Originally Posted by
Captain John
I have a Tower Hobbies .40 high wing airplane. I have the floats, but need to know where the step should be in relation to the CG. Thanks John from Hesperia Mi
The step is usually slightly before the CG. For a lot of float stuff see my site for the CKFF at
https://sites.google.com/site/ckffinc/
Click on the
links to obtain floats for a page of a lot of information. There are some magazine articles at the bottom of the page.
IIRC, the length of the floats should be 80% of the length of the fuselage as measured from back of the prop to the rudder post. Also the floats should stick out about 2 inches in front of the prop.
It is my experience that you need to up the power by at least the next size up in engine power. A .46 will probably work for you.
The water drag on floats is really great, especially on glass smooth water. An under powered float plane is a good air boat.
EDIT:
Some of the pages referenced on CKFF are no longer available. It has been years since I did that page and a lot of them have gone. I will edit the page and remove those that have gone.