I have a trainer that I converted to floats. I have had problems with water throwing off the center of gravity. I finally sealed the floats off and the bolts on the landing gear came loose and I did a some what controlled crash. The plane is not tore up to bad but I am not happy with the performance in the air. I just need more motor with the floats on there.

So here is my Question.

What would you recomend for a seaplane. I have a .40 glow engine that I would need to use. I have heard good things about the lanier mairiner.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.
Matt

Ace Seamaster 40 ARF. It is the best flying, most consistently praised, available seaplane at this time. The Lanier Mariner I flew was just like flying an Ugly Stick, but there are reports of inconsistency and Quality problems. If you get a good one it will be great. A SeaCruiser .40 was only available as a kit, but is now out of production. It is probably the best flying boat model ever. Sig Sealane appears to be a scaled-up Herr aquastar, and the one I saw fly had the same problems as an aquastar: Add power and it pushes the nose under water. FLies well once you get it into the air, tho.

I am seriously looking at the seamaster. I have a 46 thundertiger motor to go in the plane. Is that enough power. My hobbie shop is recomending something closer to a 60 size motor for water takeoffs. Let me know what you think.

Thanks
Matt

I have put floats on most of my planes at one time or another, up to and including my 80" Midwest Extra 300XS in one of the photos attached. All fly well with well designed floats. Also the Balsa USA Northstar is a popular seaplane, but if it is your first build I would not suggest that this be the one for you.

As to power requirements, keep in mind that the floats are creating as much, if not more, drag than an extra fuselage, and power accordingly. As an example, the floats I have used of the Midwest Extra are the same ones that I have used on my Midwest 80" Citabria, and each float is about the size of a .60 sized plane's fuselage. Therefore, with the Citabria on the wheels the Saito .91 is a good powerplant, but when the floats are on the plane it wallows unless running at full throttle.

For a .40 size plane that will have floats on it I would strongly suggest a .60 size engine for the reason above.

The Seamaster was designed to fly from water with a .40. If it's a plain bearing .40, the plane will fly but will not be as sporty as with a Ball-Bearing ABC Hi-performance motor.

Generally I find that people who claim that floatplanes need a lot more power have added a LOT of weight to their planes when adding floats. I have had great experience with lightweight foam-core floats. They are efficient, light, durable, and can't leak. Built-up float kits from the major manufacturers are much heavier, Larger frontal area (more drag) and the lite-ply can absorb water which weighs a LOT more than the air that's supposed to be there. Water sloshing around inside hollow floats (Or inside of flying-boat hulls) does really dangerous things to the Balance Point of a model, too. My guideline is that if your plane will takeoff from grass with wheels it has enough power to carry floats from water. Remember that wheels have really awful streamlining, but a pair of floats with somewhat larger cross-sectional area is a lot more favorably shaped to pierce the air, too. Example: A round wire has the same drag as an airfoiled strut NINE TIMES as thick. And a Seamaster only has one hull, in addition to the streamlined motor pod.

A Seamaster should have a few basic precautions taken (see Seamaster threads here in this forum) to prevent water ingress, but they are sweet-flying planes.

I have a Seamaster and have nothing but good things to say about it. I've only flown it off the snow, so I can't tell you how it will handle the water. I can tell you that it flys great! It's a very stable, easy to fly plane. And, because the enigine is mounted above the engine, it will do sweet lomcevaks. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

I was lucky enough to get hold of a Seacruiser II .40 sized kit...I have wanted this seaplane since seeing several of them fly and handle on the water...just love the looks also.

Anyway, I think the Seamaster and Seamonster would have been first and second choices if the SCII could not have been had.

The Seamasters I have seen fly are very good performers at a much more than fair price...you could do alot worse. I have seen a Seamaster fly in the skokie Lagoons, converted to electric and recovered with a very sharp not so scale military theme...it looked sweet and no real loud 2 stroke noise to bother the picnickers.

Northstar's are a lot of fun too!

Matt,
Usually there is nothing wrong with a trainer on floats. Before you search the world for the best seaplane you should search for the best woman. You will die long before you find her and then you won't have to worry about the seaplane. The planes which are mentioned are all great but there should be nothing wrong with yours. What do you want it to do? Are you a accomplished flier or still learning, are you an accomplished builder, how much money do you have, where do you fly from? These are all questions which will determine the best plane for you.
I would suggest for you to get some help with the set up on your existing plane and to help you with those first few exciting flights off water. When you have done that you will be able to tell which is the best plane.
Keep at it.
Peter

I love it when people ask what the best ????? is. It alows everyone to give their somewhat non informed opinion. Mine is the Northstar, and yes you could power it with a .40 but a hot .46 or .50 would be better. Some people think the Northstar is a high speed only plan, truth is it more fun doing full stall landings and running it around like a boat.

Yes -- do it. My Seamaster wears a TT 46 Pro & it flies its buns off. Use an APC 12-4.

Matt,

There has been a lot of good advice posted here in response to your question. If you are on a budget, stay with your trainer on floats and your .40 until you develop your own opinon of what works. In relation to the power available from your .40 and the added weight and drag of the floats. The nice thing about using your trainer is that it doesn't require much speed to fly, and it probably had a very low wing loading to begin with. Drag is a function of the square of the speed, so your drag won't be that much greater if you aren't trying to fly real fast. Trainers are pretty high drag planes to begin with.

So, the thing that you need to be concerned with is propeller efficiency to get the most out of your existing rig. Try using the larger diameter, low pitch propellers that will fit your engine's effective RPM range. Such a propeller will have a higher efficiency rating and will make much more use of the power you do have available. Your .40 should be able to swing an 11x4, without any real problems. the plane won't fly as fast, but takeoffs and landings will be much easier. The lower pitch propeller will help the plane slow down to make your landings much easier. Experiment a little with the exact diameter/pitch combination. You want the engine to be able to come up to speed, without over-revving. The larger the diameter, the more volume of air you will move . . . the more air you move, the more thrust you have. The law of conservation of momentum is Mass (1) X Velocity(1) = Mass (2) x Velocity (2). Therefore, thrust developed by your engine is equally weighted to the quantity(mass) of air that the propeller moves and the velocity imparted on the air by the pitch of the propeller. But the area of the propeller is proportional to the square of the diameter. So, if your .40 can spin an 11x4 at the same rpm that it can spin a 10x5, it will develop more pounds of thrust with the 11x4. The limitation to this analysis is the useable rpm range of your engine.

If the engine has enough power to get the floats up on the steps, then your trainer will probably have plenty power to fly.

Good Luck and have fun.

Thank you all for the great information. I am thinking that I may keep the trainer w/floats (it's already paid for). I have probably 20 flights on it from the water. The main problem that I have/had with the plane is the floats. They are the cheap plastic units that have a molding hole in the top of them. I have tried to seal the holes up but it still gets water in the floats. Even when the floats are dry I have the plane pull very hard ( I think to the left) when I go to full power. I do have a water rudder that is adjusted properly. It also does not flex under load (side to side). Sometimes this requires full rudder deflection and some aleron to keep the plane strait and level. As soon as the plane leaves the water you have to let off the rudder and aleron's and it flys fine. A little sluggish, a little slow, I can do loops but rolls take a lot of altitude (as expected). Landing is always beautiful. It has no tendancys to pull. It is just during full power on takeoff. If anything this has made me a better pilot. Take offs are always really scary.

Let me know if you have any ideas. I don't know if the torque from the motor is flexing the mounts. If you grab the floats from the bottom you can twist them a little bit. Also a recomendation on a light pair of floats that are sealed would be nice.

Thank you.

74, You might want to check out the floats made by Falcon. They are light, and pretty rugged. I have a set of 33 inch (only size offered) on my Kangke SK-50 with an OS 60 FP up front. Plane weighs a little over 8 lbs dry. Was able to use the stock landing gear and put a second one behind it mounted to a plate. Floats are made of ABS plastic, joined with very good seams. Haven't had any leaks in about 20 flights. The floats are ready to go, and come with the mounting hardware and a water rudder. I painted mine with Krylon Fusion silver and finished with a coat of clear Lustrecoat.

I have been considering both the Seamaster and Mariner also, and after flying both and observing others flying them, I will probably go with the Seamaster. If you read thru some of the posts on these you will discover that the Mariner flies well, but is plagued with the covering coming off the bottom of the hull, and an engine pylon which does not hold up and is difficult to repair.

Best Wishes

Jim, Where do you get your foam core floats? Neil Poland

I make my own. I made a set of formica templates a few years back, and I have made myself several sets, and sold a few. One guy that makes great-looking floats for an astonishingly affordable price is Ralph Smith. http://www.geocities.com/planefunfloats/
Ralph sells his for about what it would cost me to make them at less than minimum wage.

Check out Niagara Custom Model Products, they have low cost floats also.