Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

See the picture. Im building a GP Piper Cub 40 and adding flaps and floats so i can land it on the pond behind my house. The north bank of the pond has sparsely populated but tall trees that must either be flow over, or between on approach. Let me know what you think...</p>

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

I think that will be way too small to fly safely, planes take up a lot more space then what you might be ready for. I would first fly it at a larger lake and see how much space it needs, then go from there.

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

I agree with Minnreefer. In addition, flying a plane such as that in a residential area is just asking for trouble. At the very least you might upset people with the noise, at the worst you may lose control of the plane and put it through the window of sombody's house. I wouldn't fly a plane in this area at all.

ken

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

That doesnt look like a place I would be flying a plane that size. It obviously is not an AMA sanctioned flying field, and there sure are a lot of houses surrounding the lake. One little screw up could become a Big mistake in that tight of an area, not to mention the fact that I am sure at least some of the neigbors backing up to the pond will not be thrilled with your planned activities. Can you not find a farm pond outside of town to fly this plane from?


(Edit: Geez Minnrefer and Ken, you guys are fast.)

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

that's what i figured i'd hear...i'd just really love to be able to pop out my back door a couple days a week, fire her up and get in a flight or two when i get home from work,  oh well...wisdom shall prevail :-(

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

Get a GP Seawind EP (The little electric one). It'll be perfect for that space - AND, it's a great flier!

you can get the RxR version (Receiver ready - you just plug in your Rx and go) for $159

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXVPE5&P=ML

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

Iagree, get some sort of little park flyer. A small, electric Cub on floats would be great. Nothing too high performance though. You don't want to get too much negative attention from the neighborhood. A .40 sized airplane could potentially be deadly if it hits somebody. That sort of thing would just mean a lot of bad press for the hobby and could even have an adverse impact on the people flying safely at the local club.

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

could you do it? yes you could, you could physically land in the area you described and it wouldnt be that big of a deal. that being said i would put on a good 30+ hours with that plane before you were to even attempt such a thing and heres why. if something is going to go wrong on your plane chances are it will happen in the first 10 hours, im talking about stuff like control horns failing, hindges giving out, battery connections or the battery itself going bad, and stuff like that. after you get all the little things tweaked out, get the engine running where you could bet your house that it would last the whole flight and feel confident about it.
then get to know your plane and i mean really know it, stall speed, its bad tendencies, what to do when xxxxx happens. think about all the things that would go wrong on the lake and practice for them at the field. like what if your elevator servo failed, throttle servo, ect. understand the plane well enough where you could ditch it in the lake and not into someones house.
think about all the things you have to avoid, look around for powerlines, tall trees, even small stuff like junk in the lake, ect.

once you have totally thought through this and every possible thing that could go wrong and prepared for it then you could try it. that being said you better know your stuff or it can and will get ugly very fast. i am not recommending this by any means im just saying if you try it at least think through it and dont do something totally stupid that will get you and modelers in general a bad rap.
cause oneday when your tired of work and just dont have that time to go to the field your going to try it, just use your brain a little beforehand

RE: Any tips to make sure i get this landing right?
 

that little red and white foam electric super cub arf flies SWEET on floats !!!!
..quiet, slow, and not so dangerous in that area...

Take your big one elsewhere after getting some practice..I haven't flown floats myself. But I have friends that do, I have watched many times...STUFF GETS REAL CRAZY on takeoff sometimes ..especially on bigger planes. Its nothing like a hard surface runway.