Buying an Experimental Flying Boat - The SeaRey Chronicles.

I decided I needed a float plane of some kind. I felt like the SeaRey by Progressive Aerodyne met my needs... So after a year or two of looking I picked one up. This is the process of buying a homebuilt airplane located 500 miles away. It's a homebuilt SeaRey LSX and I'm in love with it.

[@shawnanderson6994]

Crazy I was scrolling Facebook reels and thought that looked like my dad's old Searay and turns out it was. Neat videos!

[@mauriceoconnor6246]

Gidday, beautiful machine. I flew Cessna 185s and Pilatus Porters on retractable skis here in New Zealand. During check rides with a very experienced old instructor he could load me up enough so I'd forget the skis . Any distractions ( bad weather, high traffic or something out of routine) could be an issue. I like the idea of touch the flap check the gear, some people I worked with would check their skis every time they made a radio call. I would say a danger to you could be a quick relocation from land to water and as soon as your airborne something different than usual happens and because it's a short flight you don't have time to catch a mistake. I think you will have an immense amount of fun.

[@hughjarse4205]

Congratulations! As a fellow Grumman flier, I'm jealous of your new toy. Be safe & have tons of fun with it.

[@AndrewSheldon]

Thanks guys! I feel I've gone flying just seeing you on youtube. Saved $150K too.

[@accelerating-leadership]

This is great thanks for making this!

[@mikemaloney5830]

I strongly recommend a piece of string taped to the windshield. Staying coordinated takes some effort in a SeaRey.

[@thecommercialpilot]

Good tip and thank you. Yea, the ball is all over the place. I can’t believe how active I need to be on the rudder compared to my Tiger. Took a lot of getting used too.

[@wadepatton2433]

Cool, I hadn't thought of that advantage of a mid-ship prop single.

[@bajacondor]

Hello Sir, I'm in a similar situation.. maybe a couple years behind you. I've got a Traveler that I love, and am planning to buy an amphib in the coming year or so. The Searey is at the top of my list. I'd love to hear more of your story, and learn from your experience of choosing which model Searey to buy. I'm finding that there is a pretty wide range of price with the model/engine choices. Congratulations!

[@thecommercialpilot]

Hi Dave. Yea there’s a ton of options. I’d like for an LSX if you can afford it. I kinda lucked out with mine. Was looking at classics beforehand. In retrospect I’m quite glad I got an LSX instead. Have Jim or Angel or one of the SeaRey experts do a nice prebuy. They’re pretty simple planes, but as you’ve mentioned.. there’s a ton of variations.

[@northernfpv9562]

Love the manual flap handle.

[@thecommercialpilot]

Me too. There’s an electric option but sometimes KISS is the best approach…

[@bocefusmurica4340]

@@thecommercialpilot Electric is lighter I learned so I will be building for lightness like Lotus's Colin Chapman. Odd to learn that!

[@mattjohnston2922]

@@bocefusmurica4340 Get those parts ASAP if you're building. Progressive Aerodyne is currently closed.

[@bocefusmurica4340]

@@mattjohnston2922 they are still fabricating parts and others are getting into that also. I was to have a factory demo flight when I was there last week but the aircraft was unavailable.

[@JohnHuebbe]

Nice video!

[@BangersMatt]

Thanks!

[@SiemaZiomek]

I want a searay too!!

[@mcdowelljason]

This is great, congrats on your purchase!

[@thecommercialpilot]

Thanks. Ep 2 is next week. Where we actually get to fly it.

[@jeremyaspen2973]

How are you liking it? I have a place up in Northport, MI (5D5) just north of TVC. My Cirrus was just destroyed in a tornado so I get to consider changing my airplane journey.

[@thecommercialpilot]

I love it. It's a fair-weather aircraft, but it's the most fun ever. I've had it up to Northport and Suttons bay! Love that area. Sorry about your Cirrus...

[@randyhoffmanfa3768]

Bought a Searey from progressive aerodyne in March 2022. I have it in Greenville Mi. We should talk! Schmitt has my number from Sparta. Randy

[@thecommercialpilot]

Yea we should! Thanks for commenting. Let’s go fly!

[@calvinhenshaw2147]

you also have cold, did i say cold cold cold

[@ewilcox3211]

😌 p̷r̷o̷m̷o̷s̷m̷

[@terrycarver1255]

Let me know if your looking for graphics for your Searey. I know a guy who has experience in doing Searey’s

[@thecommercialpilot]

I am!

[@marcusrimmer783]

I’m the graphics and wrap guy. Let’s chat!

[@tonylam9548]

I wondered what is the big deal Americans made with tail wheels. I knew a bunch of old guys who for a while had flown nothing but tail wheels You just have to stay alert a bit more and longer on the ground. I drive the automotive equivalent of tail wheel, my trans is manual, after a while, you do not even notice it. If I fly this Searey, unless on water, I just leave the gear down, gear up do not reduce the drag.

[@thecommercialpilot]

Tailwheel is monumentally more difficult than a manual transmission. If you get in the habit of leaving the gear down, you’re gonna have a gear down water landing and flip. It’s a really bad habit to not actuate the gear every time.

[@chimneygeorge]

But, way too cold much of the time.

[@thecommercialpilot]

No such thing as bad weather. Just bad gear.