Ive been wanting to transition my clipped wing J-3 cub into a seaplane but i really dont want to pay 80 bucks for the ones at our hobby shop. They do however sell some composite ones for like 40 bucks, but i have plenty of wood that i think i can build my own but so far everyone has told my not too and that nobody does or something. Is there anything wrong with building your own, and are there any plans to follow out there? thanks in advance.

***I want to build floats.. sorry about that

Hi Guy ,
Here is a site that may help you : www.flyinglindy.homestead.com/skisandfloats.html
Hope this is what you are looking for --- Smitty <*(((>{

FlyNFish44 was right. CHuck Cunningham's article in Lindy's website is the defining document for getting started in float flying.

If you don't want to make them from Foam (Recommended. Never leaks), you could Use chuck's outline, and build the floats like a sheeted fuselage, with ply bulkheads at the mounting points for the struts. If you want to be adventurous, make the bulkheads in an inverted pentagon for V-bottom floats. About 15 degrees of V and 15 degrees of tumblehome in the sides works well. Reinforce all the edges with a stringer/keel. Just keep them light.

try flyinglindy website

i built my own from foam and 1/8 plywood they both work great

I built a set of floats for my LT-40 using a built-up concept, and they worked out really nicely. I have patterns that I could email if you are interested.

One thing that I discovered by accident was that it is unnecessary to pre-cut the side panels. After I framed the whole float up, I just applied a nice aliphatic glue to the frame, and laid it over a 4" x 36" sheet of 1/8 balsa. Using masking tape and some small clamps I pressed the sheet against the frame until the glue was completely hard. I then trimmed the excess sheet down to roughly the outline before gluing the opposite side panel in the same way. When it was cut down, I just sanded to the final outline. This avoids any problems getting the dimensions of the sides just right.

Hi,

you can find some free float plans on my waterflying homepage: [link=http://www.rc-wasserflug.info]www.rc-wasserflug.info[/link] !
Go to the downloads-area and look for "Schwimmerbauplan".


Greetings from Austria


Johann