Hello all!
I know there have been some of you wishing someone built a float Mini Guinea, since it would look like a Sea Otter, and would just be awesome! Well, I have done it. Please pardon the poor look of my plane, as I crash often, and am not worried about aesthetics so long as the thing flies safely. I am on iteration number 3 of floats, and I have not flown the latest ones yet, but I thought that I would give a rundown.
Iteration #1: This first attempt was after attaching skis last winter that were less than stellar. I realized that floats would accomplish the same goal, and would be useful in the summer too. I used localfiend's 21" float plans (thanks! They are awesome) and bent some wire as the method for attaching the floats to the plane. Unfortunately, the first landing (i use this term generously) ripped the wire out of the floats. (sorry, no pics)
Iteration #2: Seeing that I needed something more beefy to stand up to my "landings," I put plywood tabs down into the floats, glued at the bottom of the float (keel), and also where they protrude from the top of the float. Having built in the FT method several times, I realized that barbecue skewers were a good, strong, cheap method of attaching the floats together. I did this with 3 skewers in the front, 3 in the back, all offset and then wrapped with string and super glued in the center to triangulate the loads. This made for super rigid floats, but because the skewers were not all that long, the floats were not nearly wide enough. I found this out the hard way on the first water taxi event by flipping the plane over because a wingtip caught the breeze. On another day of flying on land, I had some typical "landings" and the floats again came off.
Iteration #3: For the 3rd round, I decided to do something a little more common with boat building and glue-laminate the float supports. This took me some time, more because my 2 kids keep me busy and not in my shop, but I finally got them finished. They are somewhat crude, but I think will get the job done. I again used skewers with this iteration to add strength and triangulation. I have not had a chance to fly with it yet, but I look forward to playing with it. The current setup has very comic proportions as you will see in the pics, but I think will do the job.
(I realize this isn't totally a scratch build, so maybe someone can move this to a board where it belongs.)
I know there have been some of you wishing someone built a float Mini Guinea, since it would look like a Sea Otter, and would just be awesome! Well, I have done it. Please pardon the poor look of my plane, as I crash often, and am not worried about aesthetics so long as the thing flies safely. I am on iteration number 3 of floats, and I have not flown the latest ones yet, but I thought that I would give a rundown.
Iteration #1: This first attempt was after attaching skis last winter that were less than stellar. I realized that floats would accomplish the same goal, and would be useful in the summer too. I used localfiend's 21" float plans (thanks! They are awesome) and bent some wire as the method for attaching the floats to the plane. Unfortunately, the first landing (i use this term generously) ripped the wire out of the floats. (sorry, no pics)
Iteration #2: Seeing that I needed something more beefy to stand up to my "landings," I put plywood tabs down into the floats, glued at the bottom of the float (keel), and also where they protrude from the top of the float. Having built in the FT method several times, I realized that barbecue skewers were a good, strong, cheap method of attaching the floats together. I did this with 3 skewers in the front, 3 in the back, all offset and then wrapped with string and super glued in the center to triangulate the loads. This made for super rigid floats, but because the skewers were not all that long, the floats were not nearly wide enough. I found this out the hard way on the first water taxi event by flipping the plane over because a wingtip caught the breeze. On another day of flying on land, I had some typical "landings" and the floats again came off.
Iteration #3: For the 3rd round, I decided to do something a little more common with boat building and glue-laminate the float supports. This took me some time, more because my 2 kids keep me busy and not in my shop, but I finally got them finished. They are somewhat crude, but I think will get the job done. I again used skewers with this iteration to add strength and triangulation. I have not had a chance to fly with it yet, but I look forward to playing with it. The current setup has very comic proportions as you will see in the pics, but I think will do the job.
(I realize this isn't totally a scratch build, so maybe someone can move this to a board where it belongs.)
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