FT Float Scaling for Mighty Mini's

Byrdman

Well-known member
Good morning! I'm thinking of putting some of the Mini's on floats, or scaling up some mini's for floats, and was wondering if anyone has scaled down the Simple Series Floats to do this and what % worked best.

Just taking the Scout vs the Mini Scout, the length is approx 62% and the wingspan 64. I was thinking if I scaled down the Simple Floats to 65% it would give a little room for error and probably be the size for the Mini's. On any scaled up versions of the Mini Series planes, I can start with the 65% file and scale up accordingly.

Am I thinking this correctly? Would anyone do anything different?
 

SSgt Duramax

Junior Member
That sounds right to me. A long winded way of probably getting to the same number would be measuring the length of the float vs the fuselage of the full size version (like if you have one you already like) then coming up with the same length for your mini. Will the weight scale down with the height at the same ratio?
 

Byrdman

Well-known member
That sounds right to me. A long winded way of probably getting to the same number would be measuring the length of the float vs the fuselage of the full size version (like if you have one you already like) then coming up with the same length for your mini. Will the weight scale down with the height at the same ratio?

Yeah I thought of that too. I have some that are the right size for the smaller Simple series and bigger ones for my Storch that will also probably work for the Legacy and any scaled up Simple Series planes.

I really want to scale up a Simple Stick and put it on floats like they did in the FT video. I wish they would give an equipment rundown and sizing information when they do those videos.
 

SSgt Duramax

Junior Member
Yeah I thought of that too. I have some that are the right size for the smaller Simple series and bigger ones for my Storch that will also probably work for the Legacy and any scaled up Simple Series planes.

I really want to scale up a Simple Stick and put it on floats like they did in the FT video. I wish they would give an equipment rundown and sizing information when they do those videos.
I have thought of a 125-150% stick with one of these bad boys.

https://www.hobbypartz.com/96m601-bigfoot10-2820-1100kv.html

Although i may end up just building a noob tube.
 

Byrdman

Well-known member
I have thought of a 125-150% stick with one of these bad boys.

https://www.hobbypartz.com/96m601-bigfoot10-2820-1100kv.html

Although i may end up just building a noob tube.

That is a big heavy motor but would be great with all that power! I have a 3536 1000KV on my Storch with a CF 10x5 prop and it pulls it around very well. I plan on using this motor when I build my 125% stick. I may even use @The Hangar 's flat bottom wing design with it instead of the FT wing and put it on the bottom of the fuse instead of the top. If we are going to mash it up, let's do it right!!
 

dylandrego

New member
Did this end up coming to fruition?

Yeah I thought of that too. I have some that are the right size for the smaller Simple series and bigger ones for my Storch that will also probably work for the Legacy and any scaled up Simple Series planes.

I really want to scale up a Simple Stick and put it on floats like they did in the FT video. I wish they would give an equipment rundown and sizing information when they do those videos.
 

Tench745

Master member
I never saw this thread back in the day, but since it popped back up again I figured I would add my 2cents.
The big issue when scaling floats is that they need to still be buoyant enough to float at the right depth. When you scale something down, lengths scale directly but volume scales cubicly. If you scale a float down by 65% it will only be buoyant enough to hold 27% of the weight. (.65 x.65 x.65= .275)
Best I can tell the Mini Scout weighs about 160g ready to fly and the Simple Scout weighs about 536g, which makes the mini about 30% the weight of the Scout. That's probably close enough, but you may want to make the floats just a hair bigger. 67% would get you a 30% reduction in float volume.
 

Byrdman

Well-known member
Did this end up coming to fruition?

Yes, I did scale up a simple stick and add floats. What I have been using are pre-made Styrofoam floats, Hobby Zone and E-Flite. The E-Flite are about 30" long and are great for any scaled up 125%-150% versions of the simple/swappable series. The Hobby Zone ones are about 21" and they work great for any standard size swappable/simple series planes.

I did scale up the FT Simple Cub floats to see if they would work, and they do for a while. Then they start tearing up after about 6-10 flights or one really bad landing on the water. Once they start, they downgrade very quickly. IME, if you plan to fly off the water a lot, spend the money and buy the commercial floats. You will get a lot more flights out of them.

@flitetest you should make some floats with your Styrofoam cutter and sell the kits in the store. I know I would buy some from you.
 

Gambit9m

New member
Good morning! I'm thinking of putting some of the Mini's on floats, or scaling up some mini's for floats, and was wondering if anyone has scaled down the Simple Series Floats to do this and what % worked best.

Just taking the Scout vs the Mini Scout, the length is approx 62% and the wingspan 64. I was thinking if I scaled down the Simple Floats to 65% it would give a little room for error and probably be the size for the Mini's. On any scaled up versions of the Mini Series planes, I can start with the 65% file and scale up accordingly.

Am I thinking this correctly? Would anyone do anything different?
How would you scale the floats down?