The Company Marks 20 Years In The Aviation Business

Progressive Aerodyne CEO Adam Yang held a news conference Tuesday that was a dual celebration. First, Adam Introduced Helen Woods of Chesapeake Sport Pilot, LLC form Stevensville, Maryland . The flight school has been granted a FAA authorization in the form of a Letter Off Devation Authority (LODA) for the SeaRey amphibian. This authorization is the 1st of it's kinds in the nation, and will allow pilots with a seaplane rating and taildragger endorsement to take training in a SeaRey.

Chesapeake Sport Pilot partnered with Searey manufacturer Progressive Aerodyne to provide this training to current and future owners of Searey aircraft. The Searey is a two place, amphibious flying boat that fits within the light sport category. With its landing gear retracted it can land on water with the main aircraft hull floating and essentially serving as a boat hull. Deployable landing gear gives this plane a tremendous amount of versatility. With the landing gear down the plane can taxi up out of the water onto a beach, boat ramp, or waterfront homeowner’s back yard. It can also land at traditional airports.

As with most kit planes, flight training has in the past been problematic for Searey owners as builders of experimental aircraft are neither allowed to take a flight instructor with them during the first 40 hours of flight testing nor generally allowed to rent another experimental aircraft of the same model for training. “This LODA granted by the FAA will allow us to offer training in our flight school Searey so that builders can become proficient in the handling qualities of a Searey before flying their own aircraft for the first time,” explained Chief Flight instructor Helen Woods.
 
The Searey aircraft, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is designed by a Florida based company, Progressive Aerodyne. Over 500 kit-built Seareys are flying world wide. Progressive Aerodyne is currently accepting deposits for a factory built certified version of the Searey which they hope to have available soon.

The Second celebration was to mark Searey's 20th annversary. With over 500 SeaReys flying worldwide, it was a source of pride for CEO Adam Yang as the cut a cake decorated with frosting that was created from a photo of a SeaRey in the water. The cake was enjoyed by the aviation press, Searey owners, and members of our Military who where in attendance at Airventure.

FMI: www.searey.com, www.chesapeakesportpilot.com