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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/16/2012 2:19 AM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		hi, this thread probly isn't active anymore but here are directions for making floats:
http://flyinglindy.homestead.com/skisandfloats.html

i'm going to try and make a pair for my avistar.


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/16/2012 2:43 AM   
Charlie P.



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Status: offline 		Let us know how they work out.  Never owned an Avistar but have "guested" one and seen several locally and they seem like a good candidate for floats.

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/18/2012 12:05 AM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		how thick do you think i should make my floats? they will be 4 inches wide



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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/18/2012 3:02 AM   
Charlie P.



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Status: offline 		According to the link you listed: 8% of the float length . . . which is 80% of the fuselage length.





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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/18/2012 8:42 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		woops i missed that! thanks! here is some more good info on float making: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147465
it is about using the same directions but it shows you how to make them look more relistic. also on the 3rd page there is a few posts on floats for an Avistar. i will make mine this weekend after my final exams are done.


< Message edited by the builder -- 6/19/2012 12:23 AM >

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/25/2012 10:12 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		i have both floats built and painted in the color scheme of an avistar. i just have to order some music wire to connect them to my plane!


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/26/2012 5:31 PM   
JohnBuckner



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quote:

ORIGINAL: the builder

i just have to order some music wire to connect them to my plane!




builder may I suggest that the old methods of struts using piano wire and collors etc. is quite antiquated and it tends to promote flexing on those attachment blocks with the collors. This does tend to cause various problems on the water.

This method is also very tedious to do. A much better method and more 'scale' if you will, far more rigid and can be built in a very short time is simply soft aluminum strap from the hardware store. Not hardened, such as in a few of mine in the pictures.

I use to do nothing but soldered wire types previously but now am far happier with the strap types.

For your Avistar I would use 3/4 inch wide by 1/8th inch thick for the main struts and spreaders. For the drag struts, 1/2 inch wide by 1/16th thick is fine.


John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/27/2012 5:56 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		i would like to do that but i don't know how to attach the floats to my plane if i do it though. why i was going to use piano wire was because it can just be put back into the regular mounting wholes.


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/27/2012 7:02 PM   
JohnBuckner



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quote:

ORIGINAL: the builder

i would like to do that but i don't know how to attach the floats to my plane if i do it though. why i was going to use piano wire was because it can just be put back into the regular mounting wholes.




Attaching the floats to existing main gear fuselage blocks of a tricyle gear airplane is a really bad plan. And even worse for the forward struts to come together and insert into the nose gear steering block.

Everything is in the wrong place, this applies to virtually every trainer out there. The best place to position forward and rear struts is to forward part of the wing compartment and the rear part, in other words at the forward and rear bulkheads of the wing compartment. This positions the actual CG and step with the struts fore and aft of the CG as it should be.

Now to do this just cut and fit a 1/4 inch birch ply maybe an inch and a half wide to snuggle between the fuse sides and epoxie it just behind the forward bulkhead. Next cut one to fit just forward of the rear bulkhead and yes you may need to remove some servos and maybe not if so just do it.

Now the floats can simply be bolted to the bottom with two screws to a blind nut fore and aft or heck you can even just screw them on in a bind.

So plan the fore struts close to the fore and aft bulkheads of the airplane. Thats the airplane attachment but first you gotta position and plan for the struts to float attachment so the steps of the floats end up 1/4 inch 'behind' (keyword there) the center of gravity of the airplane where it flew well at when on wheels.

Also plan your struts or shim them to allow the tail to sit just slightly low when the floats are blocked up level on a table. In other words the wing is just slightly a few degrees positive incidence to the tops of the floats.

Do these things and you will be rewarded with a good flying float plane but more importantly one that behaves on the water quite well.

John



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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/27/2012 7:08 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		ok thanks. in the directions that i was folowing, it said to balence the plane with no fuel, should i do this? it seems to put alot of float infront of the prop.


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/27/2012 7:49 PM   
JohnBuckner



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Status: offline 		Fly the airplane on wheels first to find the best CG, that will typically be at or very close to the spars This is also typically about one quarter the chord back from the leading edge.

If the airplane flys well at this CG then the goal is to install the floats so that the CG will be still at the same point. The floats are always positioned first to the target CG then they almost always end up tailheavy and some lead is added to bows of the floats, not to the airplane.

Easy! If after the you install the floats that the CG has moved rearward from what it was on wheels (this is most common senario) then its a no brainer simply a bit of lead to the tip of the floats untill the CG comes back to what it was before on wheels. If ya like just cut a hole in the top of the float bows and drop it in then a patch of monocoat. Always add any lead to the floats so in that way you can change back and forth between wheels and floats without the need to rebalance every time, Simple.

John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/27/2012 9:59 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		thanks for the help i put the blocks in and i will get the aluminum soon. your way is alot eaiser, that music wire is so hard to bend! also, is that giant blue plane in the picture yours?


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/28/2012 3:26 AM   
JohnBuckner



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Status: offline 		Thanks builder and yes both are mine but the blue one is just my sixty sized old Schneider sport and the black floats are for my Quad Kadet not a giant but is stretched to 87inch span.

John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/29/2012 2:55 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		Nice planes, I had thought the blue plane was as tall as tables! I've got everything made and I'll try taxing it around my pond soon.

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/29/2012 5:17 PM   
JohnBuckner



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Status: offline 		Cool will be looking forward to hearing of your adventures and success

John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/30/2012 1:12 AM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		it sort of worked. the floats held the plane up perfectly and it taxied in a strait line perfectly, but after i had disconnected the servos i did not remember at what angle their arms had been at. i couldn't get the one for throttle to go on in the place i wanted so i just put full down trim on it and it looked good. i was going to fix it before i actualy flew the plane but i just wanted to try it out on the water. i had not mounted water rudders because i had read that when you pull back on the elevator and submerge the back ends of the floats you can just steer with the air rudder. this is compleatly false. the engine's idle was a little high and i could not lower it anymore with the trim so i just put it on the pond. the plane emidietly drove away from me at a gental speed and then the light breeze turned it around and my plane drove onto the beach. eaven though i had no control it was fine. i tried pushing the engine off button on my remote but the trim was back so far that nothing happened. simple fix i thought and pulled the fuel line off the carb. it still didn't shut off. next i tried running the engine at full which had worked before when a freinds finger had been cut open when the engine would not shut off on his plane. this still did not work. the engine ran for nearly a minut before it died. but when i had exelerated i tipped my remote into the prop and half of the intena was cut off and thrown somewhere. that was sorta cool. do you have an idea where i can get and intena for a futaba remote?


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 6/30/2012 3:52 AM   
JohnBuckner



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Status: offline 		Builder float planes without a water rudder is always like an unguided missle and a mistake.

You really need to find an experianced flyer/water flyer before you have anymore sessions like that. If you would have fell to the temptation to get off the water its likely you would have destroyed the airplane.

Antenna's for Futaba transmitters are easily avalible at tower hobbies but you have to tell them name 'and' model. If you say something like its a futaba controller they are gonna say Duh?

John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/1/2012 2:34 PM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		i put on a water rudder and it works! the plane lifts onto the step eaven without wings!


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/1/2012 8:44 PM   
JohnBuckner



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quote:

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i put on a water rudder and it works! the plane lifts onto the step eaven without wings!




Cool, now please tell me you replaced the antenna?

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 2:54 AM   
the builder


 

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Status: offline 		not yet, i don't know what the modle of it is, here's what i go: http://www3.omnimodels.com/cgi-bin/woi0001p?&I=FUTK63**&P=0


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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 5:39 AM   
Charlie P.



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Status: offline 		The receiver is a model R156F (in a frequency to match your transmitter - use your old crystal). 

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJSP9

Easiest bet would be to send it to the Champaign, IL service center and have a new antenna replacement.  The length is important for proper signal strength.

http://www.futaba-rc.com/techsupport/service-center.html

And water rudders are very helpful but not critical - for some models and floats.  I found the servo connector kept pulling out on mine and I had to silver solder fuselage stops tp prevent it.  The fuselage shifted across the float frame enough to jerk the connector apart.  (Couldn't be by hard landings). 

Several odd take offs and landings before I found what was causing that.  But it did steer  - just half as well.

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 6:04 AM   
JohnBuckner



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not yet, i don't know what the modle of it is, here's what i go: http://www3.omnimodels.com/cgi-bin/woi0001p?&I=FUTK63**&P=0




Cool builder, this is the antenna you need and next time try not to stick it in the propellor

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXH468&P=ML

John

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 6:32 AM   
Charlie P.



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Status: offline 		Oooooh.  I thought by "remote" he ment the receiver.

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 6:39 AM   
JohnBuckner



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Status: offline 		Oh man time moves on and even our RC language keeps a changing (as much as I hate it). I feel more like an anachronism every day

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RE: Avistar on floats?? - 7/14/2012 6:54 AM   
Charlie P.



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Just sit back on the davenport and rest your feet on the divan and you'll feel better.  We'll try some Castoria next if that doesn't work.


I had to call the help line for my Internet Service recently and told the man: "Don't talk to me like I'm a 12 year old . . . I have no where near that ability when it comes to computers."



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