Calusa

Yesterday was the first ever flight for my Senior Telemaster. The plane flew just wonderfully and I had a great morning doing “splash n’ dash” on the Caloosahatchee.
Instead of my stopwatch I used the countdown timer on my new Futaba transmitter and set the start point at 1/3 throttle. Mistake. The plane flew nicely with the OS FS 120 at less than 1/3 throttle much of the time and so I stayed up longer than the 12 minutes that I had planned on. Oops, first flight ended in a dead stick landing. Had to jump in the boat and go get the plane.
As they say, “Nothing flies like a Telemaster”.

southmountainbob

Calusa:
Congtats on your successful maiden!! I'm building one now. So I have a few questions. Did you do any mod's while building? I see you didn't enlarge your rudder as a lot of Telemaster builders have. I think I will. Did you build your floats from a kit? Which one? What are you using for an engine? I'm thinking of going with a Super Tigre 75. I want to put mine on floats as well since I live on a lake.
Here's to more successful flying for you.
Southmountainbob

Calusa

Thanks Bob. The mods that I made were 1. Building a bolt down wing and 2. Adding flaps.
The bolt down wing is shown in the following thread and others.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_54...tm.htm#5473399

I hinged the flaps as described by Flyingvranch in this thread.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_79...tm.htm#8056819

The floats are ‘Home Depot’ floats; hot wire cut Styrofoam, sheeted with balsa and then fiberglassed and painted. One of the earlier posts on this forum, ‘FAQ About Seaplanes’ by JimCasey offers all the info you will need.

I did not change the size of the rudder but did add a ventral fin. After the first flight I added a piece of scrap ‘aluminium’ to the water rudder to give more control.

Next time I would use an FS 91 instead of a FS 120. But I would certainly not cover another model in white, this one almost got away from on the first flight.
Good luck with your project.

42etus

My Feedback: (2)

Too much fun, isn't it. I like your flap install. It looks like you used hinge points set in a V configuration rather than simple hinges. What did you glass the floats with.
Paul

Calusa

Paul
I glassed the floats with Sig .75 ounce glass and Z-Poxy Finishing Resin. The hinges are simply two control horns bolted together with a lock nut. I must give credit where it is due however, and in my earlier post I gave the link to where I got the idea. My limited experience with these flaps is uniformly positive. The plane is even more fun to fly with them.

SushiSeeker

Calusa,

Somewhat off topic, do you also post on the Florida Sportsman website under the same username? I posted there under the name of Conway, but that name was used on this forum.

Nice plane!

I am back into this hobby after a 15 year sabbatical and am teaching my son to fly on an old Telemaster. I have ordered a Sr. Telemaster to put on floats to fly from the boat when we anchor out on the weekend. I'll follow-up in a few months with some pics.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

Tele's are great floatplanes.
I built mine with an OS.91. Plenty of power. I also did a bolt-on wing, and some cosmetic mods to make it look like a Beaver.
I always wished I had taken out the dihedral and added flaps. The glide was so flat with the motor running it was hard to get over the trees on the opposite shore and to hit the pond.
On-Board glo helped slow down the idle speed and gave a more reliable idle, too. (A good thing in a floatplane)

snuts

EXACTLY
My telemaster was scrach built back in 1993, and I used the same flap hinge design, man do they ever help slow down that big floater
This was when I was big into gliders, therefore it was black with a flame job that took my wife and I 8 hrs just to mask off. Unfortunatly lost it in a 53mile cross country event. But I still have the plans and my Saito 80. Looks so good, I may have to dope-up another.
Thank you for the insperation Snuts.

I did incorperate a ball link as a pushrod attachment and cut the leading hinge horn to accomadate the nut, thus eliminating the seperate horn.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

Flashback: I built a Sr. Telemaster once with flaps like yours. I covered the top of the flap bay with 1/32 ply. So when the flaps were open, they were slotted.
This was a contract build, and the plane actually had to carry some sort of instrument package for a laboratory. The fuselage was stretched (wider) to take the package. With the flaps they could put it down in small clearings even at the extra weight. I had to put in a bunch of hardened platforms to take the hinges( 3 pr on each flap) , and had to shim the hinges to get the alignment. Used the hinges with ball-joints in the ends to ensure smooth motion.

Calusa

SushiSeeker
Thanks.
I took a 3 year fishing sabbatical, I only finished the Telemaster in response to my college age son’s request for another float plane when he comes home for spring break. Kids are great for keeping us involved aren’t they.
I look forward to seeing your Telemaster when it’s finished.
No, my username on FS is not Calusa.
BTW Phat Al has an inefficient G2 not a G5.

JimCasey
Your “TeleBeaver” was one of the models that encouraged me to put mine on floats. I considered a Tupperware cowling but the paint kept flaking.
Jim I would be interested in hearing more about how you built your slotted flaps, any pictures?

SushiSeeker

Well the non-fishing over there is getting kind of intense. Hopefully we did not cross too many lines. I think I'm having more fun here these days.

As for the T-master, you and JimCasey answered one key question. I was planning on going with an OS Max 1.20, but it seems that would be way overkill. I want to build this kit outta the box as a float plane and for me that includes a cowling to keep the water off the engine, a radio box to help keep the servos dry. Any other suggestions would be most welcome. I plan to fly off the stern of my boat so I will most definitely be incorporating your flap/brake concept just in case a sailboat takes up anchorage nearby and shortens my landing strip.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

slotted flap: was like this. full extension should only be about 60-70 degrees - not 90 degrees like in the illustration ( a shortcut in MSPaint)


My buddy Art built a Seacruiser with Spoilerflaps, and they slow it down like dragging a sack of rocks, without a pitch change.

And the poly cowl: I matched the monokote to the cowl color, so the cowl was not painted.

YumaMike

Thanks for the Info. I will report back when I complete my float upgrade to my Senior Telemaster.
YumaMike