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ORIGINAL: THERCAV8R

HI All,
I have tried all types of land models on floats off water with mixed results. The Neptune is the best first experience I have had with a float plane. Just point it into the wind hold just a little up pressure on the stick and advance the throtle. It is just like taking off a trainer on a runway. The tip floats will keep the wingtips from digging in if the wing is a little low on landing approachs or during take offs. An os .46 or similar engine is plenty of power. The only thing I did was replace the plastic nose cone with a balsa block. I cut one close to the shape of the plastic and epoxied it to the front and sanded it to shape then covered with monokote. The only problems I have are with the covering. If i had it to do over I would completely recover the model with monokote because the MFG covering method is lacking in overlaping enough around the leading edges of the wing and tail and the covering will seperate after many flights. I had the Covering come off the uper part of the stab this weekend. It did not cause a crash but acted like a parachute and slowed the model down to almost stall speed. I had gone over the model out of the box with and iron and thought I had sealed all the edges and shrank the covering all over. I also had some of the covering come loose from the bottom of the hull. If the covering is sealed and the wing saddle is sealed I have not had any leaks after a fulll days flyiing. Also the radio area has plenty of room to mount all the radio gear up off the bottom so if any small amount of warter gets in it wont get to the servos, rx and battery. Also it is a really good idea to wrap the rx and battery with a plastic bag and seal it with tape. I have had this model for 4 years and it flies great and is very stable. The water rudder is very effective while taxing. However after landing the model must slow to taxing speed before it will take effect. The rudder is out of the water when the model is on the step and will skid across the water when it is on the step planed out when rudder correction is applied. The model Lands with trainer like charistics. It flies like a sport / pattern model and can perform point rolls and stall turns and loops very well. I have flown most of the pattern manuvers with ease. Also a note here about the firewall. Make sure that the joints are reglued with epoxy and I used some #4 sheetmetal screws through the firewall into the back braces to insure it would not come off again. I let the model plop to the surface of the water from about 2 feet and the engine weight pulled the firewall loose. Also something to keep in mind when choosing an engine. A larger engine weighs more and the engine pod is designed for a 45 sized engine. Beleive me there is plenty of power in a .45 sized 2 cycle engine. I am using a OS 46SF and have plenty of power to do most anything and have a lot of speed. The only other thing I might do is add support struts to the stab. during high speed dives then rolling you can see the stab twist. This is a good honest seaplane and works in smooth water and well as moderately rough water. I paid 139.00 for mine 4 years ago and they are selling on rcu now for 119.00. At that price it is the biggest bang for the buck out there for water flying.
Later Thercav8r