Bob93447

The recommendation of the motor speed control manufacturers is to keep the battery leads to speed control as short as possible and that the length of wire from the speed control to motor is relatively unlimited (but subject to ohmic losses based on length).
I don't know about others, but I use the canopy for access to the battery and remove the battery for charging (the only batteries recommended for charging inside the aircraft are A123 which have a different chemistry and operate at a lower voltage for a much higher price). Since I don't like relying on the throttle stick to make sure that the motor stays off until I disconnect the battery, I strongly recommend a positive throttle off on the transmitter separate from the throttle stick (that's why I suggested the new Castle Edge series of motor controllers). There are other alternatives, I'm sure, but something is necessary to prevent an unintentional motor start.

ALO 111

Bob is your canopy held with screws ? mine has about 12 a real pain to remove .

Bob93447

No, mine is held by a single horizontal post in the rear and a single machine screw into a t-nut at the front. However for flight I use electrical tape all around the perimeter to seal it and still get some water leakage. Definitely a pain.

Bob

SR-71

I'm finally getting around to finishing up my GP Seawind with a Saito FA-100 & Robart retracts. I'm building it mostly for land use but may eventually fly it off the water so ideally I'd like to keep my retract filler valve mounted inside the fuse but I'm not crazy about having to take a bunch of screws out of the canopy to reach the fill valve each time I need to pump the retracts up. I've held off attaching the canopy in hopes of finding a better way to get it on and off quickly. I'm thinking maybe a wheel=well door hinge on the front with a few Neodymium magnets in the back with a pull tab... or something along those lines. Has anyone come up with any good ideas for attaching the Seawind's canopy?

Bob93447

If you go to the "Glow to electric conversions" forum, there is a "Great Planes Seawind Electric Conversion" thread. One of the contributors posted a quick release scheme for the canopy that involved a cable from behind the firewall that connected to a release mechanism for the canopy. It might be suitable for your purposes.

Bob

Bob93447

Has anyone come up with a servo operated bailing device? From all reports the bailer supplied lets as much water in as out; possibly a bailer that used a servo that keep the hole closed with the aircraft on the water and open when in the air would work. Could tie it to the flap control.

Bob93447

I recently took off the foam sealing tape that Great Planes supplied to seal the canopy of the Seawind. I was about to put on a thicker seal when I noticed that the canopy fits the fuse much better without a seal. So I left it bare and just use white electrical tape on the outside when I fly. I works much better and I pickup a lot less water on takeoff and landing.

ALO 111

Well for those who still follow this thread , after a two years our dam has water in and i have got the Seawing out and flying again . I seem to have the landings sorted as well now but have spent so much time with the 91 fx ,issues that i am going to remove it. My plans on electric conversion will not happen at the moment due to finances. I have a brand new os 91 fs that i could fit or a used Saito 100 that is currently in another plane or should i just get another 91 two stroke ?
What are your opinions? will the Os 91 fs be enough, ?

jrf

My Feedback: (551)

Most of the them around here (within a 1000 feet or so of sea level) fly with the 91 FS. I flew mine with an OS 61 two stroke and it flew very well.
Jim

Bob93447

Congrats on getting water. Please send some to California so that we can fly this sumer.
Bob

biggles256

I flew my Seawind for a few years on an OS 90FS. It flies a treat. I then upgraded to a new OS 110FS alpha, which is a fantastic engine, but the Seawind does not fly any better. Due to clearance with the fuzz this engine is reaching the limit of prop size which will fit, and is appropriate to the engine. My friend has just bought a Seawind second hand and I have coached him to successful flights (since the summary of this entire thread is to build the plane to the instructions, add a couple of velcoed wing tip floats then it is all down to technique). Anyway, as I was saying: I flew my friend's Seawind and it is much quicker and seemingly responds with more confidence in the turns, and simple aerobatic manoeuvres. Simply put: it has more power and is lighter. When choosing an engine think about weight because it is behind the centre of gravity and you will need more lead in the nose to compensate. An electric Seawind allows better weight management which will pay dividends.

My canopy has the peg at the rear and a servo screw at the front to which I have silver soldered a small piece of wire to make a thumb screw which looks like a ship's cleat. It's simple light and speedy. My switch is inside.

My bailer has a rubber bung inserted in it on the inside, which can be removed if necessary. With a decent flight water ingress is minimal. When I read about servo operated alternatives I shudder. One should do everything to keep the weight down on this model to ensure success.

Bob93447

I fully agree that the Seawind needs to be kept as light as possible to fly well. In my case I am also flying at high altitude, so there is an even higher premium for losing weight. But in a typical flight senario, takeoff -- fly -- land, i am taking on a lot more water than the weight of a micro servo. Water sloshing around inside the fuse tends to play havoc with the CG. So if anyone has had any success in using a micro servo to seat the bailer ball I would like to hear about it.

Bob

jrf

My Feedback: (551)

Bob:

We learned early on that the bailer should be permanently plugged. My experience is the same as biggles, very little water inside. Just a few drops really.

Jim

Bob93447

Jim,

I wish for only a few drops. Mine leaks enough to fill a chunk of sponge plus more. I'm guessing 3-4 oz. per flight. I can set the plane in water all day and it won't leak but takeoff and landing are a separate story. I use electrical tape around the canopy and wing roots plus silicon around the servos and I still get a bunch of water. Can't find any holes big enough to leak that much so it anyone has hints they would be appreciated.

Bob

jcrosk

Can someone measure the aluminum wing joiner for me. I recently picked up an un-assembled ARF and this piece is missing. My measurements show 1/8 x 7/8 x about 26 inches. Is this correct? Is the wing joiner straight or is there dihedral built into it. Thanks

jcrosk

never mind, I found the answer on page 52

Bob93447

I recently added a small, 40mm, 12v computer fan to cool my ESC. There is plenty of air volume within the Seawind to provide cooling for a flight, it just needs to be moved. The fan works well! During a 7 minute flight using the fan the esc stabilized to < 150 F for the duration of the flight. A similiar flight without the fan showed the ESC temp >180 F and climbing after just 4 minutes of flight time. I am using a Castle Edge 100 amp esc.

My fan is powered by pulling 12v (3cells) off the balance connector. I'm using a 5s battery and the difference between the cells powering the fan and those that are not being used for the fan does not show up on a balance check of the battery after a flight (fan draw is a few watts max).


Bob

bigbird3

Bob, that is great but here is what I have been told; if it calls for a 60 AMP ESC, put a 100 AMP! If you are pushing the motor full power with the existing ESC, it will heat up. try going up 40 plus AMP's and see if you can eliminate that extra weight you had to add. my friend said it will barely warm up.
bird.

Bob93447

I respectfully disagree with your friend. In my case, the Castle ESC has a rating of 100 amps with a nominal airflow of 5mph. The seawind has a lot of air volume but no air movement. The next size of Castle ESC is 130 amps with a weight of about .5 oz more. Relying on heat capacity alone means that a large esc may heat up at a rate of 80% of the current esc, but it is still getting too hot by the end of a 10 minute flight (my rate of heating with the current esc is about 30 deg F/minute, limiting me to about a 5 minute flight without a fan). A larger esc would probably allow another minute of flying but it is still appraching thermal limits at the end of 6 minutes and costs $80 more than the 100 amp esc. The small fan I am using only weighs about .5 oz and only costs about $5. Since I am only pulling about 75 amps for 10-20 seconds at takeoff and only averaging about 20 amps for the remainder of the flight, a much bigger esc seemed to be a poor tradeoff. And if you look at Castle's product line, they are selling fan cooled escs for car applications. Why they don't offer them for airplanes is probably because the demand is too low.

The one esc type that may offer a fanless solution are the YGE (YEP esc from HobbyKing). I have not seen any hard data on heat buildup in these devices. In addition, the Edge ESC offers a key safety feature -- that being a positive shutoff for the motor function. Once again, I am not sure if this function is available on the YGE type of esc's.

Bob

Bob93447

Any Seawind action these days?
Does anyone have a dwg. of the plywood piece that supports the wingtip? I knocked off a wingtip during a touch and go when I got suprised by a "sneaker wave" from a water ski boat. I was able to retrive the fiberglass wingtip but not the support,
The good news, it actually flys, without the wingtip.

[email protected]

Hi, I'm looking for a new/used Seawind to replace my 10 year old one. If anybody monitoring this thread can connect me to a possible seller I would appreciate it. There have to be some in basements/garages somewhere. You can see my Seawind activity on YouTube under wloomis15 or Tony Loomis. Thanks for any leads

bigbird3

Wouldn't mind selling mine. Had it since 04 or so. Only three flights. No damage or crashes. Receiver ready 500. Has OS LA 65, brute! No bearings to rust. Call me in Vermont, 802-433-6602. Not interested in giving it away! Trade maybe. You will have to come get it.

MMallory

My Feedback: (1)

I'm in the same boat as bigbird3. I'll sell mine which only has about 5 flights on it, no damage or crashes, with retracts, servos and a Saito gold engine (or I can strip it). I'm not giving it away either and am in Central NJ. When I purchased this one I thought I could use the retracts to take off on land and land in the water. When that didn't work out I lost interest.

Mark

Bob93447

Tony,

Where is the "Thousand Islands" location you use for flying? It looks like a really great spot!

[email protected]

The Thousand Islands is the initial stretch of the St. Lawrence river where it flows out of Lake Ontario. The region is partly Canadian and partly American There are more than 1000 rocky islands, I believe, in the river. If you put in Gananoque Ontario into Google Earth and decrease the magnification a bit you will see the heart of the region.

Tony Loomis