ok i did some searching and found old falcon floats to be favorable,.... "seaplane" on here make's a nice set of floats favorable(not sure if they come finished and rigging?). i'd like to stay with rtf.

one more i liked is these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll..._promot_widget (sorry don't know the short cuts)

they are priced nice and have an attractive bottom. any one have any expirience with these?

i already have the gp 40 size kit that i built and i'm not looking to build any more at this time

thanks

craig

Pirogue,

You're in luck, I got this very same set of floats from Ebay a couple of months ago, and attached them to my Alpha 40 trainer (see pic below). Here's what I can tell you.

Overall, the floats are pretty good, I've made about 10 flights so far with them and they have performed well in the air and on the water. BUT there are a few things to look out for.

1. The mounting hardware is junk with the exception of the aluminum struts and spreader bars. Just go ahead and throw all the screw, nuts, and bolts away. They expect you to mount the struts to the fuselage using tiny machine screws and nuts. Forget it, use 6-32 bolts with blind flanges in mounting block of 1/4" plywood.

2. They expect you to screw the the struts and spreader bar directly into the floats. This is OK on the back of the floats because it appears that the plastic gets thicker as you move further back on these floats. However, toward the front of the float, the top is very thin. When you screw directly into this area, the screws will ream out the holes after a few flights and come loose. I corrected this by adding a piece of reinforcing plastic I cut from a bucket lid and epoxied it to the float with a piece of fiberglass in between. It's worked great. They also expect you to use small screws to hold the floats to the struts, throw these out and use 6-32 screws.

On water the floats do perform pretty well. The water rudder works OK, but takes some getting used to if your not used to flying off water. I'm still getting use to takeoff. Sometimes I track straight as an arrow for a clean looking takeoff, other times I have water-looping issues. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the floats or my technique, but I always eventually get her in the air. Landings have been pretty, unless I do something to screw it up.

I got my floats from a different seller (and doesn't seem to sell these anymore), but mine also came from Hong Kong. The seller shipped them quickly, and I got them within a week. Impressive if I do say so myself. The seller I got mine from used the same exact pictures as your seller, so they must have copied each other or may be related some other way.

Overall, I'm very pleased with these floats. Like you, I was looking for something reasonably priced, came with good struts, and was in stock these fit the bill nicely. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. I have some more pictures, but if you want a picture of something in particular, yo might have to wait because the plane currently resides at my parent's lake house.

thanks for the reply weber24, i'm learning all about beefing everything up the hard way i just built the great planes 40 float kit and put them on a alpha with an arrow wing and i really like them but don't have anything to compare them with.

i did get in touch with the seller and the price is good, just trying not to make a regrettable purchase.

thanks alot for all the info!!!

Pirogue,

I don't have anything to compare these floats against, but I really haven't had any problem with them. Since you already know what float flying is about, I think you'll be OK. Let me tell you, I was really nervous putting my plane in the water the first time I had these mounted, much less flying and landing on them. But they worked just great.

On another note, how is the Alpha with the arrow wing? I actually had a passing thought to give it a try sometime, but thought that surely it would never work, something wouldn't seat right. Seeing that you've done it, how does it fly? I think it would be neat to get a little more performance out of the Alpha.

Sorry for taking this a little off topic, but you really peaked my interest.

No problem at all. it actually's fly pretty darn good, the trailling edge of the wing sits a lil too high but still fly's great. this was actually two planes, i didn't buy the arrow wing, i bought the whole plane and that's what's left of the two. it's all due to trying to fly without a trainer or any expirience besides the simulator. i did have to cut the fus. to fit the wing, but i have been flying it like this for two months without any problems and i fly it pretty aggressivly.

this pic will show it a lil closer.

In case you are interested : The floats that used to be sold by Falcon are actually Galleggianti floats by ARC out of Italy and are now sold by Hobby People. If they have them in stock is another thing, the last time I looked they were on back order.

I have those floats on 4 different planes and really like them. The largest plane I have them on is a 90 size Cessna.
ENJOY !!! RED

weeber24, i just ordered a pulse xt and a tt46pro for these float's. i noticed during a search on the pulse that you have one also. cool!

do you have any comments about this combo?

i recieved the floats yesterday. they look ok but that's all i'm looking for and not the scale look. just simple and functionable.

Hello weeber24

Yes , the floats you brought from Hongkong is our products !

We have another new 60 class floats aslo .

View it here

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5364290/tm.htm

We have two 3mm thick hub on the top of the float (as the photo showed !)

So we think this is no problem to screw the the struts and spreader bar directly onto the floats. It can not broken.

Does 3mm hub is too thin ?

Anyway ,thanks for your advice. We are looking for some easy way to prove our hardware ,make it easy to fixed for piolets !

If you have any advise please PM or e-mail us !

Thanks !

24H-Hobby

yes mines have hubs in them for securing!

Pirogue,

I think your going to love the Pulse XT, especially on floats. I've got mine setup with an Evolution 0.46 and it flies great. I know there are guys that put a bigger engine on this plane, but I don't think you'll need it, even for float flying. I would recommend something like an 11x5 or 11x6 prop though for taking off from water. Let me know how the install goes, and I want to see some pictures. [8D]

24H-Hobby,

Knowing me, I probably missed the hubs on my floats. My main concern was getting the steps located in the correct position in relation to the plane's CG. I have my setup working great with your floats, so I'm a happy. It's good to see that you contribute to this forum, it shows some good support for your product and the hobby. Keep selling these floats, I may have to buy another set from you soon; this is one addictive hobby and float flying is too much fun.

weeber24, thanks for the reply. i did install the blind nuts like you did. i flew an alpha with these floats and love em!! the durabililty was tested today and i'm pleased to say it did great. my partner and i were flying while i had the master and he had slave controller i accidently released the switch and the plane did a nose dive and came donw really hard and it just bounced back in the air and kept flying. it bent one strut slightly(bent back) and chiped gel as float flexed. no structure damage at all, just fix gel and bend strut back. it was a severe hit, if itt werethe ground it would suffered fuselage damage.

here is my plane on left with great planes floats and partners on right with 24h-hobby.



again mine on right his on left.



here is how i beefed the fuselage for the struts with blind nuts like weeber24.



these floats ROCK!!

Well Well ! My post was deleted ! [&:]

Need some float advise, my 1st seaplane
I have a ARF SIG KADET on .40-.60 ARF Great Planes Floats, appx 37" long, weight range 5-9.5 pounds. I'm using a OS MAX .65 engine. I suspected extra weight issues so I added fixed flaps, stall fences and leading edge flaps. Now at the final moments I weighed her5 and she's at 12 pounds.
Obvious dumb question, will it just sink or water line well over floats? I can't seem to find any ARF larger floats, I was thinking maybe of just cutting them in half and lengthening them by 8" or so.

the great plane floats are large and pretty tough when using the mounting pads, i'll let the experts answer but in my opinion they will float your plane, not sure how it will handle take off's and landing's.

N215PB, I've been making foam core floats for 5 years and have calculated the displacement of most of the sizes I make. My 34" floats will support a maximum weight of 19 lbs with the tops of the floats at the water's surface (completely submerged) and my 42" floats will support 38 lbs. For the floats to perform properly, I like to keep the flying weight down to around 1/2 the maximum. In your case the 38" floats should support around 28 lbs. maximum or 14 lbs. flying weight. Hope this helps...........Seaplane

That weight range is for the plane without the floats. I think you will be fine as far a floatation goes.

Jim

I spliced the float back together, i'll give her a try like that, my 1st seaplane. I ordered a Lanier Mariner 40 ARF just in case she sinks!

Hey guys,

I bought some Great Planes .40-.60 size floats for a Seagull Models Spacewalker II. The float mounts/braces had flaky and blistered paint, and when I sanded some off, I found solid rust underneath. It was obvious that GP's supplier had made the mounts out of rusted wire and painted over them. Anybody else had this problem with GP floats?

Jack

Now the next question, will an OS Max .65 fly 12 pounds?

Update on Great Planes .40-.60 size floats-

I told Great Planes about the problem (see below) I had with the float mounts/braces on the set of .40-.60 size floats I purchased. They asked for some pictures, then sent me a complete replacement float kit! Much more than I expected! GP really does stand behine their products!

Jack

We are looking for struts to fit a readyfly arc. the floats are GALLEGGIANTI but the strut kit is " part # 31 pcs R-1 thru R-10. local hobby shops in alberta don't stock can anybody help?..........

Which Falcon/ARC/Modelfly kit are you trying to find the struts for? The Ready? Cessna? Beaver? I have the struts for the Cessna if that will help you.

FYI, "GALLEGGIANTI" is Italian for "FLOATS". Your floats were manufactured by ARC, used to be distributed by Midwest, and are now distributed by Global. If you can't find the struts you need, go to http://www.hobbypeople.net/prdcls/FLOATS01.asp

Jim

Thanks, i've never studied Italian. appreciate the link........bill

Has anyone checked out the floats for sale by *********.org?
I would love to put a set on my Alpha. I was estatic to see others have already done so successfully and loving it. Thanks for the posts guys.
The manufacturer is Super Flying Models. They seem pretty nice, fiberglass construction, rudders, around $55. Any opinions offered would be much appreciated.

KMAN

SFM floats are much like the ARC floats mentioned earlier. Asian copies.