OK, the weather is improving and among other things it's time to begin thinking about what to fly on the water this summer. The question is simply which one of these planes to purchase for my first boat.
I've read all the threads I could find on these planes, but none that really answer the question of which would be the best for just good ole sport water flying.
Any opinions would be appreciated.

Dave

Just bought a Mariner. Excellent craftmanship.Clear instructions.
Almost finished building. My first Seaplane, and expect to be pleased beyond words. More to come soon..........

I have a seamaster 40 and live on a lake.. it has been an excellent plane so far. I've only got about 4 flights on it .
we'll see how she performs this summer
Hawk

Hawk,
What size engine do you have on it? Is the covering the "sticky backed" kind or regular Iron on?

TNTELSTAR,
I saw one of these Sunday at our flying field - surprised how light it was - haven't seen it fly yet.

Thanks,
Dave

Hi

I have a GMS .47 in it but I'm thinking about a webra high output .40
Hawk63

I have the Mariner and it's a really good flier. I have a Irvine .53 on it. The pylon engine mount isn't as robust as I think it should be. The motor shakes it like crazy, so be sure to lock tight all the hardware. Especially the Irvine carb cam screw. The covering is thin and there's not much seam overlap. I ran thin CA down all the hull seams. Ultracote orange didn't match the color either. OTher than these opinions, it's a nice bird. I like it's performance over the Seamaster because of the hull design. The Seamster is real skippy and bouncy with the flat hull. The Mariner has a V hull. Makes for nicer touch and goes. You won't go wrong with either one.

I have a Seamaster, bought of E-bay ( shipping to high ). Flys great and is very stable, be very careful about spins. Secound one caused the plane to hit the water hard enough to rip of the wing and pull loose the bulkhead that the pylon attaches to. I have repaired it and it still flys fine with a megatech 46.
a friend of mine has a Mariner which also fly fine. he bid manage to break the dihederal joiner in a landing that did not look that hard. repaired it on site and was flying in munites.

I have a sea-monster new in the box which is my next project. Looks like it's pretty well built. More or less the same as the Sea-Master but with a fiberlass hull (i.e. lower part of the fuse.)

I'm looking for a Seabird, Seamaster or a Seamonster. If anyone has one they want to get rid of let me know. I prefer trades or partial trades.

Thanks in advanced

I appreciate the responses - best news from all these posts is that all three ARF's seem to fly well and be well made. I hadn't given the flat hull on seamaster any thought, but I can see how that would cause more tendency to bounce.

Thanks guys - still a hard decision, but looks like I can't go wrong.
Dave

Too bad Hangar Designs (in Arizona) closed it's doors. The Sea Cruiser (looks like the Ken Willard Kittywake) is a great flying boat. I love mine. With an OS 40FP it is in the air in about 35 feet. The flying characteristics are very similar to the Ugly Stick type planes. It doesn't have pitch changes with different power settings like I've heard about other flying boats with pylon mounted engines.

Here's a pic of the Sea Cruiser II. Sorry for the quality as it was scanned.

dude
seamaster rules
all the others are imposters
watch out for thr shipping
it kills a lot of sales here in ALASKA

Goinstraightup - I saw a Sea Cruiser kit at the Perry Show this year. Good looking model. I like the idea of body mounted balance (outrigger) floats.

Dave

If your interested in something other than an ARF you must check out the Laker from RCM plans or Balsa USA. I had one years ago and am thinking of building another in the near future. Great airplane.

I saw a cloud dancer at least I think that was its name maybe it was seadancer not certain but it flew very well and was quite nice looking

I have flown a seamaster 120 for 2 summers now. Excellent flying plane with no tendency to skip or plane sideways (unless trying to turn at higher speeds). Make sure you have a 1/4 inch balsa keel (120 size) running down the center. Weights in about 23 lbs and flys well on a quadra 35. My album has a picture of it just breaking water with rudder still creating wake.

Windy,

I hope your going to put floats on that Twin Otter of yours, that would make an awesome floatplane. Were did you get plans for one that size?

The twin otter is going on floats. It is a natural for that. Got the planes out of the states. Still working on it. I hope to be finished and get in some flights this summer.

It's looking good Windy. Keep us updated with pics as you go along. What color scheme are you planning. I've always like the yellow SAR or the AirBC that flies out of Vancouver harbour.

I am planing on the Air BC color scheme.
Does Kamloops have anything going on on the August 23 weekend?

Just checked the MAAC site and it doesn't look like much right now. But if you can make the float-fly in Salmon Arm on the Sept 5th weekend it would be even better. If you've never been it's probably the best Float-fly in Canada. It's sanctioned for the weekend by flying goes on all week. I try and go every year whether I'm flying or not.

Cdallas2,

many years ago DeHavilland Canada made available a free set of plans for the Twin Otter.

It's 86 2/3" (yes, you read right 2/3") wing span, running 2 OS 35 R/Cs.

As I recall, a chap working at DeHavilland did the design (R. Scott, drawn by Scale Flight Inc.). They may still be available direct.

Those were the days. You just sent a note to the manufacturer and they returned all the plans, drawings, photos and what not you could imagine - and then some. All free, too.

Just remember, it was only the short nose version that they certified on floats, although most people think the longer nose version would look better on floats.

I personally prefer the short nose version anway.

Thanks for the info I might just look into that a bit more.

I am planning on Burns Lake float fly long weekend and was planning on Salmon Arm on the way back. Then I remembered it was our club float fly the weekend of the 6th. I really should support my own club event.
Maybe next year giant in Kelowna then Shuswap next weekend after. Planning?

AR196. OOps I guess I won't be scale, unless I mistakenly shorten nose. Thanks for the info.