hi
I have a lake place in northern minnesota and want to get a seaplane to play with up there. Right now I want to get a Thunder Tiger Seamaster and have heard of the hull leaking and to fiberglass the bottom. If i do fiberglass it do i need to paint the fiberglass? Or could I put some clearcoat on it instead. I'll mainly fly off of a boat and when I do fly off shore I wont be taxiing up onto the sand. Also, I have a MDS .40 engine and wanted to know if it had enough power. Thanks

I haven't heard about the leaking problem, but then it's very few seaplanes that don't leak.

I wouldn't worry about doing anything to it until a problem arises.

However, you may be disappointed with the performance of it with a 40. It will fly ok, but a good BB 46 would be better.

I have a seamaster 40 w/a tt46 on it --was 2nd hand so may be a little used point is u don't want any less power than this , more would be better.

Supertigre .51 was plenty. Seal all the seams with a good hot iron, RTV all the openings including the wing saddle, wax the bottom and off you go. Dry as a bone till the end...but that's another story. []

I had a Seamaster for several years. It was my first sea plane. A bad switch caused its demise at Havasu this year. Oh well! With respect to fuselage leaks -- I did get some leaking until I did the following: First, I plugged the holes where the main landing gear and nose gear entered the fuselage ( I never planned on flying it off land so this was not a concern for me.) After flying it the first day I still got some leaking. So that night I put some silicone on the wing saddle, covered it with waxed paper and then tightly replaced the wing. The next morning the silicone had dried and I removed the waxed paper and had a nice seal between the wing and fuselage. This cured about 90% of the problem, but I always got some water inside the fuselage. To alleviate most of the water problem, tie wrap your receiver to the former just in front of the servo tray so that it doesn't sit at the bottom of the fuselage where water can get to it. On another note, don't worry about tightening the water rudder so that it remains in the down position all the time. Just put it in place and let it flop up and down. Vibrations will allow it to go down and stay down while taxiing. Power -- I used an OS 46 FX with a MACS muffler and it would do anything I wanted it to do with the exception of hover/torque roll. Later I replaced the MACS muffler with the stock muffler and still had plenty of power. Your MDS 40 should be sufficient, but its not going to WOW any body. Overall, the Seamaster flys very well and can handle some wind and rough water. Make sure you absolutely keep the wings level when landing or else one of the wing tips will "dig in" and the plane will ground (water?) loop and kill the engine. The Seamaster was never my best sea plane but I was always glad to have it in my arsenal and took to every float fly.
Cheers,
Midget

I have to agree with the other respondants regarding maintenance and leaks. My motto is,"if it aint broke, don't fix it". As for power a good 46 is a good choice but a MDS 40 will fly it, especially if it is one of the new series. I haven't seen much power come out of the first series. If your's is one of the old "Black Head" series I would recommend putting it in your fishing tackle box and using it for weight but the new series are pretty good and will probably fly your Sea Master although with not with as much gusto as a 46.
Have a good New Year.
Peter

Hi
Another question for Midget.
You mentioned that the seamaster was not the best float plane in your fleet.
I am looking to buy a good floatplane. If seamaster is not the best choice then what do you recommend I look at.
I would like to buy a good one.

The best seaplane you will have is your favorite sport plane with floats on it. Kadet Seniors work great with floats. Astro Hogs work great with floats. Ugly stiks work great with floats. Extras on floats are super. Cubs on floats if you like scale.

Seamasters are excellent floatplanes. Lanier Mariners are, too, but the only mariner I flew was an early one and I have heard they have some "randomness" in the quality of manufacture. The one I flew was as comfortable as flying a stik.

I agree with Jim Casey. The best float plane is your favorite on floats. Every airplane I build I make sure I provision it to accomodate floats. The Kadet Senior makes a great float plane and its easy to add lights for those night flights. So far my overall favorite float plane is a Kadet Senorita that has been modified with the addition of flaps. I power it with an OS .32. With the flaps down the aircraft will loop so I had to mix in some down elevator to keep it level. With half flaps landings are almost perfect every time. However, the Senorita is very light and almost any breeze will flip it over. The Kadet LT is the same size but heavier so this may work a little better.

Midget, what kind of floats did you use on the Seniorita? I'm rounding up materials for a Kadet Jr and am thinking about putting floats on it as well. Mine will have a modded wing, compared to the plans. I'm taking out the dihedral, adding one bay to each wing(for 6" more span), adding ailerons and maybe flaps. My plane will be 36" long, 54" in span, with an OS 25FP for power. Any ideas?

The Kadet LT-40 also makes a great float plane. In fact, any of the Kadets on floats are great. Here's a pic of my wife's LT-40 and my brother's Senior both on 34" floats.

Sorry, but I don't remember. They were a gift from my children for Father's Day several years ago. They are a commercial product, 35.5 inches long, made from styrofoam and I covered them with balsa. I then painted them with monocoat paint and finally sprayed on several coats of clear laquer. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Midget