Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
05-07-2004, 01:16 PM
#1
Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
The Aqua Stunt (nee Stunt Wagon) has flown with tri-floats.
Taxi: Seemed to taxi OK, but i didn't taxi very far. the wind was on shore so I just went out a little and took off.
Take Off: On take off it popped up on the main floats almost instantly when I hit the power. It skimmed along on the mains just like a tail dragger. Lifted off OK.
Flight: I hadn't checked the CG but it didn't fly like it was any further back. The plane still does all the acro and flat spins. Comes out, too.
Landing: I am talking about a light fun fly plane so it floated down.
Conclusion: My next step is to make some flat-bottom tri-floats from 3 inch foam. If this works, making floats will be cheap and easy. For these, I plan to sheet the top & botton first, then use lite ply for the sides and extend it down 1/8-1/4 inch on the bottom. Maybe it would be easier to put in a center keel.
Taxi: Seemed to taxi OK, but i didn't taxi very far. the wind was on shore so I just went out a little and took off.
Take Off: On take off it popped up on the main floats almost instantly when I hit the power. It skimmed along on the mains just like a tail dragger. Lifted off OK.
Flight: I hadn't checked the CG but it didn't fly like it was any further back. The plane still does all the acro and flat spins. Comes out, too.
Landing: I am talking about a light fun fly plane so it floated down.
Conclusion: My next step is to make some flat-bottom tri-floats from 3 inch foam. If this works, making floats will be cheap and easy. For these, I plan to sheet the top & botton first, then use lite ply for the sides and extend it down 1/8-1/4 inch on the bottom. Maybe it would be easier to put in a center keel.
05-08-2004, 07:21 AM
#4
RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
If you use light-ply, be sure to seal it with something that will soak into the wood; 30-min epoxy/denatured alcohol or polyurethane varnish. I used light ply once that was only protected by film covering and found that (1) it wa pre-inoculated with mildew spores (2) it had the water resistance of saltine crackers.
A keel on the floats is a good idea. it will improve steering while taxiing, and on a light, high-powered plane like yours the extra drag the keel adds should not noticeably add to your takeoff distance.
A keel on the floats is a good idea. it will improve steering while taxiing, and on a light, high-powered plane like yours the extra drag the keel adds should not noticeably add to your takeoff distance.
05-12-2004, 07:01 AM
#6
RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
I live in the Fort Walton Beach area of the north Florida coast, just east of Pensacola. I never got into float flying before because of all the salt water. Last year, at a meet in the north county, it was mentioned they were having a float fly at a nearby lake in a couple of months. My flying buddy and I had never tried water flying and decided to grab an old plane, radio & engine and fit them out with floats. I had a Sig Fazer/Tower .46 for which I bought some Falcon Trading Company floats and he had a scratch built L-19/OS .15 for which he scratch built balsa floats.
Float flying was so different, a new challenge, and we had such a good time that we decided to convert all our old planes to floats and build a few new ones. This plane was found without the landing gear, tossed up on a top shelf/ledge in my garage where I had thrown it after it has blown off my table, breaking the fuselage completely in two just in front of the tail. I had picked it up for a song from another friend who thought it was too much for him. I glassed the tail back on and it became the candidate for the tri-floats. if it didn't work very well or if it bashed, there would be no great loss.
Jim-I want to try some flat bottom, tri-floats made from 3 inch foam. I was planning to extend the side sheeting down past the bottom of the float by a quarter inch or so. Will this do for a keel on these floats, or do I need a deeper one in the center?
Float flying was so different, a new challenge, and we had such a good time that we decided to convert all our old planes to floats and build a few new ones. This plane was found without the landing gear, tossed up on a top shelf/ledge in my garage where I had thrown it after it has blown off my table, breaking the fuselage completely in two just in front of the tail. I had picked it up for a song from another friend who thought it was too much for him. I glassed the tail back on and it became the candidate for the tri-floats. if it didn't work very well or if it bashed, there would be no great loss.
Jim-I want to try some flat bottom, tri-floats made from 3 inch foam. I was planning to extend the side sheeting down past the bottom of the float by a quarter inch or so. Will this do for a keel on these floats, or do I need a deeper one in the center?
05-14-2004, 11:32 AM
#7
RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
Ed, I have been to Florida once. A few years ago. Stayed in Orlando. I was struck by the water everywhere, little ponds and lakes. I can certainly appreciate how having a floatplane would be de riguer if living there! 
I am going to build either a floatplane or a seaplane. Have not yet decided. But since there is no body of water I can fly from close by, I will rarely get to fly it. [
]
I am going to build either a floatplane or a seaplane. Have not yet decided. But since there is no body of water I can fly from close by, I will rarely get to fly it. [
]
05-14-2004, 10:16 PM
#8
RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
Florida is long like California except it has a bend in the middle. I am out near Pensacola in the western panhandle in the Central time zone. (Most people don't even know Florida has a central time zone part.) It's around an 8 hour drive to Orlando unless you really push it.
Those of us up in the panhandle go visit "Florida" every once in a while, then retreat back to the "good part."
Those of us up in the panhandle go visit "Florida" every once in a while, then retreat back to the "good part."
05-19-2004, 07:41 AM
#9
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RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
Ed,
Great job!!!
I was in your town in '96 for one of the most memorable times in my life. I was invited to attend, as a guest, a fighter squadron reunion of the 26th, 74th, 75th and 76th fighter groups. This was basically the fighter groups for the CBI theater in WWII. My pastors dad "Mac" McCammon flew in the 75th and I was his guest. This was the group that started out as the famed AVG. It was a weekend I will never forget. We also went over to Pensacola and went through the Naval museum as well as touring Eglin AFB. It was the first time I was in Florida at a town where winter was the "Off" season. Great town.
Jeff
Great job!!!
I was in your town in '96 for one of the most memorable times in my life. I was invited to attend, as a guest, a fighter squadron reunion of the 26th, 74th, 75th and 76th fighter groups. This was basically the fighter groups for the CBI theater in WWII. My pastors dad "Mac" McCammon flew in the 75th and I was his guest. This was the group that started out as the famed AVG. It was a weekend I will never forget. We also went over to Pensacola and went through the Naval museum as well as touring Eglin AFB. It was the first time I was in Florida at a town where winter was the "Off" season. Great town.
Jeff
05-19-2004, 02:03 PM
#11
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RE: Tri-Gear Floats: It flies!
Cool! One of the things that impressed me most was how all the crews were there as well and there were no "little guys". Didn't matter if you turned screws or shot down bad guys, they treated everyone the same. It was your dads trips over the "hump" that allowed "Mac" and everyone else over there to fight on.
