September 2012
Europe is always a popular travel destination. Here’s a unique way to see the sights, including waterfront properties visited by Julius Caesar!
We were flying through a high mountain pass, a twisting maze of switchbacks across the top of the still-snowing Alps, a pass that may have been the same route Hannibal selected to bring elephants into battle with the Roman Empire. Ahead, the sprawling coastline of Lake Como came into view. The deep blue water was encircled by castles and villas and resorts extraordinaire.
Lake Como has been a celebrated destination for literally thousands of years for people like Julius Caesar to Hollywood celebrities. But the best Lake Como experience is not reserved for emperors or Hollywood stars—that experience is available to a pilot with a seaplane.
Cesare Baj dropped the first notch of flaps on the Lake Buccaneer as we made our final approach onto Lake Como. A few seconds later, we were floating in front of a villa that recently sold for more than $30 million. We weren’t invited, but we weren’t intruding either. We were enjoying Lake Como. “This is why we like to fly floats,” he said with a very big smile.
Baj is a member of the 75-plus-year-old Aero Club Como on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, near the border with Switzerland. With the exception of the German occupation and then the Allied occupation during World War II, the club has proudly maintained itself as one of the most famous seaplane bases in the world.
In addition to offering rides and instruction, Aero Club Como is one of the few remaining places in the world where you can rent a floatplane to fly solo. And that makes for some remarkable opportunities. “People take our floatplanes all over the place,” Baj said proudly.
Lake Como itself offers hundreds of miles of shoreline, with countless villas (one belonging to American actor George Clooney) and resorts (including the original Bellagio). Also within easy range from Aero Club Como are the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea and the cities of Florence, Venice and Milan. Samedan Airport (LSZS), one of the highest and most challenging airports in Europe, is a mere 35 minutes away.
Baj had just returned from a flying/floating adventure to the Greek Isles. “It was like that Frank Sinatra song,” he said of his trip, then sang, “It’s unforgettable …”.
Aero Club Como has more than 100 local patrons and three times that number who come from around the world to fly floatplanes. The nonprofit club charges 150 Euros for membership which gives you access to the whole fleet of seaplanes, from Cubs to the Lake Buccaneer, which the club claims is the only flying boat for rent in the world.
Pilots of all skill levels come to take advantage of the opportunity, even pilots with zero seaplane time. “Many pilots come here just to learn how to fly on the water,” Baj said. The club asks that a pilot fax them a copy of his/her license and medical so they can have you “validated” to fly in Italy before you arrive.
Once you are there, a local instructor will acquaint you with the Italian flight rules and regulations, and you’ll begin your lessons flying the 180 hp Super Cub on floats. Experienced pilots may need little more than a single engine aircraft checkout before they are good to go.
A successful checkout does not come immediately with carte blanche access to all of Europe’s waterways. Though Aero Club Como pilots log an aggregate 4,000-plus hours a year of float flying, the group has an outstanding safety record it’s eager to keep.
Newcomers—even high-time pilots— are first encouraged to visit any number of highlights along Lake Como’s shoreline. After that, they have to work their way toward earning any serious cross-country privileges.
“You can have 20,000 hours in a 747, but you haven’t learned to think about what happens when you turn the engine off on a floatplane and start to drift toward the shore…
“Where are you going to end up? If you don’t have a lot of experience with seaplanes, it might not end up the way you imagine,” Baj pointed out.
He said even high-time float pilots can become complacent and turn into an accident waiting to happen. “There is data from studies in the United States that show that safety begins to occur after a pilot has accumulated about 500 hours or more of seaplane time.”
“When I’m doing an aircraft checkout, I watch the pilot’s eyes. If he keeps his eyes in the cockpit very long, I know he’s not a seaplane pilot!” Baj said.
But if sightseeing across southern Europe is high on your list, one shortcut is to take along a safety pilot. Aero Club Como will “loan” you an experienced pilot with lots of local knowledge at no additional charge. “Recently an attorney from Los Angeles came here and took one of our planes and a safety pilot to do business in Tuscany and Venice. I’m sure it is a business trip he’ll always remember!”
Aero Club Como also organizes supervised group trips to a variety of other locations around Italy. There is never a shortage of participants.
And in June, on the summer solstice, the club puts on an annual celebration. All the club’s planes are flying until the last bit of sunlight disappears behind the mountains, usually well past 10 in the evening. Hundreds of people come to enjoy the sights, the flying, lots of food and sometimes even some live music.
What draws so many pilots to Aero Club Como is the organization’s unmatched legacy, along with its idyllic setting at one of Europe’s most beautiful locations, Lake Como. Julius Caesar was one of the first of the celebrities to visit the lake, and even today, descendants of families who came there during the height of the Roman Empire still live in the terra-cotta houses and villages that surround the region. Hollywood luminaries are common in the restaurants and villas, and activities around the lakeshore regularly appear in the international press.
And to the locals, activities at Aero Club Como don’t seem unusual. Float flying began on the lake in 1913, and residents are accustomed to seeing seaplanes taxi across the narrow street from the club’s hangar and continue down into the water. The club has an extensive collection of photos and information about the history of flying floats on the lake. That heritage alone is worth the time spent to visit Aero Club Como.
But most who come are interested in stick time. Pilots with a passion for float flying make time to return to Aero Club Como year after year. “We want to continue this tradition,” Baj said, gesturing to the seaplanes around him.
Pilots who want to earn their sea wings in one of the aviation’s most celebrated shrines make arrangements to train at Aero Club Como year-round. They report that the club’s time-tested approach is more comprehensive than the garden-variety seaplane courses often scheduled over a couple of days.
“If you just want to get a signature in your logbook, you should go and do the two-day course,” Baj said. “If you want to be a seaplane pilot, you should come here.”
Screenwriter, philanthropist and good guy Lyn Freeman has been writing aviation articles since before John Glenn joined the Marines. He is the former editor of Plane & Pilot magazine, founder and current chairperson of the Build-a-Plane organization, a master scuba diver, a championship table tennis player and an all-around Renaissance man. Send questions or comments to editor@piperflyer.org.
