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A day in the life of a Kenmore Air seaplane pilot

His office has pontoons and a cockpit, and his view is better than yours.
Credit: Erickson, Anne
Kenmore Air's Chief Pilot Chuck Perry ushering guests aboard 'Maggie', also known as number 50.

You can't blame Chuck Perry for humming a bit as he reports to work.

After all, his office is a seaplane.

'Life as a seaplane pilot in Puget Sound is about as good as it gets," said Perry.

Kenmore Air's chief pilot got his license 30 years ago in Ketchikan Alaska, and got hooked on planes with pontoons.

He took our crew flight-seeing, and explained the attraction.

"There is something about just flying floats that is very different from flying airplanes on wheels. We fly into an organic runway with boats and people and paddle boarders and kayaks, and the decision making process in seaplane flying is quite a bit higher than flying a wheeled plane into Boeing Field, so that part of it keeps us very engaged," Perry said.

Chuck often has the pleasure of flying Evening's crew in 'Maggie', a De Havilland Turbo Otter painted with the Evening logo.

"One of the perks to being the Chief Pilot is I do get to fly some of our more famous customers around. One of them is Dave Matthews," said Perry.

But the real perk is getting to see the Pacific Northwest from this angle.

"It doesn't get old. It really is a good time," he said. "We still have pilots who have been here for 20 plus years, who on the morning departure out of here, will head down the lake, and get out a camera and take a picture of Mount Rainier."

Evening is your guide to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Watch it weeknights at 7:30 on KING-TV Ch. 5 or streaming live on KING5.com. Connect with Evening via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Email.

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