rplumbo

My Feedback: (3)

I live on a lake and I took up RC last summer. I think it's high time I combine these! I was looking at the Sig Seniorita to put on floats as it fits the engine I have (OS 40 LA) and my budget ($60 + a set of GP floats). After looking at some contruction pics of this kit (it has a stick built fuse!) I don't know if I'm up for such an intense building experience. Does anyone have any suggestions aside from cubs? I was thinking of maybe building a trainer to put on floats. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Reid

taildraggerdave

My Feedback: (1)

I'm new to floats also. Been flying wheels for a year, though.
I have a thread running now for this plane.
I just flew on floats last week (for the first time) at the local lake and I can't describe how much fun it was!!
The plane is all plastic. It is sold as an advanced trainer-semi symetrical wing. You can purchase it with or without floats and it is nearly indestructible. The fact that the plane can be bought with floats is great because all the angles are figured out for you...just bolt on the floats and go. No worries about toe-in or the angle of the floats to the wing, etc.
I put a saito .72 in mine and it has gobs of power. I'm sure any .46 size would work great. Lastly, I performed the waterproofing tips that were mentioned on this forum and the plane could not have been better. I think setting the plane up with wheels first was a good idea for trim settings. One less thing to worry about on the water. Here's the link http://www.falcon-trading.com/
I have no affiliation with these guys, I just like the plane

PeterC

Hey Taildragger...
Almost any ARF trainer will do. Your idea of GP floats is good too. I just would fiberglass them overall for durability and waterproofing. Some foam floats might be cheaper and eliminate the need for concern over waterproofing.
Personally I don't put my receiver and batteries in baggies. I figure the water is going to condense on the inside of the bag and get it wet anyway. I just mount my stuff up off the floor of the fuselage and check it every once and a while. It's also a good idea to spray the inside of the fuselage with some kind of paint to seal it so the water dosen't soak into the wood.
Have fun,
Peter

PeterC

I guess I should have addressed my response to rplumbo.
Sorry for my confusion.
Peter

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

Reid,
What are you flying now?
Almost any R/C plane that's not marginally stable to begin with will work on floats. If you're budget limited (who's not?) then just slap a set of floats on the plane you are already flying. If you're even slightly clever, you can make the floats and wheels interchange so you can fly wherever. When you add the floats, check the balance. Adjust the weight of the floats to bring the balance point back where it should be with wheels. So, when you replace the wheels, the plane will still be balanced for that, too.

BTW: the seniorita is not hard to build. Gluing sticks is pretty easy. THe LT-40 ARF is essentially a seniorita preassembled for you.

Jim

rplumbo

My Feedback: (3)

I'm flying a Pizazz and a spad. Neither of which, I don't think, would do too well on floats. I was thinking maybe I'll build a Sig LT-25 and slap some floats on that one. Any comments about that plane?

Thanks!
Reid

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

The Pizazz might surprise you on floats.
I have a Morris "Jerry's Little Boy" that I flew on floats for a coupla' years. It really did not noticeably change flight characteristics between being wheeled and having floats. One of our club members flies several of the Morris profile planes from floats.

I have no experience with the SPAD, but coroplast won't waterlog. I don't know which SPAD variation you have, or how you built it, but you need a rudder (if only an air rudder) to taxi around.

The LT-25 would be fine and relaxing. I have buddies that fly Kadet Seniors that are fully aerobatic, and they still spend most of their time trying for the perfect landing. They have so much fun you have to pry the grin off their face with a crowbar.

There are a lot of misconceptions about floats really dragging down an airplane and that you need a lot more power. This has not been my experience. I know guys who build heavy airplanes whether they have floats or wheels. With a properly sized and correctly installed set of floats, the plane performs pretty much the same as when it was wheeled. Some commercial floats are heavy. I use styrofoam floats sheeted with balsa and they are very light and durable. The floats on the JLB have been on 2 BigLazyBees and a Stick before they were on the JLB, and now they are back on the (Hangar 9 ARF ) Stick. They are getting pretty rugged now, but I have gotten my money's worth.

pabdoc

MHO:

There is nothing that looks better on a pair of floats than a J-3 Cub. The big wing will fly you off the water even with scale-like power, and the "Cub yellow" is so sweet for water flying!

Float-flying is a blast...no waiting for a spot on the flightline, and you can hit the runway every time!

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

That's nearly true, except for the tree we call "Ray's Tree". It's on the opposite shore, and Ray has hit it more times than we have the diplomacy to count. I hit it once. It's no fun to stand in a wobbly rowboat trying to shake a plane out of a tree.

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

What about the gators?? We don't have any hazards in Canada. No trees sticking out of the water.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

The Gators are essentially harmless. They just have a good press agent. Probably much greater likelihood of getting nabbed by a water mocassin or a snapping turtle.

I am WELL aware that there are no hazards in Canada. They all drove their Winnebagos to Florida for the winter.

Parkerm

My Feedback: (6)

Senorita makes a great float plane. You may need a liitle more power coming off water than wheels. Unless your water is slicker than mine is. The GP floats are a perfect fit, but seem a little heavy. Be sure to add some extra stength to the wing. My friend's plane made a very large splash after the wing snapped pulling out of a loop. Don't underestimate the extra G's on the plane from those floats hanging down. But that goes for most any float plane.

enricofermi

My Feedback: (2)

I have been dragging a paitr of 28" plastic floats around for years. I have been flying RC since 1965 but never float planes. Today I ordered a World Models J3 Cub 20 (ARF) to which the floats will be affixed. The fuselage length is 35" so the floats are about 80% of fuselage length which supposedly is the ballpark figure of choice. Plane has a 51" wing and wingloading should be about 20OZ per sq ft. I have a MAX .25 to put on the plane. hope it works out well. Anyone out there ever use this combo? How about smaller size engine combo since most of the articles seem to concern .40 and up engines/planes. Any tips, prognostications or prayers would be gratefully appreciated.

Frank

Parkerm

My Feedback: (6)

My friend tried a .25 on his Senorita and couldn't get off the water in a dozen attempts. He tried everything, changing prop pitch, wing incidence, CG, Step to CG relationship, the works. We kept telling him he needed more power. He kept insisting it was a 20 size airplane. He finally switched out the engine to a 40 and made a nice flier out of it. Some people insist that you don't need more power with floats. Maybe not, but if you want to make your take off run less than a 1/4 mile I would suggest more power than you would use on wheels. Float planes are "dirty" both in the air and in the water, if you manage to get in the air you will really notice the tendency to stall in turns and it takes extra horses to pull through a loop. Good luck.

keypilot

My Feedback: (4)

I have a great planes cub .25 on floats. It has the O.S. 25 with a pitts muffler. It flys great, and has more power than it knows what to do with. I keep it at 1/4 power to fly hands off. The floats are the stock .20 size from Great Planes. They work great, but, i would recommend pitting two water rudders on instead of the single. I fly it in the Florida bay, so it gets some chop. The real nice thing about this combination, is that it fits in the car!

enricofermi

My Feedback: (2)

Thank you to Parkerm and keypilot for your responses. Now it's time to start building in time to take off a lake or bayou in a few months.

liberator

Cdallas2

If you want to go cheap. Buy an old trainer off someone in the club. There are always at least a couple in a club that somebody is willing to let go pretty cheap. Slap a set of floats on and your ready to go. I've done this twice and worked out very nicely.

What I usually do is add a piece of 1/4" ply big enough to mount aluminum gear to in front of the wing and one behind so I can mount the floats to without using solder and wire and all that stuff. And when I don't fly with floats I've got a new tail dragger to have fun with.

Cheap and easy.

De-fie convention!!!

DEATH TO YELLOW CUBS