Just thought I owed it to everyone to offer my personal experience with the Nitroplanes Seawind. First, understand that I'm no expert, but have built and flown various seaplanes successfully over more than 3 years. I hope to just offer some facts for those who might consider buying one of these things.

I ordered mine Seawind and it was shipped promptly and packaged adequately, but the canopy had a large crack in it. Shot some photos of the crack and emailed Nitroplanes the same day. No response after several days, so I spent a dime and phoned them, referenced the email, and they said they would check the photos. Got a fairly prompt email reply promising a 2-week delivery time for the new canopy because it had to be ordered from China. Sent more inquiries after 3 weeks and finally got a reply that the canopy was en route, and they supplied a FedEx tracking number. The tracking number was bogus. I made more inquiries and finally got another promise of 2-week delivery. It has been over 11 weeks since my first message and still no canopy.

As for the plane, well it seemed to be fairly well constructed. There is a weakness in mine in the wooden support structure in the tail. Didn't take long for the glue joint to break and then the tail section becomes soft and won't support the engine rigidly. To the point, after having read numerous posts and trying every technique that I could think of, the plane has yet to be airborne. Yes, the CG has been checked carefully and I've adjusted it fore and aft just a bit. Even though it planes nicely and moves easily in the water, it won't track straight enough for a good take-off run, tending to turn unexpectedly left or right indiscriminately. On the few times that I've been lucky enough to get it off the water (barely), it has immediately buried itself in the water.

I have flown some very touchy planes and managed to work through some interesting tracking issues, floatation, etc., but I have decided to put no further effort into this beast. I will scrap it out and maybe cannibalize the wings to repair another bird. I'm not saying it is impossible to fly, but next-to-impossible is close enough for me and the plane I bought isn't worth any more of my time.

I suppose there are others out there who have had more positive experiences. Maybe there are quality control issues involved. Maybe there is a special incantation required for flight. The best I can say is that it makes a nice boat if you don't try to go fast, and it looks nice hanging from the ceiling. If you buy one, be prepared for virtually ZERO customer support, and make sure you always have a boat handy.

Finally, I just want to say that I'm writing this as an informational post, not really expecting a reply. I'm not really intending to start another discussion or debate. Just sharing my experience... for what it's worth.