RE: Why not very many tri float designs?
A couple of years ago I purchased the hot timer/old timer float set up from seaplanesupply.com, but I see he no longer offers these floats today. My guess is supply and demand. My personal experience was mixed as it took some time and many attempts to finally figure out the correct prop pitch and tail float set up to get the plane to "pull" up from the tail float and onto the two front floats. Once planned up, it was a very positive experience. Compared to a traditional float set up, this set up will drench the tail end section of the plane and all control surfaces. I found my elevator and part of the horizontal stab had to be repaired after the first summer, but a lot of this was the learning curve mentioned above. I kept my front floats parallel with the fuse and it worked just fine. Good luck...Hutch...