Erie now has a seaplane base but it's not a place. It's unmarked areas in the lake and bay
Erie for the first time has a licensed seaplane base.
It's not a building or an airstrip.
Instead, it is an unmarked area in Presque Isle Bay and another in Lake Erie certified as meeting government safety standards for seaplane landings.
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Also required for licensing are amenities that pilots might need, including a public telephone, fire extinguisher, windsock, emergency contact information and flight pattern diagrams that are available or posted at Presque Isle State Park Marina.
Seaplanes have always been allowed to land and take off in the bay, lake and other U.S. navigable waters.
"What's new are areas on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie that are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation as meeting obstruction-free and safety criteria," said seaplane pilot Don Williams, of Erie.
The certified landing areas are in the bay off Perry Monument, near the channel entrance to the marina, and in the lake off Beach 10, said Greg Hayes, who worked with the Pennsylvania Seaplane Pilots Association to obtain the license for the seaplane base. Hayes owns and operates North Coast Flight School at Port Meadville Airport.
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"What this means is that seaplanes won't be invasive or dangerous for boaters," Hayes said. "They're not going to come in and land right over a boat or in an area heavily used by boaters. We've gone through three years of paperwork and meetings with everyone from the FAA and Bureau of Aviation to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to Presque Isle park rangers to figure out where it's safest for seaplanes to come in."
Another potential draw for pilots is that fuel for seaplanes that use marine fuel is available at Presque Isle State Park Marina, though none have tanked up there in recent years, said Melissa Kelly, of Buckets Fishing Shack, now in its third year of operating the marina fuel dock.
"They're welcome to come in, but it will be a learning process for us at first. We want to make sure we know how to tie them up or where we can put docks to make it simple for the seaplanes and safe for them, safe for boats and safe for us," Kelly said.
"We'll figure it out. We've figured it out for 80-foot boats, and we'll figure it out for seaplanes," Kelly said.
Not available for seaplanes in Erie is on-the-water U.S. Customs service. And that's an issue, since an estimated 90% of seaplanes that stop in Erie are flying to and from Canada, Hayes said.
"Right now seaplanes with wheels land at the airport and clear Customs there," Hayes said. But not all seaplanes have wheels.
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"It makes no sense for pilots to land them in the bay and then go to Erie International Airport to deal with Customs. We're working to get a system that would allow seaplanes to land in the water and their pilots to call in and get cleared," Hayes said.
Such a call-in program is being tested in Minnesota, which isn't convenient for most pilots, Williams said.
"If a pilot from Florida flies to Canada to fish or hunt, the only way to get back to the U.S. is to go to Minnesota for Customs," Williams said.
Pilots hope to one day have a physical seaplane base in Erie complete with moorings, fueling station and Customs service, Williams said. There briefly was a base at Dobbins Landing in the late 1940s.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie now has a seaplane base but it's not what you might expect
