Lake Seaplane 

Sold July 15, 2002 - Sorry!


Smith Mountain Lake, 1999

More pictures below - click here

N3ZQ is a 1976 Lake Buccaneer (LA4-200):

Cruise speed: 105 knots

Range: 4.5 hours plus reserve (475 nautical miles)

Seats 4, or three plus baggage

Fuel: 40 gallons main tank, 54 gallons total.  Fuel burn 10.5 gallons per hour.

1650 Total Time Airframe.

200 horsepower engine, Lycoming IO-360-A1B6.  2000 TBO.

This engine was purchased April 2001 from the Lycoming factory. The "A1B6" on the end of the engine model number means that this engine has a balanced crankshaft.  That means a smoother engine, and also that this plane has no "yellow arc" like most Buccaneers.

Max gross weight 2684 lbs.

Excellent avionics:

Collins HSI, linked to GPS and VOR

Two (2) King KY-97A comm radios

King KNS-80 RNAV / VOR

King KLN-90 GPS with moving map

Narco CP-136 Audio Panel

Narco ADF-140

S-Tec 2-axis autopilot with altitude hold and localizer mode (new servos installed April 2001)

Sigtronics 4-place intercom with dual push-to-talk switches

AstroTech LC-2 quartz digital clock and timer

Davtron DVOR-930 (digital display of VOR radial)

Many popular modifications:

Auxiliary fuel tanks with pressure sensor lights by Lake Central Air Service

Streamlined (Renegade style) heater cover by Lake Central Air Service

Engine air intake mod by Lake Central Air Service

Wing root fairings by Lake Central Air Service

Winterization kit by Lake Central Air Service

Chrome spinner

Bat wings (wing fillets)

Hull strakes

Relocated battery (recombinant gas battery)

Two automatic electric bilge pumps - one in forward compartment and one in aft compartment

"Fuel pump on" indicator light for electric engine fuel boost pump

Digital fuel flow meter (including "gallons used" function) Works great! Always know exactly how much fuel you have!

EBC model G7 ELT (new 1999)

Engine gauges relocated to a tilted subpanel so as to be visible from pilot's seat

Dual avionics master switches

Digital voltmeter/ammeter by Electronics International

EGT gauge

Stuart Warner cabin heater (overhauled January 2001) with summer fan setting

Radio stack splash guard

Complete post lighting

Automatic standby vacuum system

Lightweight, high-speed starter

3M leading edge tape on wings, tail, pylon and engine struts

 

 
Taken September 2001 at Lake Central Air Service

  
Taken September 2001 at Lake Central Air Service.  ELT is at right; coiled wire is a separate external antenna for a handheld radio

 
Stormscope is immediately below right yoke. Above right yoke is the electronic voltmeter/ammeter. To the right of that is the digital fuel flow meter.  The intercom controls are immediately below left yoke; to the right of the intercom is the autopilot. On the hydraulic panel are four lights for the auxiliary fuel tank pumps.  Also, on the extreme right, note the custom-built tilted subpanel to make the five engine gauges readable from the pilot's seat.


Lake Zoar, Connecticut, 1998


Otsego Lake, New York, 1997



Plane comes complete with two varnished paddles ("auxiliary power units")
and compressed-gas door-opening struts (handy for loading and unloading)


The rudder pedals on the right side fold down.  Note built-in rudder gust lock. (There is an aileron gust lock too, I removed it before taking the photo.)


The airspeed indicator has the red line moved to 155mph due to an STC.
The HSI has a switch so that you can choose its NAV input - it can track either to the KNS-80 VOR/RNAV unit, or to the KLN-90 moving map GPS.

The autopilot is an S-Tec two-axis autopilot which features wing-leveler mode, heading mode, or NAV mode.  It has altitude hold.  There are two autopilot buttons mounted on the yoke ("Autopilot Disconnect" and "Alt Hold On/Off).


Here you can see the new tachometer (installed 229 hours ago), the electronic voltmeter/ammeter, the EGT gauge, and the digital fuel flow meter (a lifesaver - shows actual number of gallons used, to 1/10 of a gallon).

Directly below the yoke is the BFG WX-900 StormScope.  To the right of the yoke is a custom subpanel that was installed by Lake Central.  It is tilted towards the pilot to make the engine gauges easier to read from the left seat.

Below the subpanel are the switches for the two automatic electric bilge pumps. (One has a built in fuse.) To the right of those are the headphone jacks for the co-pilot.  Note the Push-to-talk switch in the middle of the yoke.  


In this picture you can see the radio splash guard, a custom-made black metal strip to keep any splashes from dripping down the panel and getting into the radio stack.  Also three other custom items: 

Above the audio panel you see two orange lights. The first is part of the automatic standby vacuum system. In the event of a failure of the engine-driven vacuum pump, the light will illuminate, and vacuum pressure will be taken from the engine manifold, thereby keeping the gyros spinning.
To the right of that light is a dimmable orange light that comes on whenever the pilot has turned on the electric fuel pump ("boost pump").  This is to prevent the pump from being forgotten and left on, thereby shortening its life.
On the lower panel, just above the gear-up light, you see two green lights and two orange lights.  The green lights indicate power is flowing to the auxiliary fuel transfer pumps - but that doesn't mean much since the pumps might be broken or there might not be any fuel in the aux tanks!  I had an option put on - a pressure sensor in each transfer line. The orange lights glow only when fuel is actually being moved.  As soon as they go out, you know it's time to turn off the pumps.  $1000 well spent?  Well I think so, since without these lights, you would never know if one pump was broken and not functioning.

 

You may wonder about the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Civil Air Patrol emblems that are on the plane. As a volunteer member of both organizations, I used the plane to fly safety patrols for the Coast Guard and practice searches for Civil Air Patrol.  No flight for either organization ever required salt water use.  The emblems are adhesive stickers which will were removed by the new owner at time of sale.


The plane has a powerful cabin heater which was overhauled in 2001 and has been used less than 5 hours since then.  The streamlined (Renegade-style) heater cover is said to improve cruise speed by improving the air flow through the propeller.  Additionally, this plane is equipped with a non-motorized summer air vent.  That means in summertime, you can remove the heater and put on the much smaller vent, thereby increasing your useful load by 35 lbs. and making even better airflow through the prop.

In this picture you can also see the electronic outside air temperature gauge (OAT) which is mounted in the windshield. It is a tiny battery-operated unit that gives digital OAT readout in F and C. Its best feature is that the external probe is tiny, about the size and shape of half an almond.


The plane has a chrome spinner - a nice touch added by the previous owner.  Both main gear legs were repainted at the last annual.


See the tailwheel? That was an option installed by Harry Shannon at Amphibians Plus in Florida. It keeps the tail from scraping on a concrete ramp when you taxi into the water.

The propeller was overhauled in 2001 while the new engine was being installed.


Just aft of the Coast Guard Auxiliary emblem you can see the electric rudder trip.  An expensive option but VERY nice to have for cross-country flights!


The red stripes on the nose gear and nose gear doors are made of reflective tape and are an aid to verifying that the nose gear is down.  At night the landing light reflects off of the tape, and you can clearly see in the mirror that you have "all three down"


The top of the nose on Lake Buccaneers is made of fiberglass. This plane's nose top was replaced in 1998.

Here you can also see the oil cooler door. (It was closed in this picture but is opened when flying in weather above freezing.) That door was installed on the cowling as part of the Winterization Kit.

Plane sold on July 15, 2002. New owner is Canadian and repainted the airplane tail numbers with a Canadian tail number.