I was planning on building this seaplane, but I dont like gas engines, too much work and mantinence, and wanted to turn it into a electric. I just started rc airplanes alittle while ago and dont know a whole lot(i have a lot of flying experience though) and have NO clue on what size electric motor would be good for this situation. I'm sure that each pilot has their own prefrences on how powerful they want it, but just tell me what size you, personally, would use. Thank you for reading this, even if you dont post here.
Peace.

boot

I just built one with a Grayson Hobby Dynam A22-15M Brushless motor, http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/...products_id=56 and a Dynam 25 amp controller. I use a 3 bladed Master-airscrew 6x4 prop and 1650 11.1v 8C lipo pack from Common Sense RC. It has plenty of power to row. Be sure to add the recommended chine rails.

John

thank you, awesome, i was thinking that no one has ever done this, but thanks a lot!

Bonsai,
One thing I forgot to mention is to be sure to remove the factory built in downthrust. If you search many of the Aquastar build threads here on RCU, you'll learn that getting the plane to ROW is next to impossible with any downthrust. I built mine with zero degrees thrust. Thought of this while flying mine today. It was fairly cold but hardly any wind. Oh and if you use the motor, esc and battery combo I did, you'll see average flight times around 15 minutes without the motor cutoff kicking in.

John

I am also building an aquastar and am a beginner r/c flyer. I already have my engine pylon built can I shim the front engin mount screws to give some upthrust? I was also wondering about going to a t tail for more elevator authority? I did see one person that did that but seems like lots of others have been able to row with the stock conversion. I am going to run the .061 wasp, anyone ever run one of these? It recommends no synthetic on break in but I havent had good luck finding any without synthetic. I did add the chines as ACER did on this sight. Any other recommedations would be helpful thanks!! Happy flying. Clint

Clint,
Removing the downthrust and converting to electric power were the only deviations I made from the stock kit. I used the recommended control throws as well. My all up weight is 628 grams or about 22.15 ounces with tip floats. Yours will likely be lighter with the .061.

John

So how did your plane fly? Looks like a nice plane. Did the chines work well? I did the same chines as acer did which are considerably bigger but his seemed to fly fine. Have you seen that thread? Well I think I pretty much got rid of the upthrust had to take some angle out of the engine mount anyhow so should be good to go. Ailerons came out pretty well for a first time builder Sure is different working with balsa as opposed to carbon fiber!!! Clint

A funny story of a friend of mine that had a model like this: (he had upthrust in it) While taxing in the water, the wind flipped the aircraft up-side-down in the water. The guy with the small boat went out to retreive it and while he was on his way to it the Pilot turned the throttle up and the plane started to move in the water while upside down. We were all laughing at this when a gust of wind flipped the plane upright again so the pilot advanced the throttle and the plane took off and flew a few minutes before he landed it. Leaving the guy in the small retreval boat looking kind of silly out there alone. Ha ha Like to see that happen with an IC powerplant! Ha

My Aquastar flies great. I try to fly only in less than 5 mph winds but have had it out in 10 mph winds before. She gets to be a bit harder to handle in the stronger winds.
Be sure also to seal the wing saddle and windshield. I used silicon chaulk and waxpaper to form a watertight seal on the saddle. It was flown off water before I did this and I wound up with a bit a water in it. Dried it out and sealed it and haven't had any problems since.

John

I was thinking of getting rid of the rubber bands for the wing just for a cleaner look. If I built a lip on the front of the fuselage where the wing sits behind the wind screen and another on the wing to slide under? Then some plastic screws in the back of the trailing edge? Would that be sufficient for wing load? Any thoughts would be helpful. Just thought it would look cleaner and rubber bands always are sort of a pain. Clint