RCU Forums - Laker

I have built two Laker kits. The quality of the kit is good. The plans are clear. The plane itself, if built lightly, is a floater, and might be a little boring after your aerobatic plane. It has a flat bottom, and tends to skid on the water, so I have put a a 3/4" triangle down the center line of the bottom, as a crude keel, and it helps. I have used flaperons, with a GWS mini-servo in each wing. Using flaps, the model will hover in a 15-knot wind, and it will descend almost vertically in a level flight attitude. Rolls are slow (graceful? stately? gentle?) and loops are large. I thought the profiles of the tail surfaces were ugly, and made them more traditional-looking. I also made the outer bay on each wing panel full thickness, with a square end, and put oversize ribs at the ends, to mimimize tip vortex. I doubt this made any real difference. I thought the block of balsa under the horizontal stablilizer was unnecessarily heavy, so I put the horizontal stabilizer right on the fuselage. This put the stabilizer in the water, so I put a little streamlined float under the tips of the stabilizer. They are built-up balsa, and add almost no weight. As with all seaplanes, it is important to water proof the interior of all compartments that could get water in them. I used to use Glaskote, which I thought was great, but they stopped making it, so I use thinned epoxy now.