I will be new to flying float planes (hopefully) but was wondering;
are there any differences to flying with floats compared to wheels?
will it make the plane handle differently in the air and on water? what would i need to watch out for during takeoff and landing?

Cant think of any other questions but feel free to add anything else

thanks

>>are there any differences to flying with floats compared to wheels? <<
Very little. The floats may affect the trim a bit. The plane may respond a little more slowly. In most cases the aerobatics are not harmed. Knife-edge and inverted flight are helped by the area of the floats. Check the balance after you install the floats, and be sure it falls to the specified point.

will it make the plane handle differently in the air and on water?
It will handle differently in the water. With wheels, it would just sit there, half sunk, looking like a drowned starling. With floats, it's as nimble as a pram.

what would i need to watch out for during takeoff and landing?
Takeoff technique is to point the nose into the wind (usually the plane wil weathervane for you). Pull full UP elevator, and add power. The plane should push a bow wave and climb over it. Relax the back stick and let the plane (now planing on the surface of the water "on-step") accelerate. Apply a bit of back pressure and the plane will lift off smoothly. Do not "horse" it off. Let it fly off and climb very gently. It looks totally realistic.

Landing: Mind the wind, and land into the wind. Also, if possible, land so the wind will blow the plane back to you if the worst should happen.
Land as gently as possible, and carry a little speed as if landing a taildragger in a two-point stance instead of a 3-pointer. If you get it right, you will be flying along low, and then you will notice the floats making a wake. THe water does not lie, and you will see in the wake if the plane has skipped.

Taxiing is a little weird. Prevailing wisdom is that you need forceful water rudders. With some understanding of the technique, you can taxi without.
Neutralize all controls: the plane will weathervane into the wind.
Full up, and a little power, the plane will begin pushing a bow wave and weathervane DOWNWIND.
Full Up, slightly less power, use the rudder to steer it crosswind. Add power to turn downwind, reduce power to turn upwind.

Also on landing: You need to touch the back of the floats first, not the step or the plane can nose over.

If your floats are properly sized and adjusted, it might be easy as pie

It might in fact be easier to land on water than on land (depending on behavior of the model in question of course).

If you make a hard landing, your model might not pop up as high as it might during a conventional landing.

Avoid nosing over though

The newbie seaplane I got, can be landed almost in a Laurel & Hardy fashion without nose-over or anything.

The water is soft and forgiving but it is also wet unfortunately.

Cheers,
Ikaros

PS

As Mr. Casey says, landing is best performed with slightly greater speed than normally.

I would not recommend trying to land with great angle of attack like you do when making a three-pointer with a tail dragger, this could easily lead to a nose-over.

DS

The real single biggest difference in float flying is:
It's harder to walk out and get your plane if the engine quits.

Everything else is really not much different, and there are no potholes or cowflops on the runway to avoid.

Just fly the plane. THe wheel does not need re-invention. Go fast, pull up, fly around, land, taxi in. Just like on wheels.

The second biggest thing is: Runway grit does not collect on the oily goo on your airplane.

..Couple of other things...the floats add both weight and drag to your plane.....because the weight is down low, the increased pendulum effect can add more stability ....more noticeable on high wing planes. The increased weight and drag also show up when you idle back for landing. On most planes this translates into an increased sink rate. This can be alleviated by a couple of clicks of throttle as the model approaches the surface of the water...