onthefly

I appreciate the help you all have given me so far. I haven't yet got floats on my kadet but in my reading I've found that dihedral on seaplanes is ill-advised. Has anyone out there taken the dihedral out of the LT-40 wings or made new ones for it?
Or should I worry about wind getting under the wing while on the water?
JS

tks1

My Feedback: (1)

Most wings have some sort of dihedral built into them. Generally speaking the less the dihedral the better the plane will fly (I should say cleaner not necessarily better) BUT it wont have the self correcting characteristics that dihedral provides. I normally dont put as much dihedral in a wing that is called for - but I wouldnt try to remove it from a wing or build a new wing because of it either. I just finished an 8ft Beaver that I will put floats on next summer. The kit calls for alot of dihedral and most Beavers get put on floats at some time or another. I only put about 1/2 the dihedral that they called for but they wouldnt tell you to put that much if it had an adverse effect on float flying. Also, any plane will flip if there is enough wind - you will just have to pay more attention when windy.

Hope this helps you - where did you read that it is bad for floats? I am interested in reading why.

tks1

Ed_Moorman

My Feedback: (1)

If you can't fly very well, you might want some self-righting. 99% of all fliers like the plane to go where they point it. A high wing location is equivalent to 3-5 degrees of dihedral, so taking it all out still gives you some dihedral effect. Haven't you noticed the Ultra Sticks with flat wings. High wing planes don't need any unless, as I said, you don't fly very well and need help keeping the plane upright.

A buddy has a Sig LT trainer with flat wings. It flies better, but not as good as a low wing plane. It may be an LT-25 with a TT .42 in it, I'm not sure, but it flies like a Stick instead of like a trainer.

I happen to like high wing plane for the convenience-you don't need a cradle to put them together. But, to make them fly correctly for aerobatics, you need anhedral, the same amount as you need dihedral for a low wing plane. You do need dihedral, or sweep back, on a low wing plane or it will roll opposite to the rudder in knife edge and point rolls.

Blackhawk RCU

My Feedback: (5)

I have been flying a LT40 right out of the box no modifications for over 4 years. It is a great float plane just as it is. Using a Saito 56 for power.

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

I don't think in this case that the dihedral will be a problem. Mostly you are worried about the wind tipping your plane over and if the floats are set up correctly, then I think you will be fine. I've seen 100's of high wing planes on floats and IMHO turning in strong wind on wheels is more of a problem. The wide stance and weight of the floats makes everything more stable.

Cool plane ED. I like your column in RCR. I don't deny that the flight performance of your plane is great - it does look like you made a REALLY hard landing though....

bigjohnsonrc

My Feedback: (1)

I made two modifications to the wing on my LT40 Float Plane. I took most of the dihedral out so that with one side of the wing flat on the bench the other is one half inch above. Barely noticeable. The other thing I did was to make the wing semi-symetrical by adding appropriately sized pieces of balsa on the bottom of each rib. I have a Tower .61 two stroke and it flies great.

Cap'n Bob

vantown

[8D]Here's a picture of my LT 40 on floats. Stock wing. Flies like a dream with a OS 70 FS. Not very aerobatic. Slow rolls & loops are about it. Leave the dihedral alone.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Vantown,
What size floats are you using on that LT-40? I bought a set of 34" floats at the WRAM show. I have a LT-40 with a TT Pro 46 in it.

Do you think that combination would work? I have absolutely no experience with setting up or flying on floats...

Thanks for the advice.

Bob

seaplane

The 34" floats will work just fine. Here's a pic of my wife's LT-40 on my 34" floats. It's a stock LT-40 with stock dihedral. Have fun...Seaplane

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

Bob,

Here's some float info:

[link=http://www.flyinglindy.homestead.com/skisandfloats.html]Float info[/link]