I have quite a bit of floatflying experience but have run into something
which has me scratching my head.
A friend scratchbuilt an 80" Beaver, very nicely done. We first flew it
on wheels from our local flying field to check out trim and balance. It
flys very nicely with crisp control response on all axis.
So it was then mounted on floats, carefully, checking out the incidence
and step placement, balance, etc.
Well, today we attempted the first flight using the floats. After breaking
free from the water and climbing out I discovered a complete lack of roll
control using ailerons, I mean nothing, no response. To make a long story
short I used the rudder to turn it around and finally get it close to a landing,
finally dumping it from about 5". No damage. (rudder very sensitive)
Upon retrieval the ailerons worked just fine.
The Beaver is 80", powered by a 120 two stroke. Scalelike ailerons and flaps.
All up weight with the floats is 14lbs.
Any thoughts or input as to why there would be no response to aileron input
with the floats mounted on the aircraft?