SHORELINES

At his home on Lake Harris, a launch ramp leads from point B is often much quicker by boat than on land. That's the water up to what would normally be a boathouse. true in spades if you have a floatplane. May can fly to Because of size restrictions, May designed the steel- the other end of the lake in about five minutes, versus 30 beamed structure with cutaway walls to accommodate the minutes in a fast boat. plane's wings. It takes only a few minutes for an electric winch to lower the Cub on its wheeled platform into the "My wife and I will fly over to Lake Martin for lunch at Kowaliga," he says. "Pilots call that a $100 hamburger." Floatplane pilots use their bird's-eye perspective to avoid lake, ready for adventure. Flying his floatplane at an altitude of around 500 feet (a far cry from his workday altitudes of 30,000 feet or more), May surveys a kind of scale-model world, a topographic power lines and surface obstacles, from tree stumps and floating debris to powerboats, skiers and kayakers. "But we don't have as much control as people assume, map come to life. The scenic, sinuous lake, swelling at the especially on the water," says Charles Welden, a Lake Martin convergence of the Little and Big Tallapoosa rivers, is a resident whose WaterWings Seaplane School certifies land tableau of tidy houses and docks, wooded shores, boat wakes pilots to "fly wet." etched in white and miniature fishermen. "It's a great way to get the lay of the land," the pilot "If we don't see clear water, we'll take another pass," he says. As watercraft, the planes have retractable rudders says as he banks over the Alabama Highway 48 bridge. on their pontoons and typically carry paddles and life "Sometimes, I'll find myself flying not far from bald or jackets. So-called "amphibious" planes have pontoons with golden eagles or above deer swimming across a cove or wild retractable wheels and can also use regular runways. As a boy, Welden yearned for a Cessna 150 floatplane turkeys feeding in a clearing." Any lake-dweller knows that getting from point A to like the one belonging to Lake Martin developer Ben Above: Photo by Bernard Troncale — Bob May's 1946 Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser prepares for takeoff on Lake Harris. 16 S hor el i ne s | 2013 Vol:4

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