Anyone ever flown a Gee Bee islander? I bought the kit about ten years ago and just haven't gotten around to building it . I'm thinking of starting it this winter and curious of how it flies.

is this the plane with twin "booms" and the fuse is built on a 33" gee beee float? i have the gee bee mallard that is also built on the float but i havent flown it yet.

Yup twin booms and a float fuse. I like the looks of the plane. I'm very interested in hearing how your mallard takes to the air as I think these two planes are closely related.

It's a great model. My mallard is just about 20 years old, probably my oldest. Go for it.

The Mallard was the worst plane I ever tried to fly of water. The only thing worse is their floats. They do work well on snow. They really "stick" to the water and only if you are overpowered can you get off. Then it is a sudden lurch into the air. Every year we watch some newby try and try to get something in the air seldom with success

Never had that problem with mine. I think it's your takeoff technique.

any of you guys have pics?

Mine is too old and ugly to show pics! Has an HB40 that has never missed a beat, and the tip floats are from an Ace Puddlemaster.
Takeoff...I think you need to give it DOWN elevator to get it up on the step right, and THEN up elevator.

Old and ugly doesn't bother me. That just means it has some personality. Throw us some pics easytiger, please.

I'll shoot some pics tomorrow or the next day. It's got personality, all right!
It's really funny...I had some 500 flights on the thing when I handed it to my buddy Joe Beshar...he was immediately all over the sky, threw the transmitter right back at me, and said it was dramatically tailheavy. He was totally right, I had just gotten USED to it!
I once had the throttle servo give out at full bore. Tried all sorts of weird maneuvers to get the engine to quit. Straight up, inverted, all kinds of snaps and rolls...that stupid HB kept running. Was really worried about breaking the wing. Nope. Found out that the 12 ounce tank will give me 27 minutes with that 40 running full tilt.
I think a 35 or so is the right engine for this bird. I have heard of them going with an OS26 four banger, but if she picks up some water, or it is choppy out, having the extra power to hoist her out of the water is nice. Needs a three bladed prop with an engine that big, though.
I do wish I had built her with ailerons. Not that she does not fly fine with rudder, it would just be more interesting.

PS I have not built the Islander, but several people have told me that everything is the same except the looks, same wing, etc...

on my mallard, im installing ailerons. im using flexible pushrods with the servo in the center. what material is used on the curved part over the tank? i saw one for sale on ebay with some clear stuff on it so you can see the tank, but whats on yours? thanks, jeff

A sheet of thin plywood. I wanted as much room as possible, so I could fit as big a tank as possible. You might want to reduce the dihedral a bit if adding ailerons, that's usually good.

pics pics pics lol i need to make sure mines not the ugliest