Just got mine, and would like to put a smoke system in it, and also set it up so I can switch to floats. I already have a TME smoke system. Will make home made floats per Chuck Cunninigham guidlines. Should I sheet with balsa before glassing floats? Should I just sheet on bottom? I going to try to glass with minwax polycrylic. (worked good on an electric foamy.) Are there any hardpoints in the rear for a rear float mount. Is a Evolutin .60 NT big enough engine? Any tips before I start.


Thanks
NeArLy NoRmAl Al

I'm not familiar with the Cunningham floats. Are they foam core, or all wood, or fiberglass? If foam, I would recommend sheeting the bottoms at least, and glassing them as well. The bottoms invariably get beat up when beaching the plane and /or just sitting around.

The Evo .60 should be plenty for power, but a 4-stroke would work better for smoke. If you go that route, a .72 is perfect, plenty of power for floats.

Where do you plan to mount the smoke pump, and more importantly, the smoke tank? There's not a lot of room forward of the c/g on the plane. The pump is okay where you can find a place for it, you can add weight where needed to balance it. But if you have the tank significantly behind the c/g, you'll have a balance shift as the fluid burns off.

You'd either have to start tail heavy with a full tank, the balance would shift to neutral as the tank empties, or start off neutral with the tank full, which would change to nose heavy as the tank emptied. With the TME pump, about 2 oz. /min. is recommended for glow engines l.90 or less, so a 6 oz tank will get you about 3 minutes or better of smoke. If you can get the tank on the c/g, it won't matter either way. I have the H-9 Cub with floats, it's great on the water.

I haven't really looked at it yet, so I'm not famiilar with it.. I ASSUMED being a big cub there would have been alot of room. Makes an A** out of me any time. I originally bought the pump for a Nitro Models .com Cap 232 .60 size. Had a coverted for petroleum 6 oz tank in it but didn't leave a heck of a lot of room for pump and another battery. Tank was on CG too!
Chuck Cunningham used to right for Radio Control Magazine. Has a do it yourself article which I will use to make floats out of foam. If ya need a copy let me know. He mentions packing tape to cover floats. NO WAY. I will at least cover the bottom with 1/16 balsa, then glass.
Thanks for your help

There is lots of room in the cabin for a smoke tank, but you would have to build a shelf for the tank to sit on. If you have never used smoke oil before....it is messy - especially if you get a leak anywhere.

Your floats are the only thing between your cub and the bottom of the lake. Defintiely glass them!!

I was planning on glassing, just wasn't sure if I should plank the whole float. Plans as of now, (subject to change) is to plank the bottom with 1/16 balsa. 2oz. glass on the bottom. Then 3/4 glass the whole thing. Thanks for your help. I'm planning to use stryo foam, the white stuff. When I glass foam I've started using Minwax Polycrylic. Is this as good as Z-Poxy?
Thanks

Most floats are made from pink or blue foam... If you are using the white stuff, then you definitely need to plank the whole thing.. I don't know about the min wax...it is a finishing product, right? I'd use epoxy for the strength that you'll need... Your cub will probably come out aroud 7-9lbs

I've been hearing about using poly instead of epoxy for glassing, but for floats, that will be immersed for periods of time, I'm not sold on the idea. I guess it would be okay as long as you use a spar urethane, designed for wet applications like boat hulls. Epoxy is harder when cured, I think it would hold up better.

good point. since it is water based. it's soooo easy to work with and clean up . maybe a second coat with spar urethane. used the poly to glass a small foamy, and painted it with krylon fusion afterward. came out pretty good. worked great. tryed to upload a few pix.
thanks for all your advice. i don't have time to make all the mistakes.

al