Advanced Wilderness Seaplane Flight Courses
NOTE: Dr. DeRemer retired from teaching these wilderness courses after the 2001 season. The course descriptions are left in hopes that it may assist other instructors and pilots in designing their own instruction.
For seventeen years, Dr. DeRemer's summer months (May 15 - August 15) were occupied teaching advanced wilderness seaplane flight courses, one-on-one, to pilots from all over the world. He no longer offers the courses, but most of what he taught is contained in his three books on seaplane topics.
Level I
This course, usually conducted on the lakes of northwestern Minnesota, reviewed and improved skills needed to take the second course. A wide variety of seaplane knowledge and skill topics were covered. 3 hrs ground school, 5 hrs in aircraft
Level II
This course featured flight north of 50 degrees, into an area of many challenging lakes and rivers where learning opportunities abounded, with two nights at Canadian outpost camps. Typically, the level I and II courses were taken concurrently, which required four full days if the weather cooperated (it usually did). It was not recommended that the level III course be taken immediately following completion of the first two courses. Completing the level II course qualified the pilot for SEAWINGS certification and the Biennial Flight Review. 6-8 hrs ground school, 10-12 hrs in aircraft
Level III
This course provided the highest level of experience in remote operations of a seaplane. If needed, this course was modified to meet the special needs of the customer/pilot, providing limitless opportunities to learn wilderness operations with a highly-experienced instructor alongside. The course content was usually covered on a 4-5 day trip with three nights in the sub-arctic (north of 58 degrees) with minimal equipment, but in comfort. This extremely remote area flown into is in the tundra north of the tree line. It offers some of the finest fishing in the north; yes, there was time to fish! This course was also taught in other remote areas of the world. 9 hrs classroom-in-the-wilderness, 25 hrs in airplane; only available by special arrangement