Here's the final chapter to my story: I really wanted to fly this bird and spent a lot of time trying to analyze the problem and try to find a solution. I never did get it to fly, but came up with a few observations. First, the engine being perched very high above the CG gives the plane a very delicate sense of balance. Only a slight change in pitch attitude makes the engine weight move either forward or aft of the center of lift, which makes the plane respond in an erratic manner, thus the porpoising in the water and touchy elevator control. Second, this is a fairly heavy plane for its wing area. It simply doesn't generate enough lift with the thin, symmetrical airfoil. Even though it officially spans 72", much of that wingspan is occupied by the wide fuselage and tip floats, neither of which provide lift. These attributes mean that a long take-off run over calm water is essential, something that is difficult to acheive with a very short-coupled hull that likes to turn arcs. I have read comments that suggest staying off the rudder and being quick on the ailerons during take-off, and that makes good sense but my model wouldn't track straight enough for that under any conditions.

I'm not an expert pilot, although I have a lot of seaplane time, and I recognize that there may be a few people out there who have been successful with their NP Seawind. I suspect that one may have more success flying off land, but that's not why I bought it. I also suspect that the quality control is lacking and I may have purchased a particularly lame bird. I should also mention that it was a bit over 3 months before the replacement canopy finally arrived in the mail (after several calls and emails). It came in a cardboard box without any hint of internal packaging and had a huge tear in it, worse than the first canopy. Didn't matter much by then since I had already removed engine and components from the model, salvaged any useful hardware, and sent it to the landfill. I did save the wings however and hope to use them to repair a Seamaster (excellent plane!) that lost its ballast last summer and came in hard.

Spyder