I posted this in the Seaplane forum...but thought this was kind of a beginner type question as well.

Hey guys...well I finally took the Mariner out for the first time today. Our club in conjunction with another local club held a float fly.

One of the club pros took the mariner up for me and helped me trim her out. After that she flew like a dream. What an awsome time....I'm hooked on Seaplanes!

One issue that requires some of your expert advice. When I got her home and took the wing off..I had a bit of water on the inside. Mind you, not to much perhaps 3-4 oz. I'm a little concerned because now all the balsa on the inside of the hull is wet. I did my best to dry it out with some rags and a few quick shots with my heat gun. Should I be concerned about getting wet? I think I've isolated where the water entered, but mostly I'm concerned I've damaged the balsa by allowing it to get wet.

Thanks for your help.

Joe

It should be OK after a couple of days in a hot dry climate. A coat of BALSARITE after it is completely dry might not be a bad idea.

A lot of folks probably won't agree with this one but it's my way of protection. Before I install all the "GUTS" inside the fuselege I spray a light coat of clear inside and let it dry. Helps keep the water from soaking in till I can wipe it out. I also put a couple small pieces of foam in the bottom. ENJOY!!!! RED

I paint the inside with thinned Rustoleum. It soaks in well, is fuel proof, & water proof.

Well I'll use this thread to ask wat is the lightest material to protect from water/fuel/oil?
Until now I have been using the GREAT PLANES Finishing Resin. Would love to hear about new stuff. And what exactly is balsarite?

Thanks for the replies...I'm a little less concerned now.

I'll use the balsa rite and try to hit all the nooks and crannys inside

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXB353&P=7

Balsarite is a heat activated adhesive. It is designed to be used with coverings that have poor or no adhesive on them (such as Coverite fabric or Koverall ).

As a "side effect" is also helps seal the wood.

I would suggest using the following to protect from water/oil/fuel:

1 thin coat of a commercial sanding sealer. Ideally, sand the fuzzies off when dry.

Follow this with a thin coat of polyurethane.

Oil base polyurethane is FUEL PROOF.

Water base polyurethane, while lighter than oil base poly, is FUEL RESISTANT. As long as you clean the residue off at the end of the day you will be OK, but if you leave it on overnite (or longer) it will soften the poly.

In any case, either of these will definitely be lighter than resin, and both will do what you want - keep the insides from absorbing water.

wot ever u do m8 dont try and dry it out yourself becoz it will split crack and bowlol

Personally, I never waterproof the inside of my seaplanes - and the reason for this is simple.

You're never going to get ALL of it waterproofed, so if gets wet, the water will seep under the places that ARE waterproofed.

Since those places are sealed, the water will take forever to dry out.

Just leave it bare wood. If it gets wet, take the wing off and leave it in the sun for a while and it will dry out. The basic construction should keep it from warping, and besides, with the exception of a major mishap, you shouldn't get TOO much water in there (And in the event of a major mishap, water is the least of your problems)

For my water birds, I use either a thinned epxoy or Balsarite on the balsa BEFORE I cover my plane. The Balsarite is the better of the two. I also some times try to add a drain tube in the rear of the fuse. After I flying day or a submarine landing, I can just let the plane hang from the prop and the water will drain out of the tube. Be sure to wrap your receiver and battery in a good water "proof" baggie.

Hmm. There are those spray stuffs to make fabrics like tents water resistive. I wonder would that work on balsa.