Your first thoughts on FlyZone's new SeaWind?
 

I see where Tower is now offering a SeaWind by Flyzone... http://www.towerhobbies.com/products.../flza4054.html anyone have any first impressions on this one? I know you guys "up north" couldn't care less now, but summer is coming :)

jf

What? they fly of snow :p,

my thoughts were,,
Like the retracts and the larger size that the GP version,,

but without actually seeing one on the water, who know if the water handling is better that other versions??

I'll let you know, mine is on the way.

Full review for Fly RC Magazine.

One thing I can assure you though, I will NOT be flying it off of snow!!!

Me either :)

Maiden 20 Dec 2015, purchased from Tower 14 Dec received 17 Dec. No problems with assembly but Foam Tec glued vertical fin on,didn't trust locking device. Use 2200mah Glacier battery and flew for 5min, only had to trim elevator. Flew easy and landed to double check plane. 2nd flight performed basic aerobatics and check stall performance. Good flyer for type of plane.

Mine just got here, looking forward to getting it out on the water

Looking forward to a review, specifically how the gear works. It will go off of snow here..eventually!

Read the forum for how to takeoff and land on water it's different than a float plane. Keep it into wind, easy on throttle, get it on plane with up elevator,relax elevator,then fly off water with wings level always. Flys great, have about 25 sorties on aircraft.

Were your flight off water or land?

Both, last Sunday off water about 4 batteries and 20 water touch and goes. This was in 15 to 25mph wind with gust to 28mph. Down wind turns were full power but plane was a good wind flyer but you had to be quick with the sticks and had dual rates with lot of throw to keep A/C level. Wind didn't die down until end of day around 4:30pm.

I think I broke the hinge for the canopy hatch...anyone have a fix?

My guess is they didn't clean the mold release from the fuselage so my stickers are peeling, and the cockpit is cramped and my fat fingers make changing the battery a little bit of a chore.

On the good side, love the lights and strobes. Gear is simple and the water rudder extends from the rear when the gear are retracted and retracts into the fuselage when the gear are down.

Handles wind nicely, the flaps are effective and it flys quite slowly. I haven't taken it out to the water yet but off the runway its cool. Someone said they glued the fin in with foamtac and I can see doing that but mine has stayed put just snapping in so far.

The main gear have a servo in the middle that extends and retracts them and they have a spring loaded strut. It's a pretty simple and effective arrangement.

The nose gear has an actuator or servo buried in the nose, it works smoothly and a spring pulls the doors shut when the gear retracts.

Great thanks. Like the water rudder only being used when needed. I went to my lhs to check it out...he didn't have it yet. Left with a rtf hanger 9 twin otter instead :eek:

Good call on the Otter....I have a friend who works/lives in Alaska and it cost him $500 for that plane, and another $500+ for shipping!!!

Main gear servo failed, use servo tester to troubleshoot. Hooked up another servo to gear mixer module and functions normal. Does anyone know how much torque I need in a servo to operate main gear, part list says 38grams weight but no torque!

i bet that is going to be a pain to replace....let us know how it goes.

Don't tell your friend I got mine for barely over he paid for his...but mine was new, all built, and had all JR/Eflite gear in it. :) It was a lucky find!

I won't tell him....he FROZEN this time of the year :)

I was about to say I am too...but he wins, he's in Alaska

The Seawind flew great off water!

not an easy build in the cabin. Mine had the main gear servo fail also after just testing it before ever flying it. Looked like a nightmare to replace so I had my local HS replace it for me. I took the canopy off to build it. My biggest complaint was that both times the aircraft was very short on hardware screws and the second one was missing the prop adapter in addition to missing screws. The cabin is setup kind of tight for it's size. I put the ESC in a small pedestal in the back off the cabin. LG work real nice and have shocks on them including the nose wheel. To remove the wings for transport you have to un-attach the control rods from the servo arm up under the back off the cabin and all the wires for servos and lights, a bit of a pain but doable, just takes a bit of time.
Maiden flight was off grass uneventful with just some minor trim. Handles nice in the air but need a little power thu turns because of the weight of the pontoons on the ends of the wings. I did get to taxi around on water on another day but didn't take off because pond was too small and locked in by trees. The day on the water was a little breezy but the aircraft handled the water taxiing better than a high wing float plane, probably because the wings were lower to the water. Overall this is a great looking, a little out of the ordinary and a true amphibian RC Airplane!

Flyzone Seawind
 

Quite a few you tube videos of Flyzone Seawind on the water. Mnrangar is the author. I especially like this one which demonstrates its amphibious operation. :cool:

youtube.com/watch?v=CJm_MzJ24cE

I want to get a Seawind for my next plane and the Flyzone appears to be the only one that is a true amphibian. I'm wondering how strong and dependable the landing gear is. I'll be flying it from a grass runway a lot of the time besides taking it to a local lake. Are there any not-so-good features to this plane? I understand there is an issue with the decals coming off. Can they be sealed with something before it's maiden flight to help? Any comments, good or bad, will help me decide for sure. Thanks

Landing gear seem to hold up pretty well but you may end up having issues with the nose wheel flying off grass.

The decals are just a matter of mold release not being cleaned off before they are applied. Callie Graphics has Sea Wind decals in a number of colors, I would just get a set if you're worried about it and prep right before you put them on.