Hello,

I just bought a used mariner off a guy but am having difficulty exactly identifying the plane. Its definitly a Mariner, V bottom, heavy, fiberglass fuse, splash rails, looks like the pics etc. Except its wing span is only 76" unlike the new ones which are 80".

Does anybody know of the 76" version? What size engine did you use, any flying tips etc.? It came with a FOX .74 which the guy says flew well but I'm hard pressed to believe the .74 could adequately pull around the 13 lb. beast.

Thanks,

Jim

You SURE it's a Mariner? I think the mariner's fuse is balsa, not fiberglass. Sounds more like a Sea Bird.

Of course, I could be wrong....

Steve

There was a SeaBird thread earlier: http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...lanier+SeaBird]

Turns out it's not a Mariner. Called Lanier and they said they only started producing the 120 Mariner last XMAS. Mine is bone old. Looks identical in every way tho, including fiberglass fuse. Pretty clear where Mariner got the design lines from..... I looked into the Sea Bird and it has an ABS fuse. The mystery continues. I'll post pics tommorrow.

Interesting. You obviously know the difference between ABS and fiberglass (not a SeaBird), so my curiosity has grown as to what it is exactly you have! Did Lanier give you any indication that they had produced the plane, or is it not a Lanier afterall?

I think I recall seeing a plane that was VERY similar to a Mariner, and I believe it had a fiber fuse. I saw it for sale on Ebay - a 'kit' that was long out of production. I'll see if I can brush away the cobbwebs and come up with the name...something is telling me 'Kingfisher' or something similar.

Steve

thanks Steve. The guy from lanier (Bubba) said if I send him a picture he'd help me identify it. I took the pics but forgot to email them to work to post here and send to bubba. Tonight. I'm guessing he'll know as its probably not a coincidence the mariner design is so similar , right down to the sculpted splash rails etc. I weighed the airframe and its exactly 10 lbs with no servos, motor, tank etc. More soon.

10 LBS???? Holy cow, that's a lead sled! With that weight and only a 76" span, I can't believe a .74 would get it off the water. Maybe the previous owner bungee launched it ;-) Sounds like it's time to take a hole saw to the sucker and start lightening (or plan on a way bigger powerplant).

Wondering now if it's a 1-off home built 'copy' of something (ala Mariner).

The intrigue continues....keep us up to speed on the investigation!

Steve

Ya its heavy! The fuse is about 70" long and all fiberglass. Its built like a canoe! I doubt if its home brew. Would take a hell of a mold. The lines would be too difficult to one off, there's a splash rail and a lip down the sides of the fuse that look too uniform to layup with fiberglass wo a mold. I attached a picture here.

Jim

I came across an article in Model Airplane News (Sept 1987). They had a "Float Flyer's Buyer's Guide". In the article they showed a airplane that is similar to yours except that the tip floats appear to be different. It's a glass fuselage and was made by Tiger Fiberglass and Marine. It's called a "Super Seamaster 60" and was designed by Ken Willard. It has a fiberglass and foam hull. Unfortunately there are no other specs of the plane. There is a small picture but I don't think that it will scan very well.

Good Luck!

Bud :idea:

From your picture, Jim, the tailfeathers (shape/layout/mounting), wing, foats, enging pod are all EXACTLY like a Sea Bird - even the general hull (fuse) shape is pretty darn close.

My gut says who ever designed the Sea Bird, designed this one as well (they're WAY too close). Maybe in fact it's Lanier's "Sea Bird model X-001" - an early prototype before they went with the ABS production models.

Hopefully, you can get the photos to the folks at Lanier and they'll shed the light you're looking for.

Steve

It's called a Neptune. Made by a Canadian company called Horizon. I had one 20 years ago and I recently bought another kit at a swap meet.

Both of mine are 40 size, with about 65" span, but I'm sure they made a "60 size" as well.

Jim

Great. Thanks Jim. Must fly good if you bought another? How much does the 40 size weigh and what motor do you use? Any weird flight traits?

I don't really remember how it flew that long ago, but I had it for 2 or 3 years as my primary float plane, so it must have been OK. I think I had an OS 45 FSR in it.

I do believe it was heavy but it didn't seem to bother it too much.

Stick one of the new, small block 91 two strokes in it and try it out!

Jim