Summer’s Almost Here! State-of-the-Sector Report for LSA Seaplanes

One of the most active sectors in light aviation is LSA seaplanes. We’ve seen ups and downs, arrivals and departures of LSA seaplane producers. Admittedly, these flying machines are more complex than current-day LSA. For example, amphibs need retractable landing gear and substantial boat hulls able to take water loads.

LSA seaplanes constitute a highly fluid market yet we can see clues suggesting what might be ahead for some of the main brands. With summertime approaching, this State-of-the-Sector article attempts to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape (or waterscape).

We’ll first look at two high-end entries that have been in the news and conclude with present LSA seaplanes and their status in the market.

Vickers Wave

Writing for AVweb (part of Firecrown, which also owns Flying and ByDanJohnson.com plus several other publications), my fellow aviation journalist Russ Niles stated, “New Zealand-based Vickers Aircraft Company says it intends to make its first delivery of the Wave two-place amphibious aircraft to a U.S. customer in April of 2025.” Its Wave LSA seaplane has been in development for more than a decade.

Russ continued, “Founder Paul Vickers said the company is now raising capital to fund the push to begin deliveries on its backlog.”

Vickers added, “The plane has finished its flight testing and shook out with a 120-knot cruise and useful load of 750 pounds with a Rotax 916 iS pushing it along.”

Paul said the company is planning to manufacture Wave in the U.S. “Most current investors are Americans,” Paul noted. A U.S. customer will receive the first Wave.

Wave has had a long development cycle but their timing with Mosaic approaching next year looks prescient.

Regulatory Alert: Rumors are flying that Mosaic may need an extension. We have nothing confirmed at this goes online but the rushed-to-market regulatory proposal needed plenty of work so a delay is hardly surprising. Nonetheless, many pilots may find this news disappointing.

Icon A5

Another colleague Meg Godlewski wrote for Plane & Pilot magazine (also part of Firecrown), “Icon selected… a stalking horse bidder” after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. She clarified, “A stalking horse bid is defined as an initial offer on the assets of a bankrupt company” to establish a baseline price for assets of the company. The stalking horse is SG Investment America Inc.

“The decision to designate a stalking horse bidder underscores our commitment to ensuring the long-term viability of our business,” said Jerry Meyer, CEO of Icon. “We believe that this proactive approach will help employees, partners, and customers have confidence in our ongoing operations, enabling the company to achieve the best possible outcome.”

Icon reported that during their bankruptcy process the California company will continue to build, sell, and service its amphibious A5 LSA seaplane. The company noted the bankruptcy sale is expected to continue through late May 2024.

Icon announced more promising news in February this year.

Latest Update: According to Law360, on May 8, 2024, a Delaware bankruptcy judge gave final approval to Icon Aircraft’s $9 million in Chapter 11 financing and a June asset auction.

Progressive Aerodyne Searey

In the LSA seaplane space, one brand has performed far above all other brands. I refer to Progressive Aerodyne’s Searey, with more than 600 aircraft flying and a loyal user base of pilots. Most built their Searey and until the U.S. factory ceased operations some months back, that still comprised a share of their enterprise.

However, Searey won SLSA acceptance by FAA 12 years ago and since then the Tavares, Florida builder supplied more fully-built Searey aircraft than kits, according to one former leader of the company.

Unfortunately the story began to develop cloudy skies after it was sold to a Chinese owner a few years after earning a Special LSA certificate. Like many large enterprises in the Asian country, Searey’s owner is a conglomerate with a sprawling enterprise. In fact, that may be part of the problem. This relatively small aircraft-building enterprise is hidden among the many challenges Chinese corporations face today. Regretfully, this means a revival of the operation is stuck.

According to a party I know to be reliable, new buyers are ready and have proposed to reacquire the onetime American company. Even original designer Kerry Ritcher is said to be part of the group interested in taking over from the Chinese. While plans remain uncertain, an American group could quickly breathe life back into a moribund brand. In recent years, the company’s appearance at airshows was modest and unenthusiastic. Over the last year, no one has answered the phones. Now the factory is shuttered.

Under lock without access, Progressive Aerodyne is reportedly packed into containers in their former factory, while the rent continues unpaid. It looks dire, but a moderately-well-funded investor group could get up and running fairly quickly, it was imagined. The parts business alone has sustained the company and offers a route back to normal operation; reviving that would be a relief to current Searey owners. Action will depend on current ownership making a decision; when that may happen is not known.

Yet combined with the original talent that created this popular LSA seaplane, new investors could quickly brighten those cloudy skies.

Brazil’s Seamax

This Brazilian entry made a literal splash when it first arrived in the USA at one of the first Sebring LSA Expo events almost 20 years ago. Pilots with discerning eyes admired its clean, effective engineering. Approaching 200 have reportedly been delivered worldwide.

The lightest-of-SLSA-seaplanes Seamax proved to be a strong performer, looked small yet was spacious inside, and had many clever design features that earned affirmative nods from those who examined an M-22 closely.

Unfortunately, as reported here, the skies over Brazil’s Seamax also darkened but in this business case, a fix is less certain.

“The company owes several million dollars to creditors and customers,” a reliable source told me. “Employees have voiced concerns and some are taking action.” Seamax leaders have reportedly managed to keep their core team using “informal payments.”

“In North America, the Brazilian company allegedly has more than a dozen orders to fulfill, to customers that have made substantial deposits.” The prognosis for those deliveries is unknown, though the company reportedly delivered one aircraft to America recently using unorthodox channels.

While “buyer beware” is always good advice, one thing I’ve learned from decades of reporting on this particular sector of aviation: Never write off a worthy design as dead and gone. I’ve seen many popular aircraft such as Seamax return after internal reforms or under new leadership..

Reader Notice: Seamax from Brazil is very different from Super Petrel from Brazil. The latter company has built their base steadily from operations in Florida. Super Petrel USA is alive and well, delivering aircraft including their newest XP model. They are holding events and seminars for owners. Company owner Rodrigo Scoda from Scoda Aeronautica was recently in the U.S. in support of American operations.

Aero Adventure,
Least Drama—Lowest Price

One company of the six mentioned here has experienced the least turbulence in their business. This is Aero Adventure, longtime producer of the Aventura I & II line. The two-place model is available as a kit-built aircraft or you can buy a fully-built one with Special LSA credentials. If you want more power and are willing to build a kit, they offer the S-17 Adventura.

Let’s do this up front: the price of a ready-to-ship kit is $59,900. It’s available today.

“Due to enhancements in our production capabilities,” Aero Adventure stated in a recent mailing, “we produced an additional kit beyond our standard production last month (April, 2024), which is now available for purchase!”

Compare a low price and immediate delivery to any of the aircraft above. It seems like an earlier time when people could actually afford stuff and dealers had products in-stock, ready to deliver. Of course, you’ll have to add an engine, avionics, and you might want to doll up the interior but the base price is righteous.

For not much more than $100,000 you could be airborne in a brand-new, well-proven seaplane from a stable manufacturer that is growing their enterprise. Given almost everything you buy has doubled in price during the 2020s, Aventura seems a genuine bargain in 2024.

If you believe it’s worth a closer look, contact the DeLand, Florida company for a more complete description of the still-available kit (as of post time) or learn more about fully-built Aventura choices.

If interested, here are details…

• Aventura II Kit — ready to ship!
• Two place
• New panel (larger); factory can set it up for you and send it ready for installation.
• All the composite parts go with primer PU
• Dual controls
• Fly doors on or off
• Quick assembly time of 250 hours with basic tools
• All hardware and everything needed to assemble the kit included
• Electric flaps
• 23-gallon (87-liter) fuel tank
• Sails in red; we can customize as you wish
• All made from 6061-T6 anodized aluminum
• Manual retract, standard; electric retract, optional
• Wheels, brakes, tires, and tubes.
• Printed assembly manual
• Possibility to ship it as a “quick build” version
• Possibility to have the factory prepare all the electrical stuff

Atol & LN-3 from Europe,
Floatplanes and More

The seaplane market is by far the strongest in America though such aircraft are used in other countries, albeit generally with less waterway access than Yankee pilots enjoy. Nonetheless, overseas producers do target the U.S. market while adding sales to other nations.

I have often written about many seaworthy aircraft and invite you to use our Advanced Search to read more

In addition to these boat-hulled seaplanes, pilots can also choose any number of land aircraft that can be fitted with floats. However, that is a whole other story… and again, you can search this website where you will find articles on almost every aircraft in this space.