airhead

Hello,

I have just picked up some floats for my NEA Train-Air .40. I am looking to use these for water and snow.

How does one waterproof for water/snow flight? Would little nicks in the plane's covering be bad news for wood rot? What about where the wing sits on the saddle?

I am curious about how to protect the electronics and wood from the water/snow.

Thanks,

Dan

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

Little nicks on the plane's covering won't hurt. Assuming you store the plane with the wing removed, it will dry out. It should not get much waer inside anyway.

Little nicks on monokote covering the floats is bad. The balsa sucks up water like a sponge and will mushify under the covering material. A coat of polyurethane varnish before covering is the best thing I have found. Balsarite for film is pretty good, too. Pre-cover all the edges of the float with a 3/4" wide strip of covering, then cover the entire float. Work from bottom stern to top of bow so all the seams are shingled and won't be pulled open by the waterflow.

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

For your wing saddle, just use the typical foam wing tape that you can buy at your LHS.

If you want to be a little more careful, then you can put waxed paper on your wing over your saddle area, then put a small bead of silicone sealant (caulk) on your wing saddle. Then put your wing on your plane with your typical mounting and let it set overnight. Then take your wing off and discard your wax paper and trim up your silicone nice. You then have a perfectly molded wing saddle seal.

My Sea Cruiser II gets really wet, so I did the silicone seal as I described above and I put a little vasaline on the wing saddle as well. My plane stays dry as toast inside.

airhead

Thanks JimCasey and Goinstraightup.

I appreciate the info and tips.

Neo02

What I found also very good is to let a small drop of fluid CA run on every edge of the floats. The fluid CA will penetrate under the covering and seal it. Just hold the float in a position where the CA can only run on the edge and apply a few drops (not too much or it will ooze all over the covering).

What also is important in my opinion is that the on/off-switch should not be mounted on the outside of the plane, as this is usually the case, especially on ARFs. Mounted on the inside with a small piece of rod that extends on the outside will work just fine AND it will protect the switch from getting wet and possibly fail while in flight (with VERY bad consequences!). This point has already been stressed in other threads, I know, but "better safe than sorry"...

Regards,
-Fabrizio

pjwright

...and a little tip that came with my RC3 Seabee kit...use a piece of elastic to secure a paper towel or sponge in the "bilge" of the fuselage near the CG. Then, IF (when?) water does get in, it won't slosh back and forth, throwing your CG off during flight maneuvers.
;-)
pj