gene375

What do you think about an Avistar on floats with a 40fx?????

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

It will make a fine float ship and many have been done. Contrary to popular belief the key to good water performance is not excessive power but a proper float installation.

John

Chillybee

My Feedback: (3)

I have an Avistar which has plenty of power. How would I go about setting up floats?

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Chilly

Do a search in this forum on float installation and you will find a lot of sound information.

Generally it will go something like this: First off size the floats, and a good starting point are floats that are about 75 to 80% of fuselage length from nose to rudder tailpost. Flat or 'V' bottom on your airplane will not make a large difference, flat bottoms allow a slightly quicker transition from taxi to 'on the step' and 'V' bottoms can soften landings just a bit. It is my preference when selecting size to error on the large size rather than the other way around.

The floats should be mounted parallel of course but the center line of each float should be a bit wider apart than the center line of your wheel gear. Possibly around one to two inchs but don,t get carried away here as problems can develop when one float touchs the water before the other with excessive width.

Now two of the most important factors that cause folks more problems than any other: First Balance the airplane at the same point as it was on the wheels (batterys are easy to move around and any weight added attach to the floats, this makes it easier to switch gear). The floats should be positioned so the step is either at or no more than 3/8" behind that CG (never position the step in front of the CG. The second and most commonly abused factor is the float decaledge and this is nothing more than the incidence relationship between the wing and the floats top deck. Ideally a positive incidence of the wing to the floats will be anywhere from two to four degrees. In other words when stationary on the water the fuselage will sitting slightly tail low.
I have seen many airplanes show up at float flys over the years with their tails sticking up and they are always the ones having difficulty. What happens when balenced on the step and rotating for T/O the heals of the floats will drag the water before the wings arrive at sufficient angle of attack to fly preventing takeoff unless its bounced in the air by a wave at stalling speed.

I aways carry little wood shims that can be slipped under the front or rear struts so that fine adjustments can be made at the flying site if needed.

All lof the above is just my opinion of course based on what has worked well for me over the years. Best of luck.

John

MAX MERC

I've been flying this one with a os 46ax (a little noisy), but just switched it out for the new saito 82B. We will see this weekend.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Hey cool Max, that last post was almost eight years ago But thats OK the Original poster may not still be around but I am.

Your ship looks great, what kind of floats are you using and do you have an overall weight for it?

John

MAX MERC

I'm keeping the Avistar page alive....LOL. Those are seacomander floats. Weight ???

1320Fastback

8 years or not its cool to see more pics of this great plane.

kfla

Love the avistar on floats!!!! Here's mine with hanger 9 arf floats and an os 46fx. Flies awesome with lots of power.[img][/img][img][/image]

Wine Country Flyer

My Feedback: (5)

I've had an Avistar on floats for several years. Just love it. The floats are made in Italy, called Galleggianti Floats. But I can't remember who I got them from and can't find 'em any where. I would love to have another pair for a couple other planes, but no luck in finding any. Any way I'm still having a great time with the Avistar. Here she is -

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

"Gallegianti" is the italian word for Floats.
ModelFly floats are labeled as such. Made in Italy by ARC Modelfly
Normally I am very tunnel-vision limited and only recommend Foam-core floats, but those floats have developed a good reputation.

Modelfly is distributed in the US by Thunder Tiger. The floats are not "featured" in their website except mentioned as "sold separately"
http://www.ttamerica.com/airplanes/ttra4595.html
All four of the Modelfly planes are listed in the "Sport" airplanes.section :Beaver, 2 cessnas, and the Ready.
All have received nothing but favorable reviews, The "Beaver"does not actually look like any known full-scale plane, but it's at least something different.

Wine Country Flyer

My Feedback: (5)

Hi Jim-thanks for the reply. Yep-those are the floats I'm talking about. They really are tough. One flight there was a hellova cross wind to taxi back from. (on a lake there's never a cross wing for take off or landing) So I just taxi on step. Didn't quite shut down in time and hit the steep beach pretty hard. All that happened is the 5 6/32 nylon screws holding the float mounts to the fuse broke. 5 new screws and I'm back in the air. Another time doing a flat spin, the engine died. She flat spun all the way to the water. Absolutely no damage. More fuel and back in the air again. Yep-they are tough. When I first got them and saw they were only made of ABS plastic I wasn't too impressed. But after what I have put them through. I am impressed. I have several other brands of floats and like 'em all, but I haven't put them to any tests yet. And I'm trying very hard not to.
Happy floating everyoneJohn

flyhi2005

What about KATANA 70 on floats?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzZnA1cEiMs&feature=related[/youtube]

combatroy

Well am I ever glad I found you guys! I would be most grateful if you could explain how you constructed and attached your hard mount points! I'm on the eve of installing floats onto my Hobbico Superstar and I am trying to figure out what you guys did for your hard mounting points on the fuselage?

I'm considering a piece 1/8" plywood painted white attached to the bottom of the fuse using 4 screws (right into the bottom of the fuse) and then attaching the mounts to those using some blind nuts and matching screws. I'm trying to avoid to much cutting into the fuselage and have limited access inside the fuse so I'm thinking this may be the route to go?

I purchased a set of fiberglass 40 size floats from Maxford models (water rudder included) and they seem very well built. The mounting straps are similar to Max Mercs.

[link=http://www.maxfordusa.com/hz-40-fiber-floats.aspx]http://www.maxfordusa.com/hz-40-fiber-floats.aspx[/link]


I'm also considering which engine to use. I have the original OS .40 that came with the plane. I also have an evolution .46 hanging around I could use. Any thoughts on these 2 engines?


Awesome thread.....KFLA, your Avistar looks sweet too! Cheers and thanks again guys!

Wine Country Flyer

My Feedback: (5)

The way I did mine was to put 2 pieces of 1/8 ply on the inside of the fuse. One under the tank and one just behind the wing saddle in the bottom of the fuse. Didn't have to cut into it at all. Then blind nuts and 8x32 nylon screws. Works great for me. I used 3 screws in the front and 2 in the back. Came in to the bank a little hot one time because of higher than normal cross wind. Didn't shut down in time, hit the bank pretty hard. Well, all that happened was the 5 screws broke off, the plane kept going a little farther. BUTAbsolutely no damage other than the screws. That's why I used nylon instead of metal. Any wayabout 5 minutes to get the broken ones out and new ones inand back on the water and in the air. Just love that little Avistar on floats. Hope this helps.
Keep on floatin'-John

Wine Country Flyer

My Feedback: (5)

Ooops-I forgot to mention your engine question. You didn't say whether the OS 40 is bushing or bearing, but if I were you I'd go with the Evo .46 as long as it's just sitting around. OS,s are great, but a little more power with the Evo .46 you will like.
Let's go float-John

Kievlanin

Tov meod, Israeli!

1320Fastback

Mines not of floats but I did put the same plywood on the floor for the conventional landing gear. In the pic you can see the nylon nuts and bolts underneath the twin battery connectors. The theory is the same for the float mounts.


I wish there was a current Avistar thread........ I Love this plane!

Put the bigger motor on it. It just flys better with a little more power.

combatroy

Hi John and 1320Fastback,

Thanks for the replies. My superstar doesn't give me much room/access inside. My struts are going to be 12" apart and that kind of limits where I can mount to the fuselage. The front shouldn't present an issue as I can get into that area fairly easy. My problem is the rear strut is going to be mounted behind the main former (sits behind the servo tray). I think I would need to cut the monokote in order to get access in there that's why I was thinking about fastening them externally......

I'm going to take another look at it after work but I think I may need to set it up like Maxmercs floater....I will probably use the evo .46 too! Thanks again.

MAX MERC

High, on this one I went to the hardware store and bought a 2 inch oak door jam ( since it had a routed front and rear ). Then I used 6/32 brass inserts and epoxy them in and epoxy them to the floats....

combatroy

Michael, thanks! great idea!

Care to explain how you mounted them to the underside of the fuselage? Did you fix it to the underside or did you do any work inside the fuselage as well?

Thanks again!

- Ray

MAX MERC

Yeap I used the same door jam and brass wood inserts. I tried threading them at frist, but the wood is to hard so i drill them to fit and use epoxy...I cut the covering and glued on the blocks..

combatroy

Good stuff, thanks for your tips sir!

- Ray

kfla

Hey Guys, I like all your ideas and I do LOVE this plane (as a seaplane). With mine I filled in the factory slot for the landing gear with wood filler and covered it with monokote. Then in the front just behind the firewall I epoxyed in a 3/8" x 1" hard wood block from 1 side to the other side, and did the same in the back right under the servo tray, I had to mount these so the float mount (Hanger nine 40 size arf) would put the floats step where I wanted it on the cg. Then I use 8 total (4 on each) little nylon saddle clamps to hold the mount in place (I used 5/8" long #4 wood screws). These little clamps will alow it to slide side to side, In a rough landing/crash . I tried to take pics of the inside but they didn't come out ( I could try again if you really think they will help). I can't say enough about this setup, I LOVE this plane and it flies GREAT!!! with a OS 46 fx.

kfla

I forgot to mention, When you add the floats you add more weight to the fuse (pendulum effect). Make sure you have atleast 12 to 14 rubber bands holding the wing on! I had my wing shift one time (when a friend tried to do a roll) and it jammed the aileron rod against the fuse side and in she went I think if I had to do it all again I would modify the wing so it bolts on. GOOD LUCK