apprentice 15e
03-20-2014, 01:17 PM
#1
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apprentice 15e
this is my first plane and i love to fly it i have to drive a good ways from where i live to fly it but i have a very large lake 50yards from my front door im confident enuff now in my flying that i think i can land and take off from water......i was told that if i can land and take off with my plane 5 times back to back on land without bouncing and make it nice and smooth that im ready for the water .....so my question is when i add floats to my apprentice (using float kit from horizon hobbies) will i have to balance the plane? ive never done this before....and my second question is i have a standard 11x8 prop should i switch to a 3 blade 9x7 because of added weight or a different prop or just use the one i have
03-20-2014, 01:45 PM
#2
the stock prop should work just fine. (great choice of airplane by the way 
)
YES you will need to at the very least check the CG, you'll likely need to add some noseweight.
IF you do, add the weight to the front of the pontoons, (floats) this way you won't need to move any weights around when going from floats to wheels or vice versa.
one other thing... if at all possible, make sure to use / have/ install a water rudder on the floats. makes water handling MUCH easier.
one last thing you may or may not have considered.. (JUST in case) think about how you'll retrieve the airplane in the unlikely event it tips over / ends up 'dead in the water'
(boat/fishing pole/waterwings )
good luck!
)YES you will need to at the very least check the CG, you'll likely need to add some noseweight.
IF you do, add the weight to the front of the pontoons, (floats) this way you won't need to move any weights around when going from floats to wheels or vice versa.
one other thing... if at all possible, make sure to use / have/ install a water rudder on the floats. makes water handling MUCH easier.
one last thing you may or may not have considered.. (JUST in case) think about how you'll retrieve the airplane in the unlikely event it tips over / ends up 'dead in the water'
(boat/fishing pole/waterwings
) good luck!
03-21-2014, 09:09 AM
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don't forget.. YOU FLY TO A LANDING ON THE WATER. don't cut the throttle and land. try to use a little" LITTLE" at there will be a sudden resistance as it meets.
you'll be fine. its fun.
if in doubt.. take off and land off smooth grass first.. or wet grass in the morning... with the floats.
watch some youtube videos of them landing on water
you'll be fine. its fun.
if in doubt.. take off and land off smooth grass first.. or wet grass in the morning... with the floats.
watch some youtube videos of them landing on water
Last edited by Tampaflyer; 03-21-2014 at 09:12 AM.
03-22-2014, 05:05 AM
#4
Welcome to the wonderful world of float flying nervegrater
The object concerning center of gravity when converting to floats is to maintain the exact same center of gravity after the floats are installed as it was when flying on wheels. And as noted by Jim B. above most installations after floats are installed require some weight added forward to return to that same CG when on wheels.
Now a key point in this situation is do not add the weight to the airplane in the nose. Instead add the weight to the bows of one or both floats. Its easy to just drill or cut out a little chamber for shot to adjust the CG and simply add a monocoat or tape patch over the hole. This is the one time I say it is preferable to add weight ballast rather than moving stuff around inside the airplane because now if you have done it as above it will not be necessary to rebalance the airplane every time you change between floats and wheels. Cheers.
John
The object concerning center of gravity when converting to floats is to maintain the exact same center of gravity after the floats are installed as it was when flying on wheels. And as noted by Jim B. above most installations after floats are installed require some weight added forward to return to that same CG when on wheels.Now a key point in this situation is do not add the weight to the airplane in the nose. Instead add the weight to the bows of one or both floats. Its easy to just drill or cut out a little chamber for shot to adjust the CG and simply add a monocoat or tape patch over the hole. This is the one time I say it is preferable to add weight ballast rather than moving stuff around inside the airplane because now if you have done it as above it will not be necessary to rebalance the airplane every time you change between floats and wheels. Cheers.
John
Last edited by JohnBuckner; 03-22-2014 at 05:07 AM.
03-22-2014, 05:57 AM
#5
This is the one time I say it is preferable to add weight ballast rather than moving stuff around inside the airplane because now if you have done it as above it will not be necessary to rebalance the airplane every time you change between floats and wheels. Cheers.
John
John
What John and Jim say is 100% correct for a plane that you intend to regularly switch between floats and wheels . Now , on the other hand , if this is gonna be a full time floatplane , well then shifting stuff around or even maybe a larger motor/lipo would be preferable to adding dead weight . Remember , NO plane is good at everything , and this is exactly what makes purpose building so much fun . PS , the advice about the water rudder is good advice also , since you'll be surprised (alarmed , actually) at how fast you have to get it moving while trying to taxi using only the normal (air) rudder .
06-01-2014, 06:21 PM
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Hello guys .. Sharing this pics from my rebuild apprentince . New tail and of course the color .It flied perfect . The only issue I have is the ugly white rubber bands . Any suggestion on where to get some blue ones or how to attach the wing different way ??
