Float Plane Rating, Kenmore Air Harbor July 2025

After years of driving through Kenmore on the way to and from work, and years of watching the Beavers and Otters head back to base every evening, I finally did it- for my 53rd birthday I decided to pursue my seaplane rating, officially Private Pilot Airplane Single Engine Sea (ASES) at Kenmore, the most well-known seaplane (floatplane) outfit in the United States.

Kenmore Air Harbor (S60) is located at the north end of Lake Washington, only a few miles northeast of Seattle and under the Class B shelf. Training may occur at 500 feet, operations over land require at least 1500 or 2000 and for the most part Kenmore stays in Class G or E airspace.

With its iconic yellow and white DeHavilland Beaver fleet, Kenmore Air is the seaplane base. With daily trips to BC and the San Juan Islands, Kenmore is a busy hive of commerce and tourism. And they do primary training with a pair of Cessna 172s and another pair of Piper SuperCubs.

the forklift operator puts the plane in the water after I complete the preflight checks and fueling as needed

De Havilland Beavers on the Beaver Dock at Kenmore Air Harbor. I chose the 10-hour package, which comes with a Part 135 ride-along experience, which means if I’m LUCKY I’ll get right seat in a Beaver… it is going to take some planning but mostly just luck… will update here later!

I got permission to take a quick (“hands off!”) peek at an old-school De Havilland Beaver!!
I can’t wait to fly one! My dream job would be to give tour flights in one of these someday…

An early photo of Kenmore Air Harbor, which has been in operation almost 80 years!

interesting characters in all aspects of life (and aviation)

On the first day of training, we flew over to Lake Sammamish for practice as the water there was significantly calmer than on Lake Washington. This day consists of mostly practicing normal-ish take-offs and landings.

On day 2 we really got after it and did all kinds of maneuvers – step taxi, step taxi turns, rough water, glassy water, crosswind, and confined area procedures. We finished up with a fantastic low-level turn over Kenmore to land just beyond the docks, just like the pros do it!

On the 3rd day of training we flew over to Hood Canal (“tuwaduq sidaqʷ” [too-wah-duke SEE-dock]) and Debob Bay Broad Spit for beaching practice, except when we got there the forecast was clearly off and there was nothing but rough water, so we just did rough water landing practice.

Afterwards we boogied back to Kenmore, following the ship canal for noise abatement and to remain over good landing areas, aka *water.*

On Day 4, we returned to Dabob Bay and did beaching practice, as well as glassy water practice on the way back to Kenmore

Flying past Silverdale, there’s a relatively long stretch where we’re not over water. Here we pass Apex Airpark (8W5), which would be better place to land than the woods!

Broad Spit County Park is only available by boat or… float plane!

On the beaching training flight, we visited the Broad Spit in Debob Bay where this massive wood tower stands.

Selfie from the top of the scary tower – I was slow and deliberate in my climb and descent, but it was still a bit scary! The tower is constructed from a hodge podge of lumber and driftword, fastened variously with straps, screws, nails, and imagination.

After four days, weather conspired along with the 4th of July Independence Day holiday, so it was the following week before I did another couple of training flights, both mock checkrides, and got my checkride at the end of the second day with around 8 hours of time in the books. Had I not scheduled the week of July 4th, I would’ve completed, however they don’t do training over that holiday as the lakes are FULL of boat traffic. Certainly I could have got it done in less hours, but I went into this knowing I could put 10 hours of float time on the books no matter what.