Pilots seek record for airplane 'water skiing' on Lake Tahoe
Submitted by editor on Wed, 02/24/2016 - 1:28pm
While most people are aware of traditional water skiing, where a person with a ski (or skis) glides over the surface of water as they are pulled by a boat, how many are aware of "Plane Water Skiing"?
Not many, but that may change after efforts made by three Truckee pilots who set out earlier this month to create a record for Guinness World Records.
Kevin Sloane of Fly Truckee Tahoe, Kevin Quinn of Points North Heli, Trent Palmer of RC Heli Pilot and Toby Smith all flew their planes 30 miles over Lake Tahoe Feb. 11 with their tires dragging along the surface of the water, so in sense, skiing across the lake.
"We're waiting to hear back from Guinness," Sloane told South Tahoe Now. "We don't think its a record already so we believe we're declaring the record." The group submitted the information to Guinness World Records and estimates they'll have to wait a few months until they will hear if its a world record, or not.'
Sloane can often be seen flying his Backcountry Super Cub plane over Squaw Valley, often getting phone texts from friends on the slopes as they spot him.
He is part of a group of pilots that do backcountry, bush style of flying in the Sierras and around Lake Tahoe.
"Many people look at aviation as a way from getting one place to another," said Sloane. "We look at it as exploring places you wouldn’t be able to do without an airplane."
The bush planes need just 100 feet to land and take off which makes even the most remote locations accessible. Sloane says he can land on reservoirs, gravel bars, and get to the backcountry to ski, fish or mountain bike.
Sloane recently landed on Stampede Reservoir.
"There used to be 1,000 ways to have fun in a plane, now there are 1,001," said Sloane after that adventure.
He built his plane with help from a builder, and it weighs just 1,190 pounds (compared to a normal small plane which is 3,000 pounds). They did all they could to make the plane as light as possible. It was completed it November of 2015, and so far Sloane has 200 hours of flying it.
Sloane said a lot of people think his type of flying is more dangerous than flying on a traditional airplane, but he said it isn't, just requires a different kind of training. He and the group of pilots that attempted the record are all trained to fly bush style.
While he doesn't take backcountry tours out commercially, its something he and the others are discussing and exploring. He teaches flying at the Truckee, Calif., airport.
Sloane's wife Nicolle, and children (Luke, 6, and Maddie, 8) all love to fly but its Kevin who is in the air often. “My wife is very understanding of my habit,” said Sloane. "They absolutely love it," Sloane said of his kids in the air. "They can’t legally fly solo until 16, but when they hit that age they'll be ready to go."
