cotman

My Feedback: (10)

Has anyone tried puttings floats on a NexStar trainer. Was my first plane when I started and would like to fly it on the lake I live on. Any problems that I should be aware of and fixes
Thanks
Dick

red head

Dick: Take a look at falcon-trading.com they have a nice set of floats and they also have a mount for the trike set up. I use them on my planes and have been very happy with them for years, They are lite, sleek and easy to assemble and mount and they get off the water very easy. As far as your plane goes there shouldn't be any problems. They work Great on the Midwest Aerostar and it's very simular to your plane. ENJOY !!!! RED

britbrat

I suggest that you ditch the dihedral (see various Nexstar threads in the Beginner's forum). The substantial dihedral makes this bird (& any models of similar configuration) susceptible to "blow-over" accidents in cross winds. On a runway, this is an annoyance -- on the water it is a problem that you really don't want.

koden

I put floats on mine and have had about 10 flights with it on the floats.

Instead of going with the trike mount floats, I added grooved hardwood rails to the bottom of the plane to accomodate the Great Planes fiberglass float kit. I wish I had gone with the trike setup now. It was a real pain to get the angle of attack right (due to the NexStar's fuse profile). Even after getting the angle right, I think I will need a larger engine to make takeoffs more reasonable. It barely gets up enough speed to pull free from the water.

Flying it is also very tricky. The added weight greatly affects the handling, and I found mine to be a little much until I got the hang of it.

If I were to do it again, I would definitely go with a trike adapter setup.

Swoop1

My Feedback: (1)

I completed the installation of floats on my Nexstar around Thanksgiving. We have had significant snowfall in Chicago recently so I conducted the test flight about one week ago. The floats were purchased from Falcon Trading Company, http://www. falcon - trading .com/prod.cfm?category=Floats%20and%20Float%20Planes & are sold for $90 as "Float Set for Trike Gear Models." I removed the speed brake & wingtip droops last Summer & the first flight with the floats was conducted in about a 12-15 mph wind condition. All I can say is AWESOME, the floats did not change the CG & the flights were more stable than with the wheels on. I attempted to mount the GEE BEE brand floats & failed miserably. If you want to be flying after about 1 hour of labor, then buy these floats. I will tell you that the wing's angle of incidence adjustment (preferably 1 degree) is very simple because one screw on the nose gear allows you to move the leading edge of the wing up & down in relation to the floats. FYI...I am an amature pilot & have no build experience so this is a no brainer for your Nexstar . Practice on the snow, rather than water, because you won't need a canoe! Have fun.

seaplane

Swoop1, I did a trike mount on my wife's LT-40 and I'll never do another one. She stalled the plane and it went in nose first. The inpact tore the floats off and since the front strut was inserted into the front landing gear block, which was attached to the fire wall, it tore the fire wall off, engine and all. When we picked it up, the engine was hanging from the throttle cable. The trike mount is simple, as you say, but you do run the risk of loosing an engine.................Seaplane

Swoop1

My Feedback: (1)

Seaplane....Maybe a Zeppelin would have been a better choice, as the nose would have bounced off the ground at impact. Just kidding & I do agree with you but I found the GEE BEE floats to be much too difficult to attach to the fuselage, hence the use of trike floats.