RE: floats for blade cx helicopter
Tall Paul, I think it was the surface tension of the water - Sort of like being glued down. One float would break loose and your bird would then "fall over" the other float. It is just like getting a landing skid caught in a shag rug. Taking off from ice would have been like taking off from a sheet of plastic laid on the surface of the water - no surface tension holding the floats in place, so your bird hauled itself and its floats into the sky wtihout a stumble.