Similar but completely different

Last week something remarkable happened. It didn’t make the national prime time news broadcasts or even the local newspaper. But it was momentous just the same. For last week one of the most modern, technologically advanced amphibious aircraft on the market touched down at an iconic seaplane training facilities on the planet — and stayed there.

It’s been nearly 60 years since the day Jack Brown plunked a bare bones J-3 Cub into the placid waters of Florida’s Lake Jessie, beginning a legacy of flight training and big-time fun that continues to this very day. In recent years Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base has added a Maule on floats, as well as a Super Cub. Aircraft that have their own special qualities — among them the ability to accommodate pizza eating, cheeseburger loving Americans and their ever-expanding waistlines.

The fleet proved to be a winning recipe for Jack and his students, as well as Jack’s sons Jon and Chuck for the years they operated the base. Today, Jon’s son-in-law Ben Shipps is at the helm of the operation. It is he who made the decision to upgrade the fleet again, in a very bold shift that may take some by surprise.

On June 23, 2021, Genesah Duffy, chief pilot and manager of flight operations and training for ICON Aircraft, dropped in for a visit. The ICON A5 she flew in has taken up residence beside the venerable classics at Brown’s, offering a whole new way for pilots to get their aeronautically aquatic kicks in the Sunshine State.

The J-3 and the A5 are completely different aircraft. Yet, they’re remarkably similar, too.

“It’s a big deal for us,” says Duffy. “We’re happy to partner with Jack Brown’s.”

That’s saying something for Genesah to make such an enthusiastic statement. She’s flown ICONs all over the U.S., demonstrating them to potential buyers, training new owners, and introducing pesky writers like me to the wonders of the Angle of Attack indicator ICON rightly touts as a hugely important improvement to safety, which is why they mount the device in such a prevalent position on the instrument panel. She even toured the California coastline with former Tonight Show host Jay Leno in the ICON for an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. 

“Flying,” Duffy elaborates, “shouldn’t be complicated or hard. You should be able to get into an airplane and just enjoy flying.”

Ben Shipps couldn’t agree more.

“I didn’t think there was an easier, more simple airplane to fly than the J-3,” Shipps says. “Until I flew the ICON.”

Ironically, the philosophy that led ICON to design and build an aircraft intended to fill a void in the amphibious market also lends itself to the mission of high-quality flight training Brown’s has prided itself on for decades.

“We have a big responsibility with training the number of seaplane pilots that we do, to prepare them for where this industry is going,” says Shipps.

After about 15 years of considering it, I earned my seaplane rating at Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base well over a decade ago. And to be honest, I wish I’d done it sooner. But then, so do so many pilots who finally take the plunge, if you’ll pardon the expression, and add a seaplane rating to their existing pilot certificate.

The fun factor of seaplane flying is simply off the charts. It’s a boat ride that turns into an aeronautical adventure, then terminates with a splash and a leisurely coast up to the ramp or beach. 

Any pilot really owes it to themselves to experience the thrill first-hand.

My training was done in one of the classic yellow J-3 Cubs on the premises. Over the years I’ve added a few hours to my logbook now and then, flying with an impressive array of instructor pilots in enough of the J-3s that I believe I’ve flown the full fleet at this point. I’ve also done a flight review or two in the SuperCub with Ben Shipps acting as my CFI.

What’s been consistent across the years and the airframes has been the quality of instruction. In my experience the goal has always been to come away with a better understanding of the aircraft and a slightly improved set of seaplane flying skills. To date, that’s always been the outcome for me whenever I’ve flown at Brown’s. 

The same is true for the few times I’ve been able to climb into an ICON A5 with Genesah Duffy. The consistency and weight of the water remains constant, and the sky above provides more or less that same aeronautical options as it ever did, but the ICON is a whole different animal from anything else I’ve flown. It represents a massive leap into the future by incorporating high-end, easy to use avionics, with a Rotax 912 that’s dead easy to operate, mounted into an airframe that is so well designed and constructed it’s hard to believe both the J-3 and the ICON can exist in the same century, let alone on the same body of water.

Yet, they do. The two may represent the far ends of the technological spectrum but they simultaneously take up a side-by-side relationship as aircraft that are just flat out fun and affordable to fly.

With the coolest and most desirable Light Sport amphibious manufacturer now partnering with a seaplane training facility that could be dubbed the premiere outfit of its kind, virtually any pilot, seaplane rated or not, now has the opportunity to fly a classic seaplane or a highly advanced amphibious model to compare and contrast the experience.

In my humble opinion, the outcome is likely to be similar in either case. Whether a first-timer or an old hand with years of experience, the pilot exiting either airframe is likely to say something like, “That was great. Let’s do it again.” 

Such is the nature of seaplane flying. The fun factor is simply off the charts. 

Get some!