Seaplanes make a splash at Lake Mary Ronan

First, the distant roar of engines. Next, a speck in the skies above scenic Lake Mary Ronan that grew larger as it approached the manicured lawns and shoreline of the lake's eponymous lodge and resort.

One quick circle and the plane was headed for an encounter with the lake.

It was an expected, if not eagerly anticipated, arrival by the crowd of nearly 100 float plane enthusiasts and curious Lodge guests, along with some startled but thrilled campers from down the forest covered road that leads to the stately lodge and its spacious array of boat slips and docking facilities.

As contact between the belly of the plane, in this case a Grumman Mallard vintage 1951, with the water grew, so did the rooster tail of spray. The landing of the shiny, white amphibious airplane marked the beginning of what was marketed as the Aug. 13 "The Seaplane Invasion on Lake Mary Ronan."

After completing a successful landing on the lake’s surface, the elegantly preserved Mallard, a twin-engine plane capable of carrying up to 10 passengers in its cabin, circled and slowly plowed through the water and headed to the Lodge’s beaches and dock facilities.

“This is a beautiful day for this,” said self-described “campground host” Dean McGinnis. “It is good to see this many people come out for this event”.

More than a dozen float planes of various size and makes were on display on the Saturday morning, much to the delight of the group of spectators. The smaller planes were able to tie up at the lodge’s deck, while the larger planes like the Mallard and “Navy” emblazoned Grumman Widgeon dropped anchor several yards off shore. Crews and passengers were later ferried to the dock complex by one of the lodge’s large inflatable boats.

Loel Fenwick, who was a co-pilot in the Mallard floatplane, said flying the large aircraft and landing it on water is made easy by the plane itself.

“This is an easy plane to fly,” said Fenwick, who hails from South Africa and got his first ride in a “flying boat” several decades ago. “This plane is one of the classics that deserves to be cherished and preserved”.

Fenwicks’ grandson was the co-pilot of the Mallard and deferred to his grandfather’s experience and knowledge when asked about the plane.

Fenwick said the Mallard was built to airline standards when it was put into service.

“It is the most luxurious seaplane ever built,” he said proudly of the aircraft that was first flown in 1946 and used primarily by civilian airlines. It was manufactured from 1946-51. Only 59 were built before the plane morphed into the Grumman HU-16 Albatross.

Another Grumman plane, this one a beautifully restored and maintained Grumman G-44 Widgeon, was also among the amphibious airplanes that pulled up in front of the lodge. The Widgeon, which was originally designed for civilian market use, had its first flight in 1940. The plane was used by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Air Forces, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Navy during World War II. A total of 317 of the craft were built and used primarily for patrol and utility missions by the Navy and Coast Guard.

After the war, Grumman redesigned the aircraft to make it more suitable for civilian use. Changes were made to the hull to improve handling on the water and additional seating was installed by Grumman, which built 76 of the new version of the aircraft. The Albatross version also had a brush with “fame” when it starred as “de plane, de plane” in the Fantasy Island television program.

Ron Reeves and his wife Julia were camping just down the road at the Lake Mary Ronan State Park campground when the heard and saw the first plane fly over. They had heard campground talk of a seaplane fly-in so the San Diego couple hurried down to the lodge to check it out.

“This was a cool thing to do in the middle of our vacation,” Reeves said. “We were already having an awesome time at the campground, this just upped the ‘cool’ level for the whole trip”.

As part of the fly-in the lodge and resort featured live music and several food options throughout the day, much to the delight of the spectators and pilots.

“We’ve been here before and have always been so appreciative of how well we are treated while we are here,” said Fenwick. “This is a very special place to land among the places that can accommodate amphibious planes."

Following the event, most of the planes took off for Polson on Flathead Lake, headed for a fueling station that can accommodate the various models on display at the “Invasion."