I would like recommendations for a first float plane, something that will do more then just fly circles. I can't decide rather to put floats on like a SIG SE or similar plane, or a Balsa Northstar, or Laniers float planes. I have no experience with float planes or do I know anyone that does. I have several years of experience and a decent flier and live on a large lake. Would prefer something for a .46 or a .61 as I have these 2 engines new, waiting on a plane.

Thanks in advance.

well i have two flyable "floating planes" that i fly and one coming along. the two are my trainer (easy 2) on floats and an ace seamaster. the guys that i fly with say not to get the lanier sea bird or as they call it the "sea turd" because its heavy due to all of the plastic. if you want a flying boat i would truly recommend the ace seamaster. every guy that flys down the road in our flying pond has one. it flies just like my trainer.
Jeff

Tower Hobby sells a plane by GeeBee called the Sea Hawk it is a float plane.They also manufacture floats it doesn't come with any landing gear only floats costs $75.Is a little small for the 46 but I use a 40 and it could handle the bigger engine.Is solidly built as mine has survived many dunkings and crashes with little damage although I did build sturdier supports for the floats as tended to bend but my plane is very old they may have fixed that by now.Very happy with the way it handles and flies.

I whole heartedly recommend the ACE (Lanier) Seamaster. It is the best R/C Float Plane on the market. The only problem is... ACE went belly-up. Now Lanier owns it and only makes it available as a BARF. If you don't mind flying a BARF, get a Seamaster. (And if you can find an old Seamaster kit, GRAB IT!!!

Also, I would highly recommend that you STAY AWAY from the Northstar, at least for your first seaplane.

I like my Balsa USA Northstar .40 very much and recommend it highly. Here are a few pictures of it.
Dan

And another picture.

there is a guy selling a seamaster NIB down in the airplanes for sale section for 180$ shipped.

mike, im almost certain ace is now owned by thunder tiger

Guys, thanks for all the info, I still can't decide. The seamaster seems the way to go, the northstar looks like it may be to quick to fly. Given there are houses on the lake, I want to make sure my first one is a stable one.

Has anyone seen a SIG SE with floats? As I love this plane, and very comfortable flying it.

I say get a Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60 with a YS 91 and install a hard wood block behind the wing. This way you can bolt on a second landing gear and add or remove floats. It makes a great float plane and a lot of fun. I can convert mine from wheels to float in less then five minutes. I used the plastic floats which are made for the Ready float plane from Italy. The US 60 on wheels or floats will do just about anything.

Sung

I HAVE to tell you this story...

Last Saturday my club had a well advertised event for the local town festival. There were going to be demonstration flights, a trainer cord hook-up so people could try it etc.

One of the events was going to be "Hit the plane with a paintball" for 25 cents a shot, where we were going to let people shoot at a Duraplane with paintball guns.

Well, the event was a bust It was just too windy. No one wanted to risk flying in the stiff breeze that was blowing. Not to dissapoint the crowd, I did manage one good flight on my Ultra Sport 40, omly to get hit by a gust on landing and tearing out a retract in the grass.

But the crowd were really dissapointed to miss out on the paintball event. The guy with the DuraPlane didn't even show up due to the winds.

So I decided to try something. I cranked up my old Seamaster. This particular one I had built with a foam wing, and instead of knocking out the holes in the plywood sides, I had glued them in and painted it. So I figured it was sturdy enough to "take a hit or two".

After making several flights, no one was able to hit it. So on the final flight, I slowed it down. THIS THING WAS AMAZING! It crawled through the wind at speeds so slow that I thought surely it was going to stall, but it just kept flying. It was all I could do to keep it from being blown all over the place, but it responded to all of my inputs like a well trained dog. And yes... it got PLASTERED! All in all, it probably took over 30 hits. Total damage: One of the knock-out holes got knocked out, and one paintball went clean through the vertical fin. Results: The crowd was happy, The Club was happy, and I was delighted with this little airplanes performance!

Lanier bought out " Goldberg " not " Ace ".

I would have to say the best sea plane I have flown is a piper cub by goldberg I think that it is the most versatile airplane for floats. I have flown them with 40and 60 2cycles and 70, 91 and 120 four cycles and would recommend a 70 or 91 in a four cycle but a 60 2 stroke would work fine. They will handle rougher water than most other sea planes and are very sturdy. If you can still get a kit for the plane and the floats It is a great combo
at far as the sea-master I think as long as it is a t tail it is OK
the old ones had a hard time getting off the water.

The Northstar Is also a great plane I have had one for 10 years and it has been a lot of fun but it is a fast plane I have had mine clocked at 125 MPH on radar I have a 91surpass with a pump and it is quiet I fly float planes allot and It is important to keep them quiet so the neighbors are not bothered
If you decide on either one of these feel free to send me a not and I will send you a list of good mods you can do


here are some pics of the cub and northstar (and a nice spruce goose )


http://www.rcgypsies.com/2001pics/index3c9a10a619.htm


RON

Jdan,

Lanier bought Goldberg last month.

Lanier bought ACE a few years ago.

Coming up with a good floatplane is not tough. Just take your favorite plane and add floats. Trainers work great. Sig Kadets are marvelous. Stiks are great on floats. Astro Hogs fly like they were made for water. And yes, Ace Seamaster ARFs are well-liked and fly very well.

Water flying is my favorite thing.
Hit my website
http://jcasey02.home.gate.net/fff.html

My 1st and I still fly it is a Hobbico Avistar (monokote) a TT46 pro and some Gee BEE floats.....excellent combination, and much fun!!

Back to your original question - you want to do more than fly around in circles. I ran into the same problem - the airplanes are too stable with all that gear under them, and a lot of extra weight so they can land on water. I found a kit called a "Beast" in R/C Report several years ago and it is very aerobatic. It's basically a flying wing with a pontoon down the middle under it and floats under each wing tip. If you set it up properly it will spin, snap roll, or anything else you want. It's a .60 size plane, which will fly with a .40, but not as well.

Let me know if your interested in it and I'll see what I have for info.

Bill

Only you know what's best for you - but here are some pointers which may help you get there. I've been floating for 15 years and presently have 3.
The best advice was from "poorbs" - to put floats on a model you love to fly. That sounds like the SIG SE. I have one but have yet to put it on floats - but I WILL !
Then comes what / how to do just that ? Well, if you're going to convert your existing model, you may have some difficulty getting into the fuselage to build in a ply re-inforcing plate for the rear float struts. Or just cut through the film and get in that way.
But before you start, plan out where the front ands rear strut mounts are going to be. You'll find there are websites which will help you - I can't remember them but maybe someone else can help here please ?
If you have more questions, get back to us on this thread. We WANT you to start floating - OK ?! MalcolmL
PS BTW, the North Star is a whole lot of floatplane ! I've had 2 - only 1 survives !

I found one of the float sites I referred to in my previous post. It's aaafloats.com but when I tried it, I couldn't get through. I hope they haven't gone under (ouch !). If no one else comes up with a float site, I'll try scanning what I have. MalcolmL

Poorbs and Malcolm L, you guys are reading my mind. Any info you have on the beast and converting my SE will be appreciated.

Thanks

Sig SE would work well. Here's a "Morris the Knife" on floats to show you how its done.
http://jcasey02.home.gate.net/morrisknife.jpg

toyking - I've been half expecting a call for help from you ..... Unfortunately, that contact I gave you doesn't respond and the website doesn't want to work. So I'm going to try sending you something but please be patient and I'll get to it after I've cleared my backlog - just got back from a trip upcountry. It's worth the wait - believe me - when you start floatflying, you'll wonder why you bothered with wheels !

jim - that's a great looking Knife. Mine is languishing at the moment and fitting floats to it would be a sure way for me to revive it. Did you fly it off wheels before floats ? Is there any noticeable difference ? Mine has a MVVS - and yours ? And what floats did you use ? I'll let Mike H know we're in touch.

MalcolmL

toyking - Good Morning ! You didn't want to wait, did you ? I didn't either. I know what it's like to have the answer ........ just out of reach and then have to wait ........ So I did it and attach it hereto. If you can't read it clearly, let me know and I'll email it to you. These hints for float installation / conversion are based on notes posted on the internet by <[email protected]> but his site is not up anymore, it seems. Fortunately, I made a hard copy at the time I downloaded it. The sketches are copied from his - the notes are mine - with all due acknowledgements to Leon's original.
Hope you find them useful and come back if you have any further queries. We do want you to be a new floatflyer. MalcolmL

MalcolmL, you remarked:
"jim - that's a great looking Knife. Mine is languishing at the moment and fitting floats to it would be a sure way for me to revive it. Did you fly it off wheels before floats ? Is there any noticeable difference ? Mine has a MVVS - and yours ? And what floats did you use ? "

The MTK Belongs to Jerry Thompson, a fellow club member here in the Florida Float Flyers. I don't think he ever flew it from wheels, but it's certainly not lost much if any of the Morris nimbleness. I believe Jerry used the MVVS motor in his. The plane has vastly excessive power....it doesn't "take off" as much as "Blast off!!".

Those floats are custom ones Jerry made of white foam and epoxyglass, to a Schneider-racer pattern.

Certainly the SE would adapt well as a floatie. Our club is awash with Senior Kadets and Astro Hogs on floats. "Sig" must be the Norwegian word for "Makes a good floatplane".

Peruse the photos on the FFF website.

I have an SE on floats with an OS 70 FS in the nose and it is a great flying airplane,

Bob