apwachholz

With winter in abundance, especially here in MN, it's time to take off the landing gear and slap some floats on our birds to prevent them from disappearing into the snow on landing. And while ski's are nice they don't work well when the snow is 6" and fluffy.

This post is primarily for guido2 - thanks for the inquiry and I hope this little bit of info helps you when installing. Oh, fyi Guido2 - for the T-28 you'll probably end up mounting the floats entirely "on" the wing, as I did. The wing is too deep and takes up so much space on the belly of the airplane there is no way to clear it and mount the floats directly to the body. It's not a bad thing, just figured I'd point that out to save you the time of trying to figure out where to mount the floats (unless someone else has some insight - which would be very appreciative).

A few points to note:
1. Take ur time measuring. You want a nice 'square' mounting job. If you mount wrong, you'll have a heck of a time landing/taking off.
2. Seal the floats. I used [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJGT1&P=7]DuBro Flight Tape[/link] on the floats after I glued them together. Works Great!
3. Make sure the slots cut into the wood blocks have a TIGHT fit for the wire gear. If it's loose, you're floats will rock back and forth. Bum deal.....

Here U Go! Happy winter flying Guido2!!!

guido2

Thanks for that info, it will certainly save me some serious trial and error. My floats have been ordered but have not arrived yet which will make it much easier for me to pretend to be domesticated until after the holiday. Again, thanks. That was a lot of effort to go to and I appreciate it.
guido2

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Ummm... is that poor visibility due to snow falling or is that something on the camera lens??

You MN guys are hard core!!!

apwachholz

CGRetired -

Nothin' but crazies up here in MN. That same day I took up my Piper Cub on a re-maiden (as it had an unfortunate radio glitch crash late fall) and it performed wonderfully. I have been practicing my cross-wind landings (thanks to the girlfriend for coaching me - she's a real-world pilot) and boy did that come in handy this day. Here's some pics. And if you want to see a cheezy video of that day as well, here it is:

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmofRsZu4cM]Youtube Video: Winter Flying in MN - 12.20.2008[/link]

Just can't get enough of this sport. Oh, I have a partner in crime as well - Mr. Valdez (he's in the green) - he's prepping his BH Models T-28 w/floats right now and if the wind doesn't push the temp below zero, you'll find us at the field. LOL!

PA BEN

This last Saturday, forgot to screw down my canopy. Lots of fun.

apwachholz

PA BEN -

LOVE the shots! Nothin' like a good winter outing on floats. Personally, I kinda like the whole float-thing (as this is my first year doing it). And your Mustang looks pretty mean with the floats you have on them, especially with that 4-stroke beast hanging out front

rcbartra

Hello guido, I am putting ideas together to mount my gws foam floats on my parkzone trojan, I am pretty new to this rc stuff so it you get those floats going would you share your experience? good luck, and pls keep us posted.

apwachholz

rcbartra -

A buddy of mine just mounted the exact same floats to his PZ T-28 last week using the same method(s) I posted. He's having fantastic results! Here are some pics of it in flight. Lemme know if you have any questions...