Learn Bush & Floatplane Flying in Kenai Peninsula (Trail Lake / Moose Pass)

What you can realistically reach: Most courses require an existing private pilot licence (PPL) first — you are adding a rating or endorsement, not learning to fly from zero. A 5–6 day seaplane course (~10–15 flight hours) earns you a legitimate FAA ASES rating and a genuine taste of bush technique, but it is a licence to keep learning, not backcountry mastery. Real off-airport, mountain-pass and remote-water competence takes years of mentored hours; a short course gets you certified and safe to practise, not seasoned.

Adventure Bush Flying Course

Five to six days on Trail Lake in the Alaskan backcountry, flying a SuperCub on floats one-on-one with an instructor toward your FAA single-engine seaplane (SES) rating — with a designated pilot examiner on site. Fifteen flight hours pair rating training with real backcountry exploration and fishing, so you earn the credential at the literal source of floatplane culture.

Next sessions: Float and backcountry technique on Trail Lake · Mountain-pass and off-water operations · Rating checkride with on-site DPE · Backcountry exploration and fishing flights

Alaska is the undisputed source of bush and floatplane flying, and this is the flagship course — a legitimate FAA rating earned in the world's heartland of the craft, exactly ET's certified-skills-at-the-source model.

Course only $5,995; $6,695 with cabin lodging. Checkride/examiner fees separate.

Schools in Kenai Peninsula (Trail Lake / Moose Pass)

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• Alaska Float Ratings
  Adventure Bush Flying Course — 5–6 days, 15 flight hours, SuperCub on floats, toward FAA SES rating
  Floatplane and backcountry training on Trail Lake, Kenai Peninsula, in a SuperCub on floats; a designated pilot examiner (DPE) is on site. Course tiers run from a 4-hour refresher up to the 15-hour Adventure Bush Flying Course that pairs rating training with backcountry exploration and fishing.
  ★ 4.7/5 · 13 reviews on TripAdvisor ↗ — verify it yourself
  https://alaskafloatratings.com/

The room

• Group — 1:1 dual instruction in the aircraft (single student, single instructor)
• A normal day — 1–2 flights/day plus ground briefings; weather-dependent, with intensive seasonal courses running roughly June–September in the northern hemisphere
• Who comes — Licensed PPL+ pilots adding a seaplane rating, tailwheel or backcountry/mountain-canyon skills; a few schools also build hours toward the licence itself

Want the rest — a normal day, first hour to last? Ask the school; a serious one answers in two minutes.

The credential

FAA Single-Engine Seaplane (ASES) rating + tailwheel / backcountry mountain-canyon competency · Certifying body: FAA (USA) / Transport Canada / national CAAs (e.g. CAA New Zealand)

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Bush & Floatplane Flying

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.