I have a guy that wants to trade me his 1977 Lake. It appears to be a nice little VFR machine. Claims freshwater only, hangared, blah blah. I always wanted to do my seaplane rating and figured this is a cheap way to do it. Thoughts on this particular model?

That certainly DOES look very clean but I'd get it checked out by someone who knows Lakes as I understand there can be a few gotchas. Flew in one once off the water and they are VERY cool.....perfect for playing around in remote places or Florida/Bahamas.I actually thought about buying one a few years ago, never know maybe someday!

Wife prefers them to Bonanzas.

I did some research on them. From a UL standpoint they seem like a early 35. 4 "adults" doesn't give you much gas, but two people and bags is full fuel.

I didn't research to the point of getting an insurance quote.

That may be insane from what I have heard about seaplane insurance.

I've been on a few trips in a Lake with my friend (who owns it). They are slow, loud, sink like a stone when the power's off.....but it is SO cool to land in the water right on the belly!

Is this the under-powered Buccaneer? Or the almost-adequately-powered Renegade?

Todd-- I suggest you fly one before buying. I owned a Lake for a short period of time after my Searey. They just aren't enjoyable to fly at all. The control harmony (lack thereof) sucks, you can't open the door or window when flying so it get's super hot in the cabin. The things you can do with them sure are fun, but that's just because it's a seaplane. I would recommend you take a look at a Husky on amphibious floats.

200 is buccaneer. 250 (?) is renegade.

They sound pretty good, and loud

Plan on about 2 to 3 times what a wheeled airplane would run of the same hull value.

Thanks for the replies. I am trying to help the guy that ended up with my Helicycle sell it. This guy wants the Helicycle, so I thought it could help both of us. I would not insure it since it is only $50k. I probably would not keep it very long.

The corn broker is in town, with all his talk about a buccaneer.

That's one of the cool things about them! Power off and you fly a glideslope that looks like the Space Shuttle's!

Don't listen to me. I had a ride in one 15 years ago and am easily impressed by unique aeroplanes :-)

OK, I'm lazy and need an answer. If I buy this Lake can I fly it home without a seaplane rating? It seems like a single engine land plane to me with the landing gear down

Yes you can, Todd. As long as you don't land in water you're good to go without ASES.

I have about 5hrs in them. I was obsessed with them about 5 years ago before I got into twins. I was saving up to get one. Very utilitarian, but built quite tough. Try to find one with the bat-wing conversion, as it has shorter takeoff and climbs better. Also, fuel is kinda limited on the factory ones, but there a mod that expands the fuel by putting some in the sponsoons. They're not fast by any means, but have great visibility. The 200hp one is injected, the 180hp is not. The 200hp one can takeoff with 4 people, the 180hp one can't. The 200EP has longer prop and has better performance. The 250 has the bigger 250hp engine, no turbo. The 270 has the 270hp engine and turbo. It's actually a pretty good performer at 155kts up high. As you probably can see from the way they're designed they behave the opposite of normal airplanes when it comes to power: adding power noses them over, and reducing power noses them up. Throttle is in the ceiling.

That front windscreen/door that you just swing open as you taxi on a calm lake and with water just inches away is just something else. You feel like you're part of nature. I loved flying it and would consider getting one if I didn't live in SoCal where the only water around is salt water.

Cool Adam - thanks! Yeah, it would be fun for awhile. I previously lived on a big lake and my brother still lives there. It would be fun to get the rating and land on the lake a few times. In fact, we have many lakes around here any many seaplanes land on them. It would be a lot of fun to land on a lake at sunset and dock at the home. Pretty cool stuff. It is a great country we live in where we have such opportunity! BTW, this one has the 200HP fuel injected 360 and vortex generators. The POH will tell me everything else I need to know

They are underpower and no good in the bush. They dont handle rough water very well.
They are slow, inneficient and quirki.
Get a Cessna on float.

Todd

Watch for cracks or deformation around the 90 degree corner on each side of the cockpit opening, that is their weak point.

Doug