taildraggerdave

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I have just installed the factory floats on my Falcon Ready. I've been flying the plane for a year now on wheels. I have a .72 Saito in it (I gas ported the piston for a bit extra power).
On land the plane and I are one
I'm interested in any advice on setup or flying on floats.
How critical is it to seal up the plane to prevent water inside the fuse? Do I need to put the receiver and battery in a balloon or baggy? You can't really waterproof the servos, right?........
My CG is right on and the plane looks really good in the pool.
I tried to taxi it around......not much room.
On land the plane will set still at idle. On the water, I can't get the idle low enough. Never been to a float fly (yet). I suppose
they all move once they're in the water and running, or should
it be able to idle stationary? Thanks Again

scale only 4 me

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Dave,
Yes it will move forward at idle in the water unless you have a head wind.
Water has a lot less friction than the land does

I allways put my receiver in a plastic bag with a rubber band over the servo wires to keep out water, you may want to think about you battery switch also? will it get wet?, If it's mounted on the fuse side? the anwser is yes. you may want relocate it into the fuse w/a wire to turn on and off

lastly is the wing saddle, High wing plane are notorius for letting in water at the wing saddle, you'll want to make a gasket of some kind to slow water for getting inti the fuse,

Silicon work great for this,
1st Tape wax paper to the wing @ saddle area
2nd Put the silicon on the wing saddle,
3rd Bolt or rubber band the wing on
4th Let the plane is over night or longer 24 hours is best!
5th Un-tape the wax paper form the wing remove wing/wax paper carefully and trim the extra silicon the squezzed out, Now you have a nice gasket
6th Go fly have fun

Good luck

Charley

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Hi Dave,

That's an interesting model. Reminds me of the Flitecraft Cardinal but yours appears to be larger. Tell us more about it.

Also tell us more about the gas porting mod. I loooove playing with engines.

Cheers,

CR

taildraggerdave

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Thanks for the replies so far. I'll do all the things you mentioned in regards to waterproofing and the wing gasket. These are the kinds of things I'm looking for.

The gas porting thing is where you drill 4 small holes in the top of the piston that go directly into the ring land. I think the factory YS pistons have 4 notches cut into the top that go into the ring land.
Either way, the idea is for compression to get behind the ring and really make it seat. I used a needle drill that I drilled by hand.
I guess the diameter of the drill is about .040 +/-

Charley

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Gas porting: Hah! Kind of a way to get a Dykes ring effect from a "standard" piston-ring design, huh? Thsnks for the info.

Did you measure rpm on the same prop before and after the mod?

TIA,

CR

Charley

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I found your airplane web site. Some nice models there. Looks like you get piles of info with the floats.

Anyhoo, good luck flying it and pls tellus how the first flight went.

Cheers,

CR

taildraggerdave

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I was running an 11x8 APC and got 11,500 on the ground. Probably going over redline in the air...still holding strong. I would chase the warbird guys around and give them fits. Funny though, I don't know what the rpm is now that it's been gas ported...I just figured it would be the same. The plane will take off with authority in only about 15 feet of runway

The reason I did the gas porting was one of the guys had a Saito 1.80 that was "ported" and to feel the compression while turning the prop through by hand was awesome.

Flipper

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I have been flying mine for a couple of years with an OS46FX and love this plane. I did the silicone seal around the wing and put my receiver and battery in a bag inside some foam and then put a piece of plastic over the front compartment as a shield over the battery and receiver. It is very stable and fun to fly, and if the engine is running it's moving on the water. Try to land it slow because it seems with the step on the float if you hit the water to fast it wants to bounce, touch and go's are a blast. I fly it on weekends at the lake in the summer early before all the boats make a bunch of waves. People come out on their piers and watch and they love it. Great plane in my opinion! Oh, go to the hardware store and get replacement metric nyloc nuts to replace the plane nuts on the bolts that hold the floats on the gear because they vibrate loose.

taildraggerdave

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I flew the Ready today on floats for the first time!!!!!!!!!
It flew excellent. Takeoff and landings were very easy. I think flying the plane on wheels for a year really helped.
I did all of the suggestions that were offered here and the inside
of the fuse was 100% dry. The silicone wing gasket is really important.
After the first couple of flights, I moved on to aileron rolls and loops...looks really good with floats. The plane gets off the water in about 15-20 feet. There is definitely power to spare.
Can't wait to go again.........

I flew at Lake Piru (see other thread) and Fish and Game came by to watch

Flipper

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Glad to hear you had fun! I sure have fun with mine, slow flyby's look real cool with this one. Jeff

splais

My Feedback: (25)

I would be interested in hearing how the Saito .72 mounted up to the Ready. Easy? Any major chopping required? Also did you mount yours with one or two aileron servos. If you used two how much hassle was it. thanks.

taildraggerdave

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Hey Splais,
I just sent an e-mail your way before I read this post. I used a Dave Brown engine mount for the .72 Saito- the mount is slightly longer than the included .40 size mount. I usually cut gaping holes for the engine so I don't really know. They have given you the original cutout for a .40-.46 size engine. The plastic cuts very easily, anyway. I use one servo at the present time. I used to use 2 servos for flaperons, but one servo got damaged in a crash so I went back to one servo. The plane can fly so slow, you really don't need the flaperons. 2 servos is good insurance, though.
Mounting 1 or 2 servos in the wing only takes a few minutes, so either way works well.

taildraggerdave

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Disregard the 2 props installed on the engine. I was using the cut off prop as a spacer just for the mock up. Felt like I need to clarify that

splais

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Darn, and I had my counter-rotating props all set up!

Trombe

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How thick is that wing saddle?

taildraggerdave

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Sorry for the delay in getting back on this. The wing mounting area is 4.5" x 9.75" The 4.5" is at the front. There is some taper towards the rear...maybe .5"

niceorange

I am just curious? is there a reason high wing airplanes leak around the wing? It would seem to me that would be the last place to see water get in, because the float step is under/behind it, and the prop is blowing the water away so fast. I have a Cub, and am almost finished with my floats, but I didnt know about this problem. Any explanation would be most helpful.

scale only 4 me

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Kevin,
The reason is very simple; most airplanes are not designed to be water tight. When you take off or land from water the water is splashed up onto the airplane at some what high pressure. Any gap in the wing saddle area will allow water to enter. Being a high wing design the water has nowhere to go but into the fuselage, a low wing plane would allow any small amounts of water to run back out of the plane
That's why it's very important to make a gasket at the wing saddle
Especially on a high wing plane

niceorange

That makes sense, Thanks for the info!

Charley

My Feedback: (2)

Kevin,

It's always a good idea to seal the wing-to-fuse joint even if flying the model offof dry land. This will keep exhaust residue out of the fuse. Most of us use silicone rubber cement.

CR

niceorange

After your advice, I went out and bought silicon (actually designed for aquariums, but it was all they had at Home Depot). I made a gasket for the wing and used the silicon to seal the perimeter of the windshield, which is screwed on. I still cant say i'm convinced that water gets up that high, but i believe you guys more than i do my instincts sometimes. Is there anything I need to do to protect the engine itself from the elements? The 46 FX is so big for the Cub that it basically hangs out one side of the cowl completely, with the twin pitts pipes sticking out the bottom. The carb is directly behind the prop with nothing in between. If water sprayed up and over the front of the floats, will the motor die because of the water?