.

Last but not least, we must thank Steve Whitney, who created and maintains our excellent website at www.lakeflyers.com. Thank you Steve! 

For a preview of the kinds of activity you can look forward to at Lakeathon 2009, see the 2008 event program online by clicking the image at left. Look for an upcoming date announcement of Lakeathon 2009, and plan to join in the fun.

Also, we can forgive the less than stellar acoustics in the main meeting room, although management has assured us that steps will be taken to improve on this for our next event. Everything else was first-rate. The lodging rooms were all recently renovated. Members enjoyed the new waterside restaurant, and the newly-configured airplane tiedown area with easy in-and out parking. This was arranged by River Ranch airport managers Dean Maddux and Dave Layman, and really simplified the process of getting out in the afternoons and flying the local waterways and lakes, of which there are many, and then returning to the same parking spot without having to push back.