ifly-RCU

can someone point me in the direction of a sure fire way to build foam (covered with fiberglass) floats for a plane that size?

i made a bunch of changes to a dynaflight super piper to make it "water" ready like i put all the servos inside and basicly custimized it to my liking

now im getting really close to putting on the covering and have desided to put floats on it

not all i need is some plans that i can adapt to fit my plane

i was thinking for them to have a curved top for better looks and maybe a little "V" of about 3-4 degs on the bottom

can anyone piont out a site that would have some info
please, i really dont want to get into the very science of it all, just a good way to build a pair

kevin mcgrath

My Feedback: (1)

There is some science in the design of a good pair of pontoons.Frankly the easy way to put your plane on water is to buy a float kit.Both Sig and Balsa USA,have various kits and plans available,and there are other suppliers too like Tower.These can be all the way from plastic cheapies to full scale EDO lookalikes......Thats what Id do particularly if this is your first water experience. :sunsmiley

modest-master

Check this out.
Hollow molded gel-coated fiberglass.
They might save you plenty of work.
(4) sizes

40".........for 11-17.5 lbs. plane
25oz. pair

www.espritmodel.com

nforti

I just bought a pair of gee bee floats. They are stryofoam, so I still get to glass them in. I would say this is the route to go if you want to feel like you are still building your own.

ifly-RCU

well i have everything that i need (still need the fiberglass) to make my own

i guess i could just make some using some dementions that i came up with a while a go

what works best? flat bottom or a little bit of a "V" to it? a flat bottom float is easyer to make but i think a V float looks better

well for right now im just going to make the attachment blocks for the second pair or landing gear for the floats

what glue works best on blue foam?

nforti

There are a couple different glues to use on foam. I have used super gold ca glue for foam. Make sure you don't use regular ca glue, it will eat through the foam. Its actually pretty amazing how much foam one drop of medium ca glue will eat. What ever glue you use, make sure you try it out on a piece of your scrap foam first! Good luck.

KidVermin

My Feedback: (3)

ifly:

Just curious as to what dimensions you were told ?
I was given these:
1. Length is 3/4 the overall length of plane
2. Nose of float 3 to 4" in front of prop
3. Step is located 3/4 to 1" behind cg
The shallow "V" bottom will help break surface tension at the step
to help lift-off. Any of the 30/45 min. epoxy works fine on the
blue foam. Try to read articles you can find on float flying since
there are helpful hints that you can use.

ifly-RCU

i figure the dementions useing the formulas that were in a model airplane how tos book

they seem to be right along the same lines as you have there

fishgod

My Feedback: (13)

I built a set from the info contained on this site

http://flyinglindy.homestead.com/skisandfloats.html

It will give you all the info you need to figure out the size, design and installation

Michael

nforti

I am going to mount two hardwood blocks on each of my floats, so I can attach the wire landing gears. What are some of the different ways you have attached a wire gear to the float?

fishgod

My Feedback: (13)

I use these gear blocks that you see in the picture. I mount them to the hard mounts on the floats and then hold on the wire gear with wheel collars. Works great

Michael