hey just a sugestion, i got an US AIRCORE .40 Trainer and US Aircore floats, the combo IS GREAT! It suggests a .40 LA, and that works great, 10 foot take off, maybe 15. The floats are a pain to put togeather thouhg, you fold them from a plastic sheet and the fold-over-and- -glue part is under the water level [] SO there is a tendency to leak alot, but some silicon and duct tape does the job very nicely, and since the aircore is the exact same color as duct tape, it looks QUITE Spiffy on the water. The Alierons on the plane are both controlled by one servo, so no flaps, but not everything can be perfect. From the Air, it looks just like a Full Size Turbine Beaver. I fly on the Puget Sound by Seattle (Orcas Island) and it is salt water, no problems yet from the salt Hope this helps someones search for a great float plane.
PS you need a water rudder!, the plane is made from corregater plastic, so IT FLOATS FULLY UNDERWATER!! for thoes people who are new to the hobby www.usaircore.com
Scott