Story Since 1915, the sound of aircraft engines has been heard overhead at the Lazaretto grounds in Essington, PA. It starting as entirely Curtiss flying boats in 1915 to eventually being drowned out by the peculiar sound of big jet engines thrusting passengers from Philadelphia to all parts of the world. On October 22, 2022, […]
Seaplane Stories
Ramp cleaning 2022
It’s amazing what a year of weather and river debris does to the ramp over the course of a year since we last did a major cleanup. Thanks to the highway crew for clearing debris and to our good friends at Grannetino Trucking for bringing in the big guns to smooth the ramp.
Splash-In 2021
Update September 5: Despite post hurricane Ida river conditions which made seaplane operations impossible, we had a nice picnic, toy seaplane launching, and group windsock raising. About 30 folks, including local pilots, friends and local residents participated in a picnic lunch. The day also included an unrelated morning flyby of a C130 over the Lazaretto […]
My First Splash In
My first Splash-in (by Sarah Wolfe – Aeronautical Engineering student, Purdue University) I have only been involved in aviation for a few years, but funnily enough, I can’t ever remember a time when I haven’t been fascinated by seaplanes. Every time I watch one takeoff I am entranced by the way they glide gracefully across […]
Splash-in 2019
June Splash-in at Essington, PA by Robert Dant The first little heat wave of the summer hit Philadelphia just prior to June 29, the date for the annual seaplane splash-in at Essington, Pennsylvania. Hot conditions and afternoon storms were forecast, but the morning start helped keep the worst of the heat in check. Six seaplanes, […]
ICON A5 Demo Rides
Icon Aircraft visited Essington as part of their east coast sales tour on August 22. They had a reception at Wings Field the night before, and scheduled demo rides at the Philly Seaplane Base in the afternoon of the 22nd. The Icon team had no issues utilizing the floating doc for their operations. Without sponsons, […]
Tropic Ocean Air visits Essington
Tropic Ocean Airways (link) provides scheduled seaplane service from Florida to the Bahamas. They also offer charter service and are trying to expand to the New York and mid-Atlantic area. On August 3, 2018, they landed at the Essington Seaplane Base to pick up a passenger for a flight to the New York area. The […]
Getting my Merit Badge from Commander Mi...
During 1966, give or take a year or so, I can’t remember exactly, I was a young strapping passionate aviator around 12 years young: a Boy Scout. Many times, I passing by the Philadelphia Seaplane Base riding my bicycle from Norwood to head down ‘Old Rat Road’ behind Westinghouse (where my Father worked for 35 […]
Stopping in for fuel
The seaplane base does not have fuel, but if someone needs some, we can arrange to ferry some jerry cans from a local airport. On May 3, 2017, a Cessna 172 was being ferried from Sarasota, Florida to Orilla, Quebec, a 1200NM trip. Brendan was ferrying the plane for its owner who uses it in Florida […]
Splash-in 2017
August 6, 2017 Friends of the Essington Seaplane Base gathered for a splash-in on the Delaware River. The weather was ideal for a picnic and for seaplane operations. The most dramatic change to the site is the major refurbishment of the Lazaretto house. The massive porch has been demolished and the trees have been taken down. But, the […]