Definition
A heavy, shaped device attached to a seaplane or floatplane by a line, designed to hold the aircraft in a fixed position on the water by digging into the bottom when lowered.
Plain English
A weighted hook on a rope that you drop into the water to keep a seaplane from drifting.
Context Anchor
Seen in tie-down procedures, balloon and airship ground handling, and aircraft securing instructions.
Derivation
From the Greek 'ankura,' meaning a hooked device for holding a vessel in place. The aviation use is borrowed directly from marine terminology, since seaplanes face the same drifting problem as boats.
Why Pilots Care
Proper anchoring prevents the aircraft from drifting into hazards, other vessels, or shallow areas, directly affecting safety during overnight mooring or engine-off periods on water.
Intuition Check
Do not think of anchor only as a heavy object dropped from a boat. In aviation, an anchor can be any strong device or fixed point used to hold an aircraft or equipment in place.
Example Sentence 1
After taxiing into the cove, the pilot lowered the anchor to hold the floatplane in place while the passengers unloaded.
Example Sentence 2
Before leaving the airplane overnight, she set the anchor firmly and checked that the rode had enough scope for the wind.