A guide to flying with floats

Model Airplane News, Sep 2000 by Onorato, Jim

One last thought: water spray can eat up a wooden prop in no time at all. Use reinforced-fiberglass props on the water.

FLYING WITH FLOATS

A floatplane takes off differently from a land plane in that its tail doesn't lift before the rest of it as speed increases. Instead, the floats gradually rise until they are "on step," at which point the plane really accelerates. The main thing to watch for during takeoff is that the plane doesn't bounce into the air before it's ready to fly. Make sure the plane has reached flying speed before you apply any up-elevator. The initial liftoff with water streaming off the edges of the floats is a sight to behold!

Because of the added drag and weight of the floats, the plane won't fly as fast as it did without floats, and its vertical performance will be somewhat diminished, but other than that, it should fly pretty much as it did before you added the floats.

The main difference I notice when flying a floatplane is the "pendulum effect" they experience at the last half of a roll. They really whip around! Also, landings have to be made a little faster to compensate for the higher wing loading. A perfect landing is made when the float's step and transom "kiss" the surface of the water at the same time. It just doesn't get any better than that!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm told that most planes will benefit from additional air rudder/fin area when equipped with floats. Up to a maximum of a 25-percent increase is usually recommended. The additional area is needed primarily for stability, and it's easily added in the form of a fixed fin under the fuselage. I suppose it helps during takeoff, but I have flown most of my floatplanes without additional air-rudder area and have not encountered any real problems.

Float flying is a blast. Try it; you'll like it!

FLOAT-FLY CALENDAR

DePue, IL, float fly, Aug. 13, Lake Depue, IL. Contact Bob Jeppson,(815) 339-2378.

Olympia, WA, Annual float Fly-In, Aug. 20, Black Lake, WA. Contact Bruce Gale, (253) 845-0705.

Springfield, MO, float/Fun Fly, Aug. 19-20, Springfield Lake, MO. Contact Harold Wessel, (417) 859-3126.

Woodland/Davis float Fly, Aug. 19-20, Woodland, CA. Contact Milton Degroodt, (925) 682-2185.

Oak Forest, IL, Annual float Fly, Sept. 2-3, Twin Lakes, IL. Contact Bernard Zoppa, (708) 957-3854.

Don McKinney float Fly, Sept. 9-10, Big Spring, TX. Contact James Sawyer, (915) 263-5917.

Midwest Regional float Fly, Sept. 9-10, Brighton, MI. Contact Darrell Watts, (248) 391-4677; Carl Long, (810) 254-0048; cclong@tir.com; www.geocities.com/-skymasters.

Smithville Dambusters float Fly, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, Smithville, MO. Contact Wes Parmenter, (816) 532-4350; www.sheepdip.org/sdb.htm.

Greenfield, NH, Fall float fly-In, Sept. 15-17, Greenfield State Park, NH. Contact Bob Spear, (603) 654-9814.

Coming Trl Rivers RC Modelers Float Fly, Sept. 16, Lawrenceville, PA. Contact James Anderson, (607) 527-8243; manders@stny.lrun.com.

TX/ND RC Seaplane Fly-In, Sept. 23, Hidden Cove Park, Colony, TX. Contact Charlie Viosca, (972) 625-2922 or (972)294-1443.