Hi all...I'm new to float planes--so much so that I don't actually have one yet. I normally fly over farmland, etc, but we have a pond and I'd love to take advantage of it (always level + omnidirectional T/O and landings!).

Anyway, one serious concern I have is whether the exhaust will dump a small oil slick onto the surface of the pond. Nitro engines do put a lot of oily smoke out, and I would think even a smallish amount put into the water could be a bit messy....If that were the case, I think I'd prefer to avoid the seaplane idea altogether .

Any thoughts/ experiences that might shed light on this concern?

Also, how much distance do planes like a Seamaster need to T/O and land on water?

Many thanks in advance...

Yep, a fuel-burning engine puts a little slick of oil down when you taxi.

The good news is, it's apparently harmless.
I flew off the same pond in Florida for five years, and never saw any evidence of any environmental impact whatsoever. And this was a club-site, so there were a bunch of us flying there. I was actively watching for any evidence of pollution damage....it just wasn't there.
We had ospreys and pelicans and Ibises, alligators, fluorishing populations of tropical fish all thrashing about in the pond and there was never a sign of any environmental distress. We still had to weed the banks regularly.

Thanks for the reply...yeah I wouldn't think there would be any permanent damage or anything...it might just take away from the beauty of the pond etc, which might not make the rest of the family all too happy...Of course, I could always go with an amphibian plane in case the thing puts too much oil into the water. And then there's electric.....

Anyway, the more I research it, the more I realize I MUST HAVE A SEAPLANE!!!![>:]

The oil slick does not persist. it's just there for a few minutes. Of course, the other components of the fuel are infinitely soluble and biodegradable.
Of course if you have somebody watching over your shoulder who doesn't want you flying there anyway, they'll just find something to pick on.

And, of course, you could always go with an electric seaplane. I built and flew an Ace Puddlemaster this summer. It flew very nicely with no oil in the water at all

With a modern brushless motor and lithium polymer battery, it has plenty of power and can stay in the air more than 20 minutes.

Mike

Yes I would agree, if there is concern for the enviroment then go electric.

Saying that there is no impact to the lake/pond enviroment may be jumping the gun a bit. 5 yrs is nothing in relation to evolution. The impact will start @ the bottom & work its way up. This could take decades or more, who knows. It would of course depend on the amounts ect.
I don't know, but I do know that OIL in water is BAD. Still we fly & love it, compaired to the worlds major industry polluting we (Model Float Pilots) are just a grain of sand on a large beach.

In the 11 years that my club has had the farmground we fly on, the adjacent crops have improved in yeild. I don't attribute this to the glow fuel oil residue, but there appear to have been no noticible effects to the ground and crops.

However, two years ago, I fear, some mutation or other caused our normally docile ladybug population to become bitter and angry, and develop the capacity to bite. I fear it's a fuel induced mutation, or they just rebel against our invasion of their tranquil space. It's only a matter of time until they mutate into larger, more vengeful species, and take us all out. Beware.

Good luck,
Dave Olson




(Yeah, yeah, just kidding, I know about the Jap beetle thing.)

I would think that crop duster over spray and drainage/seepage of fertilizer and pesticides from the farm would make more pollution than a few models, not to mention pollutants from the atmosphere introduced by rain. Every little bit hurts, but I think we are in the noise level.

Hello; I smile at your ecological concerns, Isn't castor oil water soluble?, Isn't synthetic oil water soluble? I think so. When people think "oil" they think dino oil, which does leave a rainbow remainder on water. But I don't think any of us use 'dino oil' in our planes, I know that I don't. So I don't think you have any thng to worry about.

We have been flying from our lake for 30 years and there hasn't been any problems in all that time. We once had a problem with one guy that ranted and raved about the birds, he was so crazy that someone called the cops, who took him away and had him "evaluated" and we have never seen him since. I heard he was committed to the local loony bin. I suppose we even have the odd crazy fellow in Canada.

My Seamaster used to take about 50 feet before lifting off the water with a Surpass 70. One fellow has a Rossi in his Seamaster it lifts off after 20 feet or so. The electric ones I have seen here seem to take forever to lift off, a hundred feet or so. I always try for a scale take off, so 50 feet or so looks just about right.